Chaco Culture was the main stop on our trip.
On the first day we went to Una Vida. It is one of the first great houses built in Chaco Canyon. Now it looks small, but in the 900's it was very big!!
On the second day, I hiked 8 miles to see the Supernova pictograph.
On the way there was a Petroglyph side trail. We took it and here are some of the Petroglyphs.
The square is a Kachina. I think this is really cool!!
Under the Supernova Pictograph there was a petroglyph of Halley's comet. The hike was long, and my mom got lots of blisters on her feet to prove it.
On the bluff above there were ruins called Penasco Blanco.
On the third day, we went to Hungo Pavi, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo Bonito, Pueblo de Arroyo, and Casa Rinconada.
Pueblo Bonito
Pueblo Bonito is the town square. It is Huge!!! It was first to be built and the last to be completed. On January 22, 1941 a rock face fell on an 8th of Pueblo Bonito. Here are some pictures of Pueblo Bonito!
This is a drawing of the different stages of building at Pueblo Bonito.
The famous curving doors of Pueblo Bonito. Awesome!!
This is the original wood ceiling beams in this one room of Pueblo Bonito. The room has original plaster, but the park service plastered over it, because people were vandalizing it. There was a lot of that kind of stuff here. It made me sad.
This is a rare corner door.
Chetro Ketl
Here is the "Great Wall" at Chetro Ketl. Which is another great house about 1/2 mile from Pueblo Bonito.
These are original mosaics that are blocked off, but a nice park service ranger came by and opened the door to the room, so we could get a better look. He told us there were several other examples in the park, but they have closed them off to visitors for safe keeping.
Casa Rinconada
My favorite of all the ruins!!!
Casa Rinconada is a Great Kiva. On the summer solstice a light shines on a niche on the wall. A Great Kiva is a ceremony room sort of like a church.
Pueblo de Arroyo
This a "tri-wall" or triple walled kiva. They are rare and only a dozen have been found in the four corners area. This is the only one at Chaco.
These mealing bins have metate's in them. The women would sit down with feet against the wall and knees against the mealing bin and grind corn.
Chacoan Stairway
Chacoan stairways were carved into rocks. They have found many stairways around Chaco Canyon.
Chaco was Awesome!!!
More to come - Aztec Ruins, Four corners, Canyon de Chelly and Hubble Trading Post
Your mom mentioned that hike to me. We loved getting to see the petroglyphs when we were in Moab, Utah a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteYour picture of the mealing bin made me smile. On the same trip we went to Moab, we also visited Mesa Verde. My oldest son, who was around your age, was picked to help out the ranger by griding some corn with a mano and metate. Then the ranger teased him because he was doing "women's work".