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Hungo Pavi: "Reed
Spring Village" is located just about a mile from Una Vida at the junction
of Chaco and Mockingbird Canyons. Thought to have been built around
1000 A.D., the medium sized pueblo contained some 73 ground-floor rooms,
two kivas in the structure that reached four stories in height. It lies at
the base of a prehistoric stairway which leads up the mesa and an ancient
road linking it to the Chacoan road system.
Kin Kletso:
Located about 1/2 mile west of Pueblo Bonito, Kin Kletso was built in two
phases between 1125 and 1130 A.D. by people who came to
Chaco Canyon
from the Northern San Juan Region. The walls were made of large shaped
sandstone blocks laid two or more rows thick. The medium
sized pueblo called the "Yellow House" by the Navaho, contains around
fifty-five ground level rooms, four kivas and a tower kiva.
Excavated in the early 1950's, evidence of a obsidian production industry
was found here.
Kin Nahasbas:
This isolated great kiva was constructed during the middle 1000's.
Nestled against the north mesa, the ruins are located just north of Una
Vida.
New Alto or Nuevo: Located just
east of Pueblo Alto, the pueblo was one of the latest ones constructed in
the late 1100's. Despite a decrease in the population in the rest of
the canyon, the pueblo contained some 28 rooms and a kiva. It is
speculated that it may have been built by
Indians
who had migrated from the Mesa Verde area.
Peñasco Blanco: Blanco, Spanish for "white cliff," is a large arc
shaped great house built in five different stages, between 900 and 1125
A.D. One of the first large pueblos built in the canyon, the ruins
displays the development in Chacoan masonry through the centuries.
Sitting atop the northernmost point of West Mesa, the pueblo overlooks the
confluence of the Chaco and Escavada Washes. Reaching up to four
stories tall, the pueblo contained approximately 160 ground-floor rooms,
two great kivas in the central plaza, and two more located outside the
pueblo. Near Peñasco Blanco is a well known cliff painting that contains a
crescent moon, a ten-pointed star, handprint, and a sun sign.
Catching the attention of astronomers, many have speculated that the
pictograph represents the sighting of a supernova in July, 1054 A.D., or
the appearance of Halley's comet in 1066 A.D.
Pueblo Alto:
Located on a mesa flat due north of Pueblo Bonito, this great house is
thought to have been built between 1020 and 1050 A.D. Serving the
area residents as a community house, archeological evidence suggest
periodic episodes of occupancy and feasting. It has been estimated
that only five of the 85 rooms were constructed for permanent residents,
while the others were utilized for community events and industry,
including bead and turquoise processing and chert tool production. Ancient
stairs lead from the large pueblo to the top of the mesa.
Pueblo Bonito:
This D-shaped pueblo is the largest Great House in the park spanning
nearly two acres and believed to have once been as tall as five stories.
The approximately 650 rooms surrounded the central plaza and
throughout the settlement were about 40 kivas and
numerous meeting places that served ceremonial purposes. The pueblo
was occupied from the mid-800s to
the 1200s, with about 1,200 people at its height. Pueblo Bonito is
one of the most extensively excavated and studied sites in North America
and is considered sacred by many Native American groups.
Pueblo del Arroyo:
Located near Pueblo Bonito at the side drainage known as South Gap, the
pueblo was built in stages over a relatively short time.
The central portion was built around 1075
with the north and south wings, the plaza and tri-walled structure built
in the early years of the 12th century. The building once boasted
approximately 280 rooms and more than 20 kivas.
Tsin Kletzin:
Dating back to the early 1100's, Tsin Kletzin is located on the south mesa
top above Casa Rinconada. The unexcavated great house lies near a large
earthenware structure known as the Weritos Dam, where it is believed the
ancient Anasazi
obtained water. Because Tsin Kletzin has two roads leading to it from the
north but no roads continuing southward, it is thought that it served as a
destination point.
Una Vida:
This Chocaon public building, closest to the Visitor's Center, was one of
the earliest constructed beginning sometime in the mid-800's.
Construction is believed to have continued on the great house up until the
late 1000's. Una Vida includes approximately 150 rooms and five
kivas. The great house was known to the
Navajos as
"witchcraft woman's house" due to its association with a well-known legend
where a witch held hostages atop Fajada Butte without food or water. On
the cliff face behind Una Vida is an
Anasazi
pictograph which displays humanoid and geometric forms, and four-legged
animal shapes possibly big horned sheep.
Wijiji: With
just over 100 rooms, Wijiji is the smallest to the great houses, thought
to have been built around 1110 A.D. Located in a narrow wash about a mile
from Una Vida, the site appears to have been utilized in part as a
calendrical station.
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All sites and trails are open from sunrise to sunset.
Chaco Canyon
is located in northwestern
New Mexico
.
The preferred and recommended access route to the park is from the north,
via US 550 (formerly NM 44) and County Road (CR) 7900, and CR 7950.
From the north, turn off US 550 at CR
7900--3 miles southeast of Nageezi and approximately 50 miles west of Cuba
(at mile 112.5). This route is clearly signed from US 550 to the park
boundary (21 miles). The route includes 5 miles of paved road (CR 7900)
and 16 miles of rough dirt road (CR 7950).
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Fajada
Butte - Rising some 400 feet above the canyon floor, Fajada Butte,
at the entrance of
