Sorry, but I was expecting the article to reveal some new finding. I have been to Chaco a half-dozen times, both b efore and since the solar dagger was seen on the Fajada Butte. This discovery, really didn’t answer any of the fundamental mysteries of Chaco, but just added more details.
It is an amazing place. It’s surprising that it is not well known or taught about in our schools. It is perhaps the most important (and well preserved) pre-Columbian site in the U.S. other than Cahokia east of St. Louis.
On one memorable trip to Chaco, a friend and I spent most of one morning running 10-12 miles around the rim and up and down the steep paths of most of the canyon (calling it a “canyon” is a bit of an exageration.) There were lots of ancient footholds and handholds that the original inhabitants used to scale the walls. I would NEVER have been brave enough to use them.
One other oddity, is the mounds of potsherds everwhere. Potsherds were in the drainage ditches beside the road. Pubelo Alto had more broken pottery than you could use in a thousand years, even if you were clumsy. Weird.
Thanks, Nickcarraway, for posting.
Pueblo Bonito, one of the largest of the Chaco Canyon pueblos, is a good example of how the Hisatsinom lived.
Lots of pictures, map, etc.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1999150/posts
Cool Trip!
Spent a summer on the Rez near
Ft. Defiance , I was Eleven and visited many sites as my Aunt collected pot Shards.
She Made Some Wonderful Mosaics with them.
It gave me a Keen eye for spotting old established sites.