 |
| Using a 1986 map from National Geographic, we plotted the sites that would give us the best picture of Ancestral Pueblo Culture. |
Ancestral Pueblo Culture
In mid-September, my friend Nadine Cobb and I made a trip to
explore the Ancestral Pueblo Culture of New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. The
trip was a chance for Nadine to get an overview of the region she now calls
home and for me it was an opportunity to do on-the-ground research for Eve’s
Imprint. Please note that the word “Anasazi” is a misnomer for this early
peopling of North America. It is a Navaho word meaning “ancestral enemies.” To
use it shows disrespect for descendants of first Americans. The preferred term is 'Ancestral Pueblo Culture.'
Our itinerary took us in a loop northwest from Albuquerque,
north to Colorado, southwest to Arizona, and then southeast back to
Albuquerque. Our stops included:
- New Mexico - Chaco Culture National Historical Park and Aztec Ruins National Monument (misnamed by Spanish conquistadores when they stumbled upon evidence of early settlement)
- Colorado - Mesa Verde National Park
- Arizona - Canyon de Chelly National Monument
- New Mexico - Acoma Pueblo, Petroglyph National Monument, and Bandelier National Monument.
 |
| The highly symbolic T shaped doorways found in Chacho Canyon and as far south as northern Mexico may symbolize lakes known to exist under mountains where cliff dwellings are found. |
While I read several books in preparation for the trip, the
one that gave me the deepest understanding of the ‘Stonehenge of North America’
was House of Rain by Craig Childs.
Searching for why people left their highly developed culture in Chaco Canyon
and where they went, Childs unveils an ancient understanding of and symbiosis
with the hydrological cycle. He has suggested a possible symbolic meaning for the T shaped doorways, as noted above.
Survival Involves Perpetual Motion
From time immemorial, for beasts of earth and sea as well as
birds and bees in the sky, the drive to survive has driven hourly and daily
life. Homo sapiens learned from their predecessor primates and other animals,
including their predators, where to find and secure food. As hunter-gatherers,
our ancestors followed schools of fish and herds of mammals to the best sources
of water, forage and salt.
 |
| This prehistoric hunter has snagged a long-horned goat. |
And so it was that peoples
of many ethnicities found their way through and over the Bering Strait into
North America at least 12,000 (probably more) years ago. Amidst their seasonal
rock shelter campsites they left traces of their wanderings. About 7500 years
ago, two factors prompted these roaming family clans to hunt smaller animals
and collect edible plants: drier and warmer climate as a result of the recession of the glacial sheet and the near extinction of large grazing animals by natural and
human causes.
Staying Longer
Roving bands of basket makers began to stay longer in regions
that provided a year-round supply of water. Over time, they built small pit
houses, partially underground, and their highly portable baskets were supplemented by the pottery they learned to make. As a sedentary lifestyle took hold, they made
improvements on their pit houses and developed above ground structures. They did not abandon the safety and community feeling of the old pit houses.
Instead they turned them into kivas, places of ceremony, ritual and retreat.
 |
| Pit houses were entered through a smoke hole in the roof. As they evolved, adobe became a preferred covering for the above ground part of the structure. |
Populations increased, a diversity of crafts emerged, and
trade intensified - not just among diverse clans in the region but also with people as far away
as Mexico and the west coast. With trade, new ideas percolated through existing
patterns. In addition to occupying new areas, different ethic groups began to
converge into small villages, increasing opportunities for social
interaction, trade, and ceremony.
 |
| Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon was one of a series of great houses where people gathered to trade, to learn new skills, to organize public work projects, and to hold ceremonies that included use of McCaw feathers and copper bells from Mexico. |
Cultural Enrichment Flourishes
Chaco Canyon in western New Mexico became a gathering place and spiritual center
for many dispersed settlements. People in the canyon coalesced
astrological wisdom that must have guided the hunter-gatherers of old. They wove this wisdom into
ceremonies celebrating the movement of the sun and moon. Public structures
built in Chaco are aligned with the movement of the sun and with the cardinal
directions: east, south, west, north, above, and below.
Even with the Chaco River as a source of water, Chaco Canyon
was an unlikely place to build large-scale kivas, great houses, and a vast
network of roads. One can only surmise that a cross section of wise leaders and
creative thinkers somehow arrived in ‘the middle of nowhere’ at the same time
and sparked a cultural revolution. After about 300 years of expansion and
amazing architectural feats, people began to leave Chaco Canyon and were
virtually gone by 1200 CE (current era).
 |
| People moved from Chaco to Aztec Ruins and emulated its highly skilled masonry structures. Archeologist Earl H. Morris conducted excavations and studies at Aztec Ruins for many years. One of his last contributions was to supervise reconstruction of the Great Kiva according to all that he had learned. |
Most likely a series of droughts forced Chaco's burgeoning
population to disperse to better cropland and more abundant water. And disperse
they did: to the north to the four corners area (Aztec Ruins and Mesa Verde),
to the south (Rio Grande valley and beyond), and to the west (Canyon de Chelly and further west).
They took the Chacoan culture with them. However, dispersion meant that all the
skills, crafts, and wisdom that made Chaco great were no longer available to
each group of migrants. The synergy of many creative minds was broken as
settlers became migrants once again, but memory of Chaco’s accomplishments has
never been lost.
Talking Stones
From the first hunter-gatherers who followed herds through
North America to tribes from Canada that descended in the sixteenth century
into regions left by Chacoan peoples, human beings left messages on the
rocks and canyon walls through which they passed.
 |
| The central figure in this rock image from Utah is startlingly similar to the Wandjina (creative force) image still painted and revered by Aboriginals of Australia. |
Some of the earliest rock images in the four corners region
are similar to ones found in Southwest Asia and Central Asia. For example, a
longhorn goat at the end of a long spiral closely resembles similar petroglyphs
in Iraq and Iran. Were some of the wanderers into the American southwest
descendants of, or related to, those who followed herds through Mesopotamia and
into Central Asia? Photos of pictographs in Utah are
startlingly similar to ones painted by Aboriginals in Australia. Did the
coastal ramblings that took some of our early ancestors to Australia also
continue north up the coast of Asia and across the Bering Strait?
Whether chipped or painted, rock images convey the human
impulse to share one’s meaningful experiences with others.
- This is the place through which I walked.
- Mark this place where hunting was good so we can find it again.
- Here in this auspicious place, let’s create a ceremony to the creator celebrating the gift of water when we were thirsty.
- Maybe if we record our ceremony, we can hold it in our minds as we travel on.
- If we make an image here, we can track the progress of the sun across it and predict when it will be best to plant our crops.
 |
| Recording of a ghost dance. |
Except for the map, all photos
are from Google Images.
