Chaco Canyon, New Mexico
Mar 1, 2020 14:18:57 #
Winter is an excellent time to visit Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, we had the place to ourselves! It is really interesting and you can wander around on your own and really get into and feel the history of the old buildings. The wood log beams you see are the actual trees used to originally build the structures. I have to wonder if the Raven is a descendant of the Ravens when these structures were inhabited?
The cultural flowering of the Chacoan people began in the mid 800s and lasted more than 300 years. We can see it clearly in the grand scale of the architecture. Using masonry techniques unique for their time, they constructed massive stone buildings (Great Houses) of multiple stories containing hundreds of rooms much larger than any they had previously built. The buildings were planned from the start, in contrast to the usual practiced of adding rooms to existing structures as needed. Constructions on some of these buildings spanned decades and even centuries. Although each is unique, all great houses share architectural features that make them recognizable as Chacoan. During the middle and late 800s, the great houses of Pueblo Bonito, Una Vida, and Peñasco Blanco were constructed, followed by Hungo Pavi, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo Alto, and others. These structures were often oriented to solar, lunar, and cardinal directions. Lines of sight between the great houses allowed communication. Sophisticated astronomical markers, communication features, water control devices, and formal earthen mounds surrounded them. The buildings were placed within a landscape surrounded by sacred mountains, mesas, and shrines that still have deep spiritual meaning for their descendants.
The cultural flowering of the Chacoan people began in the mid 800s and lasted more than 300 years. We can see it clearly in the grand scale of the architecture. Using masonry techniques unique for their time, they constructed massive stone buildings (Great Houses) of multiple stories containing hundreds of rooms much larger than any they had previously built. The buildings were planned from the start, in contrast to the usual practiced of adding rooms to existing structures as needed. Constructions on some of these buildings spanned decades and even centuries. Although each is unique, all great houses share architectural features that make them recognizable as Chacoan. During the middle and late 800s, the great houses of Pueblo Bonito, Una Vida, and Peñasco Blanco were constructed, followed by Hungo Pavi, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo Alto, and others. These structures were often oriented to solar, lunar, and cardinal directions. Lines of sight between the great houses allowed communication. Sophisticated astronomical markers, communication features, water control devices, and formal earthen mounds surrounded them. The buildings were placed within a landscape surrounded by sacred mountains, mesas, and shrines that still have deep spiritual meaning for their descendants.
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Mar 1, 2020 14:24:01 #
Photolady2014 wrote:
Winter is an excellent time to visit Chaco Canyon ... (show quote)
Thanks for sharing. Will put Chaco on my bucket list. Images 8 and 9 are my favorite. They are great.
Mar 1, 2020 14:31:26 #
Is access along a washboard road? As I recall, 15mph was almost an excessive speed for that road.
Mar 1, 2020 14:40:28 #
Very nice work and certainly a nice introduction to a place I'm going to have to visit.
--Bob
--Bob
Photolady2014 wrote:
Winter is an excellent time to visit Chaco Canyon ... (show quote)
Mar 1, 2020 15:11:22 #
Terrific series and thanks for sharing. The inhabitants were gifted stone masons considering the primitive tools available and how they utilized viga's for strength. 
Mar 1, 2020 16:31:19 #
Mar 1, 2020 16:56:58 #
Mar 1, 2020 17:17:29 #
Photolady2014 wrote:
Winter is an excellent time to visit Chaco Canyon ... (show quote)
Thank you for the interesting information and the magnificent images, Beth. All of them are perfectly captured; however, I especially like #'s1, 9 and 10.
Mar 1, 2020 18:22:38 #
twowindsbear wrote:
Is access along a washboard road? As I recall, 15mph was almost an excessive speed for that road.
It is a dirt road. It was not too bad when we were there, but we live on a dirt road so maybe my viewpoint is different than yours! You definitely have to want to go to this place, you don’t just happen to be driving by!
Mar 1, 2020 18:43:51 #
Mar 2, 2020 06:24:59 #
Mar 2, 2020 07:28:31 #
Mar 2, 2020 07:47:53 #
Nice! I was there in 2018. Not sure how many pictures I took as place is amazing. Thinking about camping there for early and late day shots..
Mar 2, 2020 08:17:47 #
Mar 2, 2020 08:41:09 #
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