The Archaeology Of Chaco Canyon: An Eleventh Century Pueblo Regional Center

by Lekson, Stephen H.; Akins, Nancy J. (CON); Cordell, Linda S. (CON); Dean, Jeffrey S. (CON)

• ISBN13: 9781930618480
• ISBN10: 1930618484
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-04-30
• Publisher: Univ of New Mexico Pr

Summary

The site of a great Ancestral Pueblo center in the 11th and 12th centuries AD, the ruins in Chaco Canyon look like a city to some archaeologists, a ceremonial center to others. Chaco and the people who created its monumental great houses, extensive roads, and network of outlying settlements remain an enigma in American archaeology, although all agree they were exceptional in Southwestern prehistory. In this capstone volume, the contributors address central archaeological themes, including environment, organization of production, architecture, regional issues, and society and polity.They place Chaco in its time and in its region, considering what came before and after its heyday and its neighbors to the north and south, including Mesoamerica.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	ix
List of Plates	xi
Foreword	xiii
Robert P. Powers
Chaco Matters: An Introduction	3	(42)
Stephen H. Lekson
Ecology and Economy	45	(22)
R. Gwinn Vivian
Carla R. Van West
Jeffrey S. Dean
Nancy J. Akins
Mollie S. Toll
Thomas C. Windes
Architecture	67	(50)
Stephen H. Lekson
Thomas C. Windes
Peter J. McKenna
Organization of Production	117	(36)
H. Wolcott Toll
The Chaco World	153	(36)
John W. Kantner
Keith W. Kintigh
Society and Polity	189	(22)
W. James Judge
Linda S. Cordell
Chaco's Beginnings	211	(50)
Richard H. Wilshusen
Ruth M. Van Dyke
Notes from the North	261	(54)
William D. Lipe
Notes from the South	315	(24)
Andrew I. Duff
Stephen H. Lekson
Mesoamerican Objects and Symbols in Chaco Canyon Contexts	339	(34)
Ben A. Nelson
The Chaco Project in Historical Context	373	(20)
Richard H. Wilshusen
W. Derek Hamilton
The Chaco Synthesis	393	(30)
Lynne Sebastian
Appendix A. Chaco Synthesis meetings	423	(6)
Appendix B. Ecology and Economy	429	(30)
References	459	(68)
Index	527