TRIP TO 4 CORNERS
ANASAZI RUINS IN CHACO CANYON, NM
It has been called America's Stonehenge. That obscure canyon in northwestern New Mexico, known as Chaco,
was the site of great human activity from 950-1150 AD. Why there? Why build so many pueblos, or villages
(some reaching five stories in height) in such a marginal, desert environment?
One explanation is that Chaco was used as a religious, rather than residential center. This theory is supported by the existence of wide,
arrow-straight roads leading to Chaco Canyon from outlying areas. It is easy to imagine people, dressed for celebration, making a pilgrimage,
walking several abreast, to an important yearly festival.
The Anasazi, enemies of our ancestors, so named by the Navajo who presently reside in the area, knew how
to chart the seasons by observing the sky. But why did the Anasazi abandon the spiritual center they had
labored so hard to build; without metal tools, without beasts of burden, and without wheels? Perhaps clues can
be found buried under the desert sand or carved on the sandstone cliffs of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.
Chaco Canyon was an important Anasazi (ancient Native American) cultural center from about 900
through 1130 AD. About 30 ancient masonry buildings, containing hundreds of rooms each, attest to
Chaco's importance. Some structures are thought to serve as astronomical observatories or calendars.
Archaeologists discovered jewelry made from Mexican and Californian materials in ancient trash
heaps. Large well-constructed roadways thought to be built for pilgrims, subjects, or traders, lead
from sites 50 miles away to the center of Chaco Canyon. In a very real sense, all roads lead to Chaco.
Chaco is located in the northwest quadrant of New Mexico, surrounded by Navajo and near Zuni and Hopi reservations.
Pueblo Bonito reached five stories in height along its back wall and may have contained as many as 800 rooms.
The pueblo was built in stages beginning around 919 AD. During later constuction some of the lower level rooms
were filled with trash to better support the upper levels. At its peak in the late 1000's as many as 600 rooms may
have been in use.
Chaco Canyon, NM
ANASAZI CLIFF DWELLINGS, MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK (CO)
Mesa Verde was the center of the northern San Juan Anasazi (Pueblo) culture that existed in the Four Corners area for over a thousand years. Collections of families
or clans willing to live together for mutual support and defense lived in these Villages. The houses had thick walls, and some were multistoried. It appears that there
were many modifications of walls and houses. Outsidefacing doorways on the ground level were few. Some rooms had ladder openings in the ceilings to upper levels,
again suggesting a need for defense.
Long House - Mesa Verde National Park, CO
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, MOAB, UT
Arches National Park is located outside Moab, UT. It contains more than 1000 "arches", not to be confused with "natural bridges".
Landscape Arch - Arches National Park, UT
VALLEY OF THE GODS, UT
The Valley of the Gods is an area in southeast Utah comprised of buttes, mesas, canyons, and free-standing rock formations much like the landscape in the more
well known Monument Valley, forty miles south. It is a remote area only accessable by a seventeen mile unpaved road that leaves U.S Highway 163 north of
Mexican Hat. The area is under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management and is open to the public.
Muley Point - above Valley of the Gods, UT
CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK, UT
Canyonlands National Park is located in Southeast, UT. It is a huge park divided into 3 districts: Needles, Island in the Sky and The Maze.
Needles district - Canyonlands National Park, UT
Brought to you in part by...
...the good folks at DOLLAR RENTAL CAR (Albuquerque, NM)
This text and the Chaco photos have been taken and arranged from http://www.guyan.com/guyan/chacomap.htm
and http://www.mesaverde.org/mvnp.html and http://www.infowest.com/Utah/canyonlands/arches.html
