Shabik’Eschee Village in Chaco Canyon: Beyond the Archetype

2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 326-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. H. Wills ◽  
F. Scott Worman ◽  
Wetherbee Dorshow ◽  
Heather Richards-Rissetto
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Demographic Transition ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Chaco Canyon ◽  
Alternative Models ◽  
Basketmaker Iii ◽  
Original Interpretation

AbstractThis study revisits an earlier publication in this journal (Wills and Windes 1989) in which a settlement model involving seasonal mobility and limited household autonomy was outlined for Shabik’eschee Village, a Basketmaker III period (ca. A.D. 400–750) site in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. We return to that work for three reasons. First, the original interpretation has been challenged and an alternative view offered in the form of a large sedentary village. Second, the issue of Basketmaker III sedentism is central to recent efforts to identify and understand a Neolithic Demographic Transition in the northern Southwest. And third, we have obtained new field data from Shabik’eschee and Chaco that contributes to this debate. We conclude that our understanding of Shabik’ eschee’s history is improved by both new data and the ongoing consideration of alternative models, but the site does not contain evidence for a sedentary village.

A Basketmaker III Site in Canyon Largo, New Mexico

1944 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank C. Hibben ◽  
Herbert W. Dick
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Chaco Canyon ◽  
San Juan ◽  
The Past ◽  
Field School ◽  
Mesa Verde ◽  
Four Seasons ◽  
Basketmaker Iii ◽  
Cultural Connections ◽  
The University

One of the activities of the University of New Mexico's 1939 field school at Chaco Canyon was a reconnaissance excavation in the vicinity of Largo Canyon, to the northeast of the Chaco, proper. This was a continuation of the survey and excavations of the past four seasons, as a part of the project for outlining chronologically and geographically the culture known as Gallina. The extent of the Gallina manifestation to the east and south has already been fairly accurately delineated, but its western and northwestern boundaries are unknown. Since the San Juan and Mesa Verde centers lie to the northwest, it was deemed imperative that the cultural connections in that direction be determined. Typical Gallina unit houses are common on the headwaters of the Largo and in the Llegua Canyon area which heads in the same region. The extremely rugged area lying between this district and the San Juan and Mesa Verde region, however, is not only difficult of access, but is practically unknown archaeologically.

Evidence for Population Aggregation and Dispersal during the Basketmaker III Period in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. H. Wills ◽  
Thomas C. Windes
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Great Part ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Chaco Canyon ◽  
Social Unit ◽  
Population Aggregation ◽  
Basketmaker Iii

The appearance of pithouse settlements in the American Southwest that have multihabitation structures has been considered evidence for the emergence of "village" social organization. The interpretation that village systems are reflected in pithouse architecture rests in great part on the assumption that large sites correspond to large, temporally stable social groups. In this article we examine one of the best known pithouse settlements in the Southwest—Shabik’eschee Village in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico—and argue that the site may represent episodic aggregation of local groups rather than a sedentary occupation by a single coherent social unit.

scholarly journals Possible sources of archaeological maize found in Chaco Canyon and Aztec Ruin, New Mexico

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.V. Benson ◽  
J.R. Stein ◽  
H.E. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Chaco Canyon

Prehistoric Long-Distance Transport of Construction Beams, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

1986 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 370-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio L. Betancourt ◽  
Jeffrey S. Dean ◽  
Herbert M. Hull
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Chaco Canyon ◽  
The South ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
High Elevations ◽  
Material Evidence ◽  
Distance Transport

Identification of spruce (Picea) and fir (Abies) construction timbers at Chetro Ketl in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, implies that between A.D. 1030 and 1120 the Anasazi transported thousands of logs more than 75 km. These timbers came from high elevations, probably in mountains to the south (Mt. Taylor) and west (Chuska Mountains) where Chacoan interaction was well established. Survey in these mountains might disclose material evidence of these prehistoric logging activities.

The Dating of Casas Grandes

1980 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 799-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. LeBlanc
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Chaco Canyon ◽  
Casas Grandes

The dating of Casas Grandes is re-evaluated, and new relevant dates for southwestern New Mexico are presented. It is suggested that Casas Grandes dates from ca. A.D. 1150-A.D. 1300. This would make the site's florescence postdate the Bonito phase of Chaco Canyon and the Mimbres phase. Furthermore, it appears that Casas Grandes did not overlap the Civano phase of the Hohokam.

scholarly journals Early maize pollen from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, USA

Palynology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Hall
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Chaco Canyon ◽  
Maize Pollen
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