The irritation paid off. In the process, we get a whole new picture of the intelligence at work behind Chacoan society and its architectureThe Mystery of Chaco Canyon interweaves a narrative that is both attentive to indigenous thought and values, and robustly grounded in the rigors of scientific method. New Mexico's Chaco Canyon was once the center of the most influential culture in the American Southwest. These cosmographic concepts of habitation across cultures are transformed into designed landscapes, cultic caves, tents, campsites, houses, cities, or temples. 1999. Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer. Many scientists have hypothesized about how the Chacoans might have accomplished this feat. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1/20) and Ars Technica Addendum (effective 8/21/2018). Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Faculty-Staff Email Archive Student Email Archive Graduate Student Email Archive New Buffs Email Archive Senior Class Student Email Archive CommunityEmail Archive COVID-19 Digest Archive. Chaco Canyon sits near the border between New Mexico and Colorado. Chaco Canyon is a shallow, ten-mile canyon situated in the northwest corner of New Mexico. Existing customers, please log in to view this film. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon. Within the published archaeoastronomy work attention to Pueblo ethnography, archaeological evidence including temporal data, statistical significance, and the consideration of multiple hypotheses has varied widely. Chaco Canyon is a famous archaeological area in the American Southwest. In a remote canyon in northwestern New Mexico sits one of America's greatest historical treasures and one of the Southwest's greatest mysteries. "Tumplines allow one to carry heavier weights over larger distances without getting fatigued," said Wilson, now a medical student at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. They have been used by many cultures across the world for thousands of years, from African to Asia and the Americas. Read About our Chaco Tours in 360 West Magazine Article, The Dallas News, Adventure Pro Magazine and Cowboys & Indians. That means my focus is building relationships and telling stories from under-covered pockets of Colorado. They help porters to support weight using the bones of their neck and spine rather than their muscles. the mystery of chaco canyon transcript. James Wilson, left, and Rodger Kram, right, use tumplines to carry a log weighing more than 130 pounds in Boulder's Chautauqua Park. He and Wilson, who was then an undergraduate in biochemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder, read up on the properties of dried wood and published their conclusions last year. In 1977 Sofaer visited Chaco Canyon as a volunteer recording ancient Southwestern American rock art. To construct their multi-storied buildings, the Chaco people transported by foot more than 200,000 timbers to the canyon and most of their food and ceramics from more productive lands 55 to 70 miles away. But how this society got its construction supplies has been a long-standing mystery. Explore how the Chacoan people expressed a complex solar and lunar cosmology in their arch, The Mystery of Chaco Canyon is a local public television program presented by. The study found that about 1 in 6 adult deaths in the U.S. are related to excess weight or obesity. Archaeological evidence suggests thatancient peoplesin the Southwest employed tumplines woven from yucca plants to transport everyday items like food and water. The so-called "great houses" of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico may have taken decades or longer to construct. Nonetheless, there is general acceptance among archaeologists of the idea that visual astronomy had a role in Chacoan culture, if for no other reason than to provide a calendrical system. The site is an artifact of the Pueblo peoples of north america and is now a protected national heritage site. Human porters would have needed to carry 16-foot-long wooden beams to Chaco Canyon by footfollowing a network of ancient roads to sites like the Chuska Mountains to the west. To test that hypothesis, co-authors Rodger Kram and James Wilson spent the summer of 2020 training until they could haul a heavy log some 15 miles using tumplines. To make sure they were being safe, Kram and Wilson started with light loads and worked their way up, said Joseph Carzoli, a study co-author and certified strength and conditioning coach. For more information, contact Bullfrog Films, Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; 1-800-543-FROG (3764); info@. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon. Visit the Chaco Web Exhibit. Rodger Kram, associate professor emeritus of integrative physiology, and James Wilson, then an undergraduate studying biochemistry, spent the summer of 2020 training for an impressive test of endurance: Together, they carried a ponderosa pine log weighing more than 130 pounds for 15 miles up and down a forest road in Boulder County, Coloradoand they did it using only their heads in a technique inspired, in part, by sherpas in Nepal. Murphy said it's not uncommon to see lights moving among the ruins or to hear sounds coming from parts of the canyon.. Speaker: Anna Sofaer and her colleagues Robert Weiner and Richard Friedman. Instead, they were hoping to solve an archaeological mystery that has perplexed researchers for decades: How did ancient peoples transport more than 200,000 heavy construction timbers over 60 miles to a famous site in the Southwest called Chaco Canyon? How did an ancient civilization, with no known written language, arrange its buildings into a virtual celestial calendar, spanning an area roughly the size of Ireland? After three months of training with tumplines for six or seven days a week, Kram and Wilson were ready to try a real log. Study Traces DNA Of Inca Emperors To Their Modern-Day Descendants, 2,000-Year Old Engraved Kurdistan Tablet Referring To A Hellenistic Ruler Demetrius Analyzed, Does A 2,000-Year-Old Tomb Belong To Marquis of Haihun? It fits with all the evidence: they used tumplines, they made the roads very wide, Kram said. These include front-facing south-southeast (SSE) orientation, front facing east-southeast (ESE) orientation, alignments to the cardinal directions of North-South and/or East-West (NS/EW), and the construction of Great Houses at workable calendrical stations with horizon foresights for solstice dates. It appears that they served instead as centers of great spiritual power. The sample of Chacoan Great Houses assessed for astronomical associations was unchanged from the mid 1990s to 2007. 1.The purpose of the construction of the Fajada Butte calendar. minimum distance between toilet and shower. Written by Anna Sofaer and Matt Dibble. In and around Chaco Canyon, archaeologists have found ceramic effigies illustrating Puebloan people using tumplines to carry resources, as well as yucca fiber wraps that could be the remains of ancient tumplines.. It's likely the best way to do it.. They attempted their final test on a forest road leading to Gross Reservoir southwest of Boulder, carrying the timber using tumplines on either end. Understanding that it was sacred to a People was what mattered. Ancient Chaco. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon TV Movie 1999 56 m IMDb RATING 7.3 /10 212 YOUR RATING Rate Documentary America's Stonehenge? New to Docuseek? I don't know how they could have possibly done that.. That's where we go to heal, to pray,'" said Weiner, who will receive his doctorate in anthropology from CU Boulder later this spring. Krams big insight was that multiple tumplines could have been attached, side by side, to a single log, allowing several people to share the load. With Chaco Canyon now declared a national park and UNESCO World Heritage site, visitors to Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico can marvel at the remains of 12 great houses and more than 4,000 areas of archaeological interest in the rocky landscape. Well-paced and absorbing, simultaneously poetic and analytical, this film provides a new benchmark of understanding for serious studies of ancestral-Pueblo astronomy and culture.Dr. Read our affiliate link policy. Chaco Canyon - Pueblo Bonito So there is lots of mystery surrounding Chaco Canyon. I've heard people say, 'That's our church. They estimated that a 16-foot-long pine log weighed closer to 85 kilograms, or just over 185 pounds. Cosmographic concepts of the world edifice can be regarded as holistic, multi-layered models of evolving human ecosystems, which, by using symbolic language, helped man making the world homely and transcending the profane. As the title states - they used their heads but not just by thinking about it. So the logs must have been carried by people, most likely along the wide roadways that linked this world. THE MYSTERY OF CHACO CANYON examines the deep enigmas presented by the massive prehistoric remains found in Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico. Written on the Landscape: Mysteries Beyond Chaco Canyon. Weiner said the team's results show that supplying Chaco Canyon with goods may not have been as back-breaking an undertaking as archaeologists once assumed. Examines the enigmas presented by the prehistoric remains found in Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. It is the summation of 20 years of research. The type of artifacts in the collection include the full range of Chacoan material culture -- prehistoric vessels, stone and bone tools, matting and sandals, ground stone tools for making corn flour, projectile points, hammers and mauls, hoes and digging sticks, corn cobs and turkey bones, and ornaments of shell, Turquoise, jet, and bone. Kram developed his own theory about how the Chacoans managed the feat, starting with his realization a few years ago that the assumptions since 1980 about the mass of a typical roof beam (viga) used in one of the great houses was likely too high: 275 kilograms, a bit more than 600 pounds. We calculate that probably each of the big timbers took three people and took them about four days to get from where the trees were cut down to where they were used for the construction site, Kram said. A new study has solved the third mystery - how they carry as many as 200,000 16-foot-long wooden beams to Chaco Canyon from forests over 60 miles away. The team's findings open up a new understanding of the day-to-day lives of the people who shaped the Southwest more than a thousand years ago, said study co-author Robert Weiner. Tour starts at 7:15AM from Equinox Bar just off the Hotel Chaco lobby | 2000 Bellemah Ave NW, Albuquerque, NM and ends at 5:45PM at the same location. Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. They used sticks called tokmas, which Nepalese sherpas also employ, to take breaks, resting the log without lowering it all the way to the ground. Rather it argues that it was a center of astronomy and cosmology and that a primary purpose for the construction of the elaborate Chacoan buildings and certain roads was to express astronomical interests and to be integral parts of a celestial patterning.While the Chacoans left no written text to help us to understand their culture, their thoughts are preserved in the language of their architecture, roads and light markings. The so-called "great houses" of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico may have taken decades or longer to construct. Thousands of people, the ancestors of today's Din, or Navajo, and Pueblo peoples, may have lived there from around A.D. 850 to 1200. Pueblo descendants say that Chaco was a special gathering place where many peoples and clans converged to share their ceremonies, traditions, and knowledge. The most uncomfortable part, Wilson noted, was the strap of the tumpline rubbing into his head. Once we corrected the mass of the timbers, Wilson said, that changed almost everything about how many people were required to carry those timbers, how much time it would take to cover 60 miles., Peeking out of adoorway inside Pueblo Bonito. James Wilson, left, and Rodger Kram, right, carry a ponderosa pine log weighing more than 130 pounds in Chautauqua Park in Boulder, Colorado. People relied on an ordered and organized spatiotemporal natural world domesticated in culture, into which human life could be embedded and from which life received a deeper spirit and purpose. Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com - In a new study, several researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder reenacted a small part of a trek that people in the Southwest United States may have made more than 1,000 years ago. On todays show, we hear from two Colorado scientists who recently discovered one of the oldest female infant burial sites in a cave in Europe. The Mystery Of Chaco Canyon examines the deep enigmas presented by the massive prehistoric remains found in Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico, revealing that between 850 and 1150 AD, the Chacoan people designed and constructed massive ceremonial buildings oriented in a complex celestial pattern throughout this vast desert region. 56 minutes, color. New Mexico's Chaco Canyon is home to some of the most impressive pre-Columbian architecture in the Western Hemisphere. It seemed unrealistically high to him. Landscape, directions, sun and moon, and movement of shadow and light were the materials used by the Chacoan architects and builders to express their knowledge of an order in the universe. Lekson suggests that much of what we believe about the ancient Southwest should be radically revised. That astonished CU Boulder Integrative Physiology Professor Rodger Kram. See production, box office & company info, Self - Laguna Pueblo Council member - this is not the same Paul Pino in your database, The Extraordinary Tale of William Buckley: The great untold story of Australia's Robinson Crusoe, Australia's Lost Gold: The Legend of Lasseter. Wilson and Kram rest their log on supports called "tokmas." U.S. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon - Ritterbush - 2001 - American Anthropologist - Wiley Online Library Skip to Article Content Skip to Article Information These and other bizarre encounters suggest the park may be a portal between our world and distant star system. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties. This small calendar allowed for those living at Chaco Canyon to determine the beginning . Were thrilled to announcethat our award-winning film, The Mystery of Chaco Canyon is nowstreaming on Amazon Prime CLICK HERE, You can now purchase the DVD of our full-length documentary on Amazon CLICK HERE, Rent and stream the full version on Vimeo CLICK HERE. To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds toupgrade your browser. See page 43 of attached scanned book. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. The film has also streamed at 130 colleges and universities where 5,000 viewings have taken place in classrooms, student centers, dorm rooms and apartments for a total time viewed of 1,800 hours. Ancient Mona Lisa Mosaic Of Kadirli Discovered, 2500-Year-Old Objects Made From Goat Bones Discovered In Turkeys City Of Aigai, Fragment Of Unique Egyptian Sphinx Unearthed In North Israel, Ancient Symbol Seed Of Life Contains Hidden Secrets Of The Seven Days Of Creation, Siege Of Alesia: Last Decisive Battle That Ended Gallic Independence In France And Belgium, Ostrich Eggs Dated More Than 4,000 Years Discovered In Negev Desert Of Southern Israel, Artifacts Shed Light On 2,100-Year-Old Jewish Town In Judea Dated Back To Hasmonean-Era. Two hours later a rock chimney allows a narrow beam of sunlight to pass through, forming a Sun Dagger that illuminates the petroglyphs beneath it in a dynamic manner, similar to the solar marker located upon Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon. "The mountains are the most sacred places for the descendant Din and Pueblo peoples. The film reveals that between 850 and 1150 AD, the Chacoan people designed and constructed massive ceremonial buildings in a complex celestial pattern . James A. Wilson et al, Were timbers transported to Chaco using tumplines? Dibble, Matt (screenwriter). This research expands on previous samples of Chacoan Great Houses to include all those identified within downtown Chaco, as well as a small sample of halo and outlier Great Houses. For years archaeologists have assumed that Chaco Canyon was primarily an ancient trading center. Instead, we carried sand and heavy logs around using our heads, said Kram, who is a passionate runner in his free time. In the center of America's Four Corners Region, Chaco Canyon is an arid, desolate place, sprinkled with the occasional, lonely juniper tree, cactus, or sage bush. The study was published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Written byJan Bartek AncientPages.comStaff Writer, Runes Were Just As Advanced As Roman Alphabet Writing New Study, Ancient Burials Of Worlds First Horse Riders Found Near The Black Sea, Clevelands Prehistoric Sea Monster Had A Mouth Twice As Large As A Great White Shark, Mysterious Bronze Age Golden Tomb Unearthed In Armenia. Workable solstice horizon calendars are now confirmed at Casa Chiquita, Kin Kletso, Headquarters Site A, Wijiji, Bis saani, and 125 m from Roberts Small Pueblo at 29SJ 2538/2539. CU Boulder researchers have found that airborne coronavirus remains infectious for twice as long in drier airin part because saliva serves as a protective barrier around the virus, especially at low humidity levels. Scientists may have solved a Chaco Canyon mystery by hauling logs with their heads James Wilson, left, and Rodger Kram, right, use tumplines to carry a log weighing more than 130 pounds in Boulder's Chautauqua Park. Your feedback is important to us. or, by Daniel Strain, University of Colorado at Boulder. This documentary examines the ancient ruins of Chaco Canyon, built between 850 and 1150 A.D. in northwest New Mexico. Sofaer, Anna (screenwriter) Archaeologist Bill Lipe thinks religion was a . Multiple Great Houses exhibit two of these traditions in combination. They recall the brilliant knowledge of the ancestors that gave them control over natural forces, but suggest also the corrupting effect of such power. "I had Dr. Kram and James initially focus on walking greater and greater distances with what felt like light tumpline training loads," said Carzoli, who earned his doctorate in integrative physiology from CU Boulder in 2022. Kram got interested in Chaco Canyon several years ago. To construct these great houses, archaeologists have estimated that the Chacoans would have needed wood from some 200,000 trees, and those 16-foot-long wooden beams must have been transported from mountain ranges as far as 70 miles (110 km) away. The SSE orientation tradition continued during the peak of Bonito Phase construction activity (A.D. 1020-1100). Aerial and time lapse footage, computer modeling, and interviews with scholars show how the Chacoan culture designed, oriented and located its major buildings in relationship to the sun and moon. The ancient Native American ruins of a Great House in Chaco Culture National Historical Park It was just debilitating, Kram said. That's where we go to heal, to pray,' said Weiner, who will receive his doctorate in anthropology from CU Boulder later this spring. Chaco Canyon Worksheets. But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. University of Colorado Boulder Regents of the University of Colorado "As they became more comfortable with their training, we began alternating training days between carrying light loads for greater distances and heavier loads for shorter distances.". (Credit: Patrick Campbell/CU Boulder). Well hear their analysis, and what they think life may have been like for the child and her family. "Once we corrected the mass of the timbers," Wilson said, "that changed almost everything about how many people were required to carry those timbers, how much time it would take to cover 60 miles.". Directed by Anna Sofaer. By creating an account, you acknowledge that PBS may share your information with our member stations and our respective service providers, and that you have read and understand the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Millions of years of history reveal . Jen has worked at KPBS since 2000. Each attached a tumpline to one end of that log to share the load. This film describes and demonstrates the intricate and precise astronomical alignments among the many buildings spread over a wide desert area. The documentary is very well done, but its the PLACE thats the subject here. Chaco Canyon sits near the border between New Mexico and Colorado. The teaching materials in the Guide are designed to be used with the film THE MYSTERY OF CHACO CANYON. Pueblo leaders speak of the significance of Chaco to the Pueblo world today. New CU Boulder research finds that overweight populations have a 22% higher mortality risk than those of healthy weight, while obese populations have as much as double the risk. Riddle Of The Ancient Sarcophagus And Its Strange Properties Can Science Solve This Mystery? The astonishing discovery of an ancient celestial calendar in Chaco Canyon,, Tells the story of three indigenous communities and the land they struggle, An in-depth portrait of Edward S. Curtis, the preeminent photographer, 2023 Docuseek, LLCAll rights reserved | Privacy Statement | Accessibility Statement, astronomy, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico,; cosmology, Pueblo Bonito,; Robert Redford, architecture, solstice, sun, moon, petroglyphs, native americans, sun dagger, lunar cycle, equinox, celestial calendar, archaeology, Anasazi, Hopi, archaeology, art history, architecture,"The Mystery of Chaco Canyon",Bullfrog Films,doc; history; science; religion. Kram and a fellow researcher decided to test out the theorized method in the foothills outside of Boulder. "Tumplines allow one to carry heavier weights over larger distances without getting fatigued," said Wilson, now a medical student at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Robert Redford, The video becomes part of the ongoing dialogue between archeologists, anthropologists, and native peoples [It's] a multi-level phenomenon, like Chaco, which embraces complexity, beauty, and mystery. Rina Swentzell, Architect, Santa Clara Pueblo, "A stunning piece of work the graphics are astounding and the entire production is powerful." This program presents evidence that the Chacoan people expressed a complex solar and lunar cosmology in their magnificent architecture.The Mystery of Chaco Canyon, airing Monday, October 31, 2011 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV/HD (DT21.1/cable 11 and 1011), examines the deep mysteries presented by the massive prehistoric architectural remains found in Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico. For more information, contact Bullfrog Films, Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; 1-800-543-FROG . Dr. Brad Eden, UNLV, MC Journal'Make(s) a compelling case for this ancient people's astronomical prowess. Join this. Everybody else who was hiking there scratched their head and asked us what the heck we were doing, Kram recalled. of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History. This film is relevant to secondary- and college-level courses in Social Studies, Earth and Space Science, Traditional Literature, Pueblo Culture, Art, Symbols, and Architecture, . They first tried carrying a log on their shoulders. Use one of the services below to sign in to PBS: You've just tried to add this video to My List. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon examines the deep enigmas presented by the massive prehistoric remains found in Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico. Refereed proceedings of The Oxford VI International Conference on Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy and Culture and SEAC in 1999, Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the American Southwest, The Architecture of Chaco Canyon, edited by Stephen Lekson, Kim Malville, J. McKim Malville, Andy Munro, The Southwest School of Landscape Archaeology, Memory, Meaning, and Masonry: The Late Bonito Chacoan Landscape, Anasazi solar marker: The use of a natural rockfall, Religious Behavior in the Post-Chaco Years, The Housing of the World: About the Significance of Cosmographic Concepts for Habitation, The Astronomical Context of the Archaeology and Architecture of the Chacoan Culture, 2006 National Conference on the Beginning Design Student An Inquiry into the Intersection and Fusion of Astronomical Alignments and Sacred Geometry in the Design Process of Architecture, Foundation Studio, Naked-Eye Astronomy for Cultural Astronomers (2008), The Hooper Ranch Pueblo Sun Dagger Shrine Revisited - Revealing Greater Regional Significance, Possible astronomical references in the planning of the Great Hopewell Road, Visions of the Cosmos: Ceremonial Landscapes and Civic Plans (2008), Pueblo Folklore, Landscape Phenomenology and the Visual Poetics of Fajada Butte, Astronomy and the Design of Late Bonito Great Houses at Chaco Canyon, ARCHAEOASTRONOMY IN THE FIELD; METHODOLOGIES APPLIED IN CHACO CANYON, Ancestors and the sun: astronomy, architecture and culture at Chaco Canyon, 2013.