Past Research

What we know about Chaves Pueblo...

	Stratigraphic analyses of materials recovered at the site show significant diversity in artifact types at the site, indicating significant interaction with non-local groups.

The primary research goals of our research at the Chaves Pueblo are to understand how village communities changed to cope with the massive transformations occurring across the natural and cultural landscapes of the Southwest.

The site is particularly well suited for this research for several reasons. First, there are extensive and deep archaeological deposits at the site, allowing for stratigraphic excavations of structural and open plaza areas. Second, recent analyses of materials recovered at the site show significant diversity in artifact types at the site, indicating significant interaction with non-local groups. Finally, surface and subsurface testing have documented the prehistoric use of distinct architectural styles in different parts of the site, possibly due to the integration of non-local groups into the settlement during the site occupation. The research significance of each of these factors is explained at more length below.

The main feature of the site is a rubble mound of fallen masonry architecture rising up to 6 meters (20 feet) above the surrounding landscape. A single bulldozer trench cut through the rubble-covered mound by a former landowner shows the mound to be comprised of stratified architectural remains, plaza surfaces, and artifactual material. Excavations in the floor of the bulldozer trench in 1998 exposed cultural deposits that extend another two meters, for a total of eight meters (26+ feet) of stratified deposits in this part of the site. Deposits of this depth require intensive occupation by large populations, particularly if the primary occupation lasted only a century or so.

	Click to see a detailed site map.

Excavations in the midden area associated with the masonry mound uncovered early architectural remains and associated black-on-white decorated ceramics, indicating a founding date for the site of approximately A.D. 1275. This smaller 13th-century settlement was transformed during the early 14th century by the addition of a much larger set of masonry and adobe rooms that were arranged to form at least three separate plaza-oriented room blocks. Site growth during this time appears to have been due in part to groups relocating to the settlement from the smaller, outlying settlements, some of which were located through archaeological survey in 1998 (Huntley and Eckert 1999). Given the relatively low population densities in this locality and other surrounding areas (Dittert 1998; Duff 1998) it is also likely that part of the significant increase in site size was also due to immigration of non-local populations.

Ceramic analyses from surface and limited test excavations have identified at least fifteen ceramic types at the site (Eckert 1999). In addition to the locally made glaze ware types we have non-local glaze and whiteware types from the Zuni, Acoma, and Hopi regions of western New Mexico and eastern Arizona. Also present are brownware ceramics from the Mogollon region to the south, suggesting that Chaves Pueblo inhabitants were strongly integrated into regional exchange partnerships during much of the site's occupation. This is not entirely unexpected given the location of the site along the Rio Puerco, one of the primary corridors for movement between the Colorado Plateau area and the Rio Grande valley. Two recent, separate analyses of ceramic composition using thin-section analysis have both established a strong representation of non-local pottery temper from the Acoma and Zuni regions in the Chaves ceramic assemblage (Eckert personal communication 1999; Nelson 2000).

	Click to review pottery styles and samples.

The diversity in the ceramic assemblage from Chaves Pueblo is complemented by the variation in surface architecture at the site. Earlier unpublished excavations at the site by Frank Hibben uncovered several adobe-and-masonry surface rooms located on the central rubble mound. In 1996 we began to expose room blocks at the site that comprise another, distinct architectural style. While stone-and-adobe construction comprises the architecture on the main mound, two large room blocks on the northern and eastern parts of the site are built nearly exclusively of coursed adobe.

Spot architectural features at Chaves with twin-electrode soil resistivity data.

In March 1997 we used both electrical resistivity survey and magnetic gradiometer survey to better characterize architectural features at the site. The twin-electrode soil resistivity survey differentiated the adobe construction (lighter areas) from the composite adobe-stone construction on the main mound (darker areas). The lighter colors at the base of the main mound are from the melted adobe deposits that eroded off of the higher rubble area. We also completed a magnetometer survey of the site, but results were compromised by the presence of iron-rich vesicular basalt across the site as well as metal debris left by earlier excavators. Of the estimated 400-500 surface rooms (adobe and masonry) at the site, at least one-third of the rooms fall into this "adobe-dominant" class of architecture, with additional adobe rooms possibly buried in slope wash and sand on the margins of the site.

In addition to the recovery of ceramic, lithic and faunal materials, excavations have recovered macrobotanical and palynological samples useful for addressing questions of climatic and environmental change prior to, during, and after the site occupation. Samples of both midden sediments and room fill have been water-screened from each stratigraphic level to recover macrobotanical remains. Geological and palynological studies of both on-site and off-site sediments have yielded interesting results. Pollen samples from plaza deposits on the main rubble mound have documented, not surprisingly, large amounts of corn, chenopodium/amaranth, and cactus pollen (Jacobs 1999). Of note, however, are quantities of cattail (Typha) and meadow-related plants such as Calystegia, each of which require well watered or marshy environments. Though there are no active springs in the site vicinity today, the nearby drainage of the Canada de los Apaches may have impounded water in cienega or marshes that provided the main source of water for the site inhabitants. Geological trenches in the small arroyo that runs by the site unearthed streambed sediments that were formed by fast-running water. Glazeware ceramics were found in the gravelly sediments, indicating that significant amounts of water ran in the streambed during, and possibly after, the main occupation at the site.

Room 32 in the adobe roomblock.

Finally, a large-scale surface clearing of architectural remains was completed during the 1999 field season, providing the first fine-scale view of the adobe-dominant architecture at the site. This adobe-dominant building complex appears to have been added to the main masonry component of the settlement some time during the 14th century. Through careful excavation and clearance the wall tops of eighty-six adobe surface rooms were exposed, establishing that this single-story adobe component was built accretionally. Based on bonding and abutting patterns of the rooms, two larger room suites were the first structures built on the northern and western sides of the complex. Smaller room suites of one to four rooms were then added to the two larger room suites to form contiguous wings of the adobe architectural complex. At some time during this construction a separate set of rooms was build on the eastern side, effectively enclosing a large central plaza area.

Research underway in Israel and Dallas, coordinated by the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man, is changing our understanding of snakes. Read more.

Background information Past research at Chaves Pueblo: What we know 2001: What we are looking for

The Rio Puerco basin occupies roughly 16,000 square kilometers of northwestern New Mexico. Rio Puerco is one of the main tributaries of the Rio Grande, entering the river near Bernardo. Learn more about this watershed here.

Create your own map, showing the Rio Puerco in relation to major roads and rivers, and to state, federal and Native American lands. Click here for Enviromapper.

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