Pueblo Bonito Case Study

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In the shadow of a cliff wall within Chaco Canyon rests the ruins of Pueblo Bonito, the most famous of the towns and settlements built by the Anasazi over 900 years ago. From tree-ring dating, it is known that a period of severe drought swept through the Chaco area in AD 1150, causing the site to be abandoned. After it was rediscovered in 1849 by U.S. Army soldiers, the site was severely vandalized for seventy years until it was made a national monument in 1907. In 1920, the National Geographic Society began a thorough reconstruction of this once great, and still impressive, site (Chaco Canyon, 1982-2015). Between its construction and its abandonment, Pueblo Bonito was a complex and important locality for the people who poured so much time …show more content…

There are three great Kivas, which are semi-subterranean chambers used for collective ceremonies, located on either side of the wall with more than an additional thirty smaller Kivas scattered throughout the central plaza. Archaeologists estimate the population to have been less than 800 due to the small number of usable hearths. Some suggest that Pueblo Bonito was not a town after all but a ceremonial center. Facts that are used to support this theory are that the environment is not conducive for sustaining a large population, excavations at the site have not revealed significant trash middens as would be expected for a town with hundreds of residents, and only 50-60 burials were located within the site (Pueblo Bonito, 2015). Archaeological excavations at Pueblo Bonito have also revealed how extensive the Anasazi trade network was. Organic residue analysis of ceramics have shown the presence of cacao. The cacao residues were found on pottery sherds that were likely from cylindrical jars. These jars were special containers attributable almost exclusively to Pueblo Bonito and had been deposited in caches at the site. This first known use of cacao north of the Mexican border indicates exchange with cultivators in Mesoamerica from approximately A.D. 1000–1125 (Crown and Hurst,

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