Chaco Canyon

Essay by Anonymous UserCollege, UndergraduateA, November 1996

download word file, 5 pages 3.0

The Anasazi, who were named by the Navajos, knew how to chart the

seasons by observing the sky. The biggest mystery of Chaco Canyon is why the

Anasazidecided to leave the home that they had built over so many years. the one thing

that is quite interesting is that they were able to construct such a magnificent piece of

architecture without the use of metal tools or any devices with wheels.

CHIMNEY ROCK

Chimney Rock is located about 20 miles west of Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The

construction is composed mainly of sandstone which was laid there more than 65 million

years ago. The district that Chimney Rock is located in consists of 6.12 square miles, has

91 identified areas with a total of 217 different structures.

Most of these areas were grouped into 7 communities that are located at various

places within the district. The Anasazi Indians lived in the Piedra Valley beginning about

the tine of Christ.

Most of them lives at lower elevations near the fields and they farmed

along the water beds, but some moved up onto the higher parts of Chimney Rock Mesa

around 925 A.D. They may have moved higher to avoid the cold sink effect that made the

lower areas colder in the winter, or they may have moved higher to utilize winter snow as

a water source. Still, most of the fields they planted in spring were along the waterways

on the floor of the valley or on terraces in the valleys above the river. At Chimney Rock

the people grew corn and beams, but no squash. Although squash was a mainstay of their

people in other areas, the growing season was probably too short in this region for squash

to mature before it was killed by frost.

The population of Chimney...