LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Chaco Canyon
built 622 days ago
The site of Chaco Canyon is a large and important one, so various excavations have occurred over the years. The first one with major significance was done by Neil Judd and the National Geographic Society in 1921. For a period of seven years Judd and his crew worked at Chaco every summer. Their first task in 1921 was to study a thirteen foot trash dump that was composed of ceramic artifacts. When they finished this, they concentrated on the excavation of Pueblo Bonita (Frazier, p. 43).
Source:
Farmington, N.M., about 75 miles from Chaco Canyon, is the closest airport. United, America West and Frontier have connecting service (change of plane) from LAX. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $564. Those airlines have connecting service to Albuquerque as well; Southwest has nonstop flights. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $258.
Source:
Excavations in Chaco Canyon have a long history, beginning in 1877. Primary investigators during the early days included Richard Wetherill, Edgar Hewett and Neil Judd. Most recent studies have been conducted by James Judge, Gwynn Vivian, and Robert and Florence Lister and have looked at the broader Chaco valley.
Source:
F[A]jada Butte, at the center of Chaco Canyon, must have had some significance for the people of Chaco Canyon. Near the top of Fajada Butte is the famous "Sun Dagger," a sliver of light that pierces a spiral on the summer solstice. The Sun Dagger no longer pierces the spiral, as one of the rocks that creates the sliver of sunlight has shifted, due to tourist traffic on the trail.
Source:
After prevailing for 300 years, Chaco Canyon declined as a regional center during the middle 1100s, when new construction ceased. Chacoan influence continued at Aztec Ruins and other centers to the north, south, and west into the late 1100s and 1200s. In time, the people shifted away from Chacoan ways, migrated to new areas, reorganized their world, and eventually interacted with foreign cultures. Their descendants are the modern Southwest Indians. Many Southwest Indian people today look upon Chaco as an important stop along their clans' sacred migration paths--a spiritual place to be honored and respected.
Source:
Chaco Canyon is vast and mysterious. The Anasazi (Navajo for "Ancient Ones") built their civilization sometime after 850 A.D.; they left sometime in the 1100s-- no one knows where. The canyon has 10 buildings which are thought to have contained around 3,000 rooms. Several of the buildings may have been 5 stories high. Pueblo Bonito itself is 3 acres, with 700 rooms, and was 3-4 stories. Pueblo Bonito is ... the center of an elaborate solar calendar: all of the buildings are either part of the solar calendar, or part of a lunar calendar that traces the 18.5-year lunar cycle.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Chaco Canyon