Dendrochronology and Structural Wood Use at Pueblo del Arroyo, Chaco...

Dendrochronology and Structural Wood Use atPueblo del Arroyo Chaco Canyon New Mexico

Thomas C Windes

U S National Park Service Albuquerque New Mexico

Pueblo del Arroyo was part of a cluster of greathouses in Chaco Canyon northwestern New Mexico duringthe peak of Chacoan expansion (AD 1000sndashearly 1100s) This greathouse has generally been ignored infavor of its larger neighbors Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl but Pueblo del Arroyo is also an important partof the Chaco core and its various construction episodes mirror events taking place in the canyon and in thegreater San Juan Basin This study examines the use of a large sample of structural wood to place the sitein its temporal framework as well as examine the organizational control exhibited by the need for structuralwood and its possible relationship to other contemporary sites in the Chaco Canyon core The presentanalysis indicates that the main work at Pueblo del Arroyo took place during a period of widespreadconstruction at Chaco in concert with numerous social economic and political changes perhapsbecoming a new center in the Chaco core

IntroductionPueblo del Arroyo located in northwestern New

Mexico (FIG 1) is an important Chacoan greathouse

because of its size and architecture its proximity in

Chaco Canyon to Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl

and the amount of excavation that took place there

Although massive standing architecture has been

exposed since it was abandoned (FIG 2) the work of

Neil Judd (1959) and Karl Ruppert revealed the sitersquos

importance They excavated about 60 rooms and

eight kivas between 1923 and 1926 while work was

also ongoing at nearby Pueblo Bonito Pueblo del

Arroyo contains about 290 rooms some of them

three or four stories tall and 23 kivas (Judd 1959 6ndash

7 Lekson 1984) Parts of the four-story structures are

still evident in the eastern section of the south wing

centered around Rooms 141 and 142 and Rooms 19

and 146 There is no preserved evidence for four-

story rooms in the southwestern section of the site

Judd secured a few tree-ring samples from the site

during his excavations and later Deric OrsquoBryan

under the auspices of the Gila Pueblo Foundation

collected additional tree-ring specimens in 1940 but

did no excavation In the 1950s Gordon Vivian

excavated several rooms and kivas including the Tri-

wall Structure (Vivian 1959) Rooms 139 and 141

and Kiva L as part of stabilization work

Stabilization of the site was necessary since much of

it had been exposed for 25 years after Juddrsquos work

Despite the wealth of information about Pueblo del

Arroyo Pueblo Bonito continues to attract the

majority of research Recently however there has

been renewed interest in Pueblo del Arroyo (FIG 3)

where the building alignments suggest a widespread

integrated planned layout of greathouses across time

and space (eg Doxtater 1991 2002 Stein et al 2003

Stein et al 1997 Stein et al 2007 Sofaer 1997 2007)

For example Doxtater (1991 173ndash175) believes that

it may be significant that the back wall of Pueblo del

Arroyo aligns with an axis connecting the sacred

Zuni Salt Lake south of Zuni Pueblo New Mexico

with the astronomically positioned Chimney Rock

Pueblo (Malville 1993) near Pagosa Springs

Colorado Chimney Rock Pueblo shares similar

building dates with Pueblo del Arroyo (AD 1070s)

The new dates have direct implications on Pueblo del

Arroyorsquos temporal placement within any proposed

alignment schemes and sequences of construction in

downtown Chaco Canyon There is much to be

learned from this understudied greathouse that

underwent a massive expansion in the early 1100s

since it is one of the final large canyon greathouses

built and exhibits the only Tri-wall Structure in the

Chacoan area

For its size Pueblo del Arroyo has the greatest

number of visible wood elements of any Chacoan

greathouse approximately 7ndash21 of the total ele-

ments are original The Chaco Wood Project crew

inventoried all visible architectural elements in

Pueblo del Arroyo to assess their size and condition

and to reassess the earlier tree-ring dating of the site

The majority of the new samples collected were cores

although many elements were pulled the butt-end cut

off and the remainder replaced in the socket and

78 Trustees of Boston University 2010DOI 101179009346910X12707320296757 Journal of Field Archaeology 2010 VOL 35 NO 1

stabilized Almost all of the earlier samples were from

sawn timbers The majority of the new samples that

were dated provided cutting or near-cutting dates

Most samples (FIG 4) came from the well-protected

first-story rooms (n5802 351 dates) and fewer

elements were found in the second story (n5376

30 of the total elements plus 15 more [1] possible

second story yielding 180 dates) and third-story

rooms (n549 4 with 11 dates)

Despite recent interest in Pueblo del Arroyo the

site chronology was formerly based on 46 dated

construction elements of a possible 18000 or more

elements (TABLE 1) At present 1536 pieces of wood

are documented primarily in the excavated sections

Although Judd encountered large amounts of woo-

den structural material during his work (primarily

from roofs FIG 5) the majority of the loose or

broken elements were discarded Tree-ring dating was

Figure 1 Location of Pueblo del Arroyo and Chaco Canyon in the southwestern United States

Windes Dendrochronology and Structural Wood Use

Journal of Field Archaeology 2010 VOL 35 NO 1 79

pioneered in the 1920s and Judd was instrumental in

its development but only large-diameter elements of

ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir proved useful with

this new method (Nash 1999 25ndash26) Thus only a

few well-preserved roof vigas (primary beams) were

sampled during Juddrsquos work

Deterioration of the exposed masonry and wooden

architecture following the 1920s excavations resulted in

considerable loss of structural integrity and necessitated

massive stabilization in 1949 and 1950 (Vivian et al

1951) Many door and ventilator lintels roof second-

aries (latillas) and some vigas were badly deteriorated

and discarded Fortuitously a large stockpile of prehi-

storic wood elements salvaged from rooms in Pueblo

Bonito that were crushed by Threatening Rock in 1941

and from the 1947 flood waters in the back rooms of

Chetro Ketl were the primary replacement elements

used during stabilization in Pueblo del Arroyo

Figure 3 Aerial view of Pueblo del Arroyo looking north Photograph by Fred Mang (US National Park Service)

Figure 2 Exploration of Pueblo del Arroyo in 1887 Looking north at the south wall of the South Wing Photograph by Victor

Mindeleff (US Bureau of American Ethnology)


80 Journal of Field Archaeology 2010 VOL 35 NO 1

Previous DatingOnly 63 tree-ring samples were retrieved from Pueblo

del Arroyo before 1970 with 46 of these yielding

dates all between 1029 and 1109 These few widely

scattered dates and the architectural plan were all

that Lekson (1984) had to interpret the construction

history of the site With a larger database now

available it is interesting to compare the original set

of dates published by Robinson Harrill and Warren

(1974 36ndash37) with the new data consisting of 496

new dates and 46 previous dates for a total of 542

(FIG 6) Dating done before 1970 revealed a small

early 1100s cluster of dates Other cutting dates were

spread over an 85-year period that masked specific

episodes of construction This is contrary to the

situation at Pueblo Bonito (Windes and Ford 1996)

where a greater diversity of dates was obtained from

a larger database

Approximately 291 (19) elements are modern

replacements or reused Anasazi elements taken from

historical Chetro Ketl and Pueblo Bonito stockpiles

About 90 elements are so deteriorated that no

samples are viable for tree-ring dating

The new larger sample (496 dates) failed to match

many of Juddrsquos cutting dates particularly those in the

1060s and earlier Although sampling error may be

Figure 4 Rooms and kivas yielding tree-ring dates at Pueblo del Arroyo



faulted here it is unlikely given the broad sampling

strategymdashroughly 82 of the visible wood was

sampled It is difficult to explain where these

anomalous cutting dates came from and why they

fail to fit the patterns evident in the larger sample

The loss of so many elements from stabilization and

the deep excavation areas that are no longer visible

may have affected present-day patterns The bias in

sampling mostly the large vigas which were often

reused may be the primary reason for such a broad

range of cutting dates derived from earlier sampling

attempts Few vigas have survived for the present

study but their dates suggest prehistoric procurement

from stocks used during constructions at Pueblo

Bonito and Chetro Ketl in the 1000s Nevertheless

there is archaeological evidence that some original

elements were prehistorically salvaged for use else-

where in the site (Judd 1959 40)

ResultsFifty-six dates fell between 1020 and 1060 (47

between 1035 and 1050) which match the peak of

the dated wood secured from the 1947 flood at

Chetro Ketl (Bannister 1965 139 146) Some of these

elements have small white cloth tags attached

occasionally with provenience information or the

surviving tacks that once affixed the cloth tags to

their sides that mark them as flood logs The majority

are historical replacements in repaired doorways and

ventilators Both the tags and the tree-ring dates

identify these flood logs with the 1949ndash1950 stabiliza-

tion repairs by Gordon Vivian these are not included

in Figure 6

Ten dates from the 1060s-period cluster within the

initial core rooms All came from vigas and six were

sampled prior to the present project Those that

supported the roofs in Rooms 44 and 46 provide the

best examples of in situ vigas dated to 1066 Later

dates from surrounding wall features and roof latillas

suggest that these vigas were reused rather than part

of the initial construction The wood species and

dates match some vigas used in Chetro Ketl thus it is

suggested that they came from a common prehistoric

stockpile of unused beams or that they were removed

from Chetro Ketl in prehistoric times where there

was much timber reuse during remodelings (Dean

and Warren 1983)

A group of 67 dates between 1074 and 1084 mark

an important period for the initial construction of the

site (FIG 7) These dates cluster in the central core

Figure 5 The partially intact roof and second-story floor in

Pueblo del Arroyo Room 16 in 1923 Photograph by O C

Havens (National Geographic Society)

Table 1 Wood requirements for Pueblo del Arroyo during the construction periods of the AD 1070s and AD 1100ndash1104

No ofelements Viga Latilla

Doorlintel

Ventlintel

Room roofshake (cu m)

Kivaradialpilaster

Kivaventlintel

Kivaroofbeam

Kiva roofshake(cu m)

Total(struct)

Total(shakes)

1070s Needed 156 2690 527 440 769 sq m60055385

16 50iexcl 800 985 sq m6005549

4629 72ndash184

Sampled(orig)

17 89 70 72 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 248 ndash

sampledof needed


No oftrees cut

52ndash156

897ndash2690

176ndash527

147ndash440

64ndash163 2ndash16 16ndash50 267ndash800 8ndash21 1557ndash4629

72ndash184

Needed 561 8283 1740 1410 2533 sq m600551267

28 100iexcl 1300 1669 sq m6005583

13422 223ndash569

1100ndash1104

Sampled(orig)

48 208 229 95 ndash 10 7 ndash ndash 597 ndash

sampledof needed


No oftrees cut

187ndash561

2761ndash8283

580ndash1740

470ndash1410


223ndash569

Total No oftrees cut

239ndash717

3658ndash10973

756ndash2267

617ndash1850


295ndash753

Number of juniper trees needed for shakes calculated by dividing shake volume by live juniper volumes growing in the East ChacoCommunity area (n59 S50236 cu m) and the Hospah NM area (n515 S506055 cu m) Average thickness of juniper splint layer inroofs is 5 cm Juniper splint volume needed per room based on 1070s roofs is 1 cu mEstimated two court kivas (not visible now) for 1070s construction Roof elements in kivas calculated from Pueblo Bonitorsquos Kiva L (D55 m 350 elements Judd 1964 180) Estimated 400 logs for Kiva L-size kivas and 500 for Kiva C Estimated maximum nine pilasterbasal logs per treeMaximum number of trees calculated as equal to number of elements needed for construction Minimum number of trees requiredcalculated by assuming an average of three elements per tree



that architecturally marks its early beginnings

(Lekson 1984) The position size and orientation

of these rooms point to their use as a habitation unit

comparable to the habitation unit observed at Pueblo

Alto built three or four decades earlier (Windes

1987a 15ndash25) The date cluster overlaps with a

similar cluster at Pueblo Bonito corresponding to a

massive addition to the southeastern part of Pueblo

Bonito

Sample dates of 1080 and 1081 are suspicious

because they match those sampled in the east wing of

Pueblo Bonito (Windes 2003 Windes and Ford 1996)

and in historical stockpiles at Bonito some of which

were reused in Pueblo Pintado during stabilization

All 14 1081 elements at Pueblo del Arroyo came from

suspected stabilization elements and thus are not

included in Figure 6

A few samples dated to the early 1080s at Pueblo

del Arroyo appear to be original because of their

association with date clusters in the late 1070s The

best example is from Door 42 in the west wall of

Room 34 where original first-story lintels yielded

cutting dates at 1075 1078 1082 and 1084 The latest

date is from an outer lintel the most exposed location

subject to natural deterioration and subsequent

replacement The 1082 date however is centered

within the doorway top where it is protected and

difficult to replace Oddly Vivian Rixey and Abel

(1951 156) state that new lintels were replaced in

both first-story doors although Door 42 appears

intact in the pre-stabilization photograph and is

considered to be original The opposite door (Door

45) which was clearly rebuilt yielded dates between

1031 and 1039 from reused Chetro Ketl elements and

a 1081 date from Pueblo Bonito wood Another 1082

date was obtained from a first-story viga in Room

102 in the north wing associated with three other

original vigas dated at 1056 1061 and 1076 All the

associated dated latillas and door and vent lintels

however were cut between 1100 and 1103

Apparently the vigas were reused prehistoric

elements

A few dates in the late 1070s from ventilators in

Rooms 94 and 95 and door lintels and a viga in

Room 36 may indicate that the initial building

(shown as heavy dashed lines) was somewhat larger

than the core unit shown in Figure 7 Room 41 also

yielded a door lintel date of 1076 but it was a modern

replacement The block of four rooms to which

Rooms 36 and 41 belong has been heavily stabilized

and repaired with numerous beams from Pueblo

Bonito and Chetro Ketl This small block of rooms

(Rooms 36ndash37 and 40ndash41) to the SE of the initial NndashS

roomblock yielded firepits that may mark two

habitation suites but their north-facing orientation

is highly unusual (north-facing habitation units are

extremely rare in puebloan sites) as is an EndashW wing

appended only on the south side of a NndashS oriented

roomblock without construction of a companion

north-side wing The north section where Kivas H

and I are now located contained earlier rooms (Judd

1959 77 82) perhaps similar to those in the south

wing

The majority of the prehistoric cutting dates

between 1100 and 1104 (n5298) from Pueblo del

Arroyo mark substantial tree harvesting After

construction of the initial core of rooms in the

1070s the remaining big rooms and wings were

added to the site during a single episode of construc-

tion Dates from these rooms that fall outside this

construction episode correspond to elements from the

1949ndash1950 stabilization work Nevertheless the

amount of repair required in the excavated areas

originally built in the early 1100s and the probable

Figure 6 Cutting and near-cutting tree-ring dates from Pueblo del Arroyo between AD 1066 and 1109



stockpile of wood collected during excavation from

collapsed roofs and doors resulted in much stabiliza-

tion by Judd that cannot be identified from tree-ring

dates alone

Several areas of construction at the site (the plaza

arc of rooms the kivas and rooms that filled in the

corners of the arc the late batch of kivas in front and

inside of the 1070s roomblock and the Tri-wall

Structure) yielded no tree-ring dates and little wood

and were butted against units built between 1100 and

1105 or afterwards (see below) The early 1100s

ceramics recovered from these units testify to

constructions in the 1110s and 1120s or perhaps as

late as the 1130s and 1140s (Lekson 1984 223) prior

to the onset of a long devastating regional drought

(Dean 1996 46)

Two major episodes of stabilization in the 1920s

and 1949ndash1950 account for the majority of modern

replacement wood marked by 20 historical dates

Door and ventilator elements were sometimes put

back into the features from which they came

probably not in their original order but the work

was rarely documented The wood harvested in the

early 1100s was probably used for the 20th-century

Figure 7 The late AD 1070s and early 1080s construction at Pueblo del Arroyo (in heavy black lines) Heavy dashed lines

indicate a possible larger contemporary structure based on a few 1070s tree-ring dates



repairs across the site with the result that it does not

appear out of context when dated Many of these

reused early 1100s elements (eg the larger-diameter

ones) were formerly latillas from collapsed roofs that

were cut-to-size for use as lintels but only examina-

tion of their now-hidden ends could confirm their

status as repair rather than original elements Many

of the doors repaired by Judd yielded only early

1100s dates which suggests that either the lintels were

not replaced or that he placed the originals back into

the doors from which they came Judd used only

pinon to replace rotted lintels otherwise he (1959

15) retrieved modern ponderosa pine from Smith

Lake near Crownpoint New Mexico to replace the

large elements His use of pinon stands in sharp

contrast to its near absence elsewhere at the site and

in other greathouses pinon dates in the 1920s

confirm their uniqueness At least one timber from

his repairs dated to 1898 suggesting that historical

wood was also available nearby from the Wetherill-

era buildings

Site ConstructionThe numerous tree-ring dates from Pueblo del Arroyo

do not indicate the exact periods of building at the site

Instead the sample reflects the harvest periods for the

trees used in construction Rather than marking multi-

year periods for sequential years of construction in the

clusters of dates in the 1070s and early 1100s the

mixture of cutting dates from elements within the same

features attests to planned construction harvesting

and stockpiling of the necessary wooden elements

followed by the actual construction Some construc-

tion activities (eg leveling the site area pouring the

foundations with puddled adobe and setting the lower

walls Brown et al 2008 238) may have started prior to

tree harvesting but could not have progressed until the

first-story door and ventilator lintels were installed

Initial construction probably began in the late summer

or early fall of 1078 or shortly thereafter and resumed

around 1104

Two dates of 1105 suggest at least some construc-

tion activity took place after the fall of 1104 It seems

unlikely that the massive early 1100s construction

could have been completed in the waning months of

1104 Rather at least one full construction season in

1105 was probably necessary to complete the three-

to-four-story-high rooms and the two wings One

1105 date is tentative but mixed in with roof latillas of

1103ndash1104 and 1070s ages These elements were

burned to the wall from massive fires which attest

to their original prehistoric context The other 1105

element was reused for a door repair by Judd but

probably came from elsewhere at the site as it does

not correspond with any other dated samples from

the canyon

Finally a date of 1109 and the different architec-

ture of the South Annex and Tri-wall complexes

which are butted against the main pueblorsquos south and

west walls respectively indicate a later construction

episode The gap of five years between the tree-ring

date and the mass of earlier 1100s dates is a short

period to account for the difference in construction

styles of the two units but it is supported by other

evidence (see below)

Plaza arc roomsAn arc of rooms encloses the plaza to the east but few

of these rooms and their associated kivas have been

excavated This architectural unit abuts the later

(1105) pueblo wings and thus postdates them The

corners where the arc of rooms attaches to the main

pueblo were filled later with rooms and kivas similar

to additions in other greathouses that may mark

some late residential occupation (Wills 2009) With

one exception no tree-ring samples are derived from

this architecture In 2005 a trail into the plaza from

the park road was tested before heavy equipment was

moved in for a stabilization project A trench across

the arc of rooms yielded a thick upright post in wall

masonry less than a meter east of Room 122 this

specimen (FS 6504) was later lost

BalconiesBalconies appear to have been common along the

north walls of some greathouses such as Pueblo

Bonito (Lekson 1984 37) and Chetro Ketl (Lekson

et al 2007 164) At Pueblo del Arroyo poles formed

a balcony that ran the entire length of the second

story north wall of the south wing bordering the

interior plaza Twenty two of these poles were

sampled and 15 yielded dates of 1100ndash1104 Some-

times these poles served solely to support the balcony

while others were second-story roof latillas that were

cut extra long to extend through the roomsrsquo north

walls and out over the interior plaza Photographs of

the north wall of the north wing roomblock in 1887

show long exterior beams (FIG 8) that must have held

another balcony These could provide the best

examples of actual-size greathouse balconies which

shielded the north walls from the fierce summer sun

and may have served as work areas

KivasSeveral episodes of multiple kiva construction

occurred at Pueblo del Arroyo but few kivas were

excavated and even fewer yielded datable wood

Reliable tree-ring dates are now difficult to obtain

from these kivas because the only structural wood

elements left are the embedded horizontal radial

pilaster logs These logs are typically juniper a

species difficult to date in Chaco and they have been

exposed to the elements since excavation leaving the

majority of the logs with badly eroded outer surfaces

In addition many of the pilaster logs were prehis-

torically modified into a rectangular shape resulting

in great loss of the outer growth rings Often these



logs are in good condition with original outside

surfaces protected within the walls but access to

these protected surfaces is difficult Few of the kiva

pilaster logs appear to have been salvaged or

individually replaced

No kivas are identifiable from the 1070s construc-

tion at the site (but see below) although earlier

pitstructures probably exist to the east of Rooms 44ndash

55 under the cluster of later kivas Judd (1959 33 36ndash

40) encountered part of an early kiva under the walls

of Rooms 44 46 and 47 and later obtained a cutting

date of 1086 from one of the cribbed-roof pine poles

resting on the southwestern pilaster The kiva

postdates the lowest floor in Room 44 where the

vigas dated to 1066 while the Room 47A viga that

was cut off near the walls to make room for the kiva

also dated to 1066 While these vigas may be reused

the construction of the two rooms in the 1070s is

reasonable on stratigraphic grounds A kiva replaced

Room 47A about eight years later A similar event

occurred at Pueblo Alto (Windes 1987a) when kivas

replaced most of the original living rooms at about

1070 or 1080 this also occurred at several other

greathouses and indicates that a major reorganization

took place in the canyon area that impacted the

greathouse inhabitants

Tree-ring dates have been obtained from six other

kivas Two ventilator lintels cut at 1100 came from

Kiva L high in the north wing which was partly

excavated by Vivian in 1957 and revealed an earlier

kiva of McElmo-style (here referring to the style of

masonry but this may also denote a large boxed-in

kiva layout often in a second-story level surrounded

by several tiers of small rooms) construction that had

been remodeled The remaining kiva dates all came

from badly weathered pilaster logs none were cutting

dates The very large Kiva C opposite and south of

Kiva L in the south wing was burned probably as

part of a closing ritual along with many of the rooms

adjacent to it in the southwestern corner of the

roomblock Kiva C was built as the core structure

adjacent to roomblocks on three sides in the South

Wing a building similar in plan to the modular units

constructed later at Kin Kletso New Alto and other

late greathouses (Lekson 1984) This kiva (wall-to-

wall D 85 m) yielded two dates of 978 and 1045r

(r5the cutting date) from the eight pilasters and

1064vv (vv5missing an unknown number of outer

rings) from a roofing element None of these help to

confirm that the kiva was constructed in the 1100s

although roof poles from an associated interstitial

space to the NE date to 1101

Kivas F and G located in front and east of the

initial NndashS roomblock built in the late 1070s appear

to be late because of their association with later

architecture but their dated pilaster logs hint of

earlier origins perhaps associated with the initial

roomblock Kiva F yielded five pilaster-log dates of

1007 1011 1019 1024 and 1030 all with non-cutting

(vv) outer rings except that the 1011 and 1024

samples were considered by the author to exhibit the

last outer rings (ie were near cutting dates)

Considering that all were very old juniper logs

most with pith dates in the 700s the cluster of dates

from these altered logs seems surprisingly tight and

early Given the size species and age of these logs

they are unlikely to have been reused elements unless

they were moved as a set from an earlier kiva large

juniper roofing elements are almost never used in

canyon greathouse construction Adjacent Kiva G

yielded only a single pilaster date from an 83-year-old

juniper log but it also dated to the same period

1007vv Although the clustering may be fortuitous

the central location of Kiva G in front of the initial

roomblock suggests that it was associated with the

early rooms but later renovated along with Kiva F A

Figure 8 The North Wing of Pueblo del Arroyo looking east in 1887 Note the balcony poles along the North Wing exterior

Silhouette of Pueblo Bonito in the left background Photograph by Victor Mindeleff (US Bureau of American Ethnology)



central kiva positioned in front of an initial great-

house roomblock was established at other great-

houses including nearby Hungo Pavi and the West

Ruin at Aztec

The Tri-wall Structure and South AnnexNo wood is preserved in the Tri-wall Structure (FIG 9)

so its construction date remains unknown although it

postdates the early 1100s construction of the main

structure to which it abuts Based on published

accounts (Bannister 1965 189ndash190 Robinson et al

1974 36ndash37 Vivian 1959 68) Lekson (1983 19)

placed the single tree-ring date of 1109 as deriving

from Room 1 of the Tri-wall Structure From this date

and comparison with other tri- and bi-walled struc-

tures Lekson proposed that the unusual structure was

built in the early 1100s The confusion over the Tri-

wall date is clarified by statements from Vivian (1959

68) lsquolsquothat one kiva and seven rooms of the Tri-wall

group abut against the south wing (ie the South

Annex) of Pueblo del Arroyorsquorsquo and that the date

obtained from Room 1 belonged to lsquolsquoone of the Tri-

wall level rooms excavated in 1926rsquorsquo (italics by author)

A cluster of roofing stubs in Room 1 of the South

Annex including a 10 cm-diameter element that was

saw-cut and resampled by the author (it failed to date)

are undoubtedly those that Judd (1959 98) sampled in

Rooms 1 and 2 of the South Annex a saw-cut sample

replaced in the door jamb of Room 44 during

stabilization is probably part of the 1109 element

originally found in Room 1 The 2 m of soil banked

against the back wall of the main ruin in which the Tri-

wall was excavated suggests that the Tri-wall con-

struction is much later than 1105 Vivian (1990 64ndash64

386) suggests that it postdates 1150

Two early Pueblo III culinary jars on the floor and

an archaeomagnetic date (AD 1090iexcl21 Windes

2008 139) from the firepit in South Annex Room 3

Figure 9 Plan of the Tri-wall Structure that was attached to the west side of Pueblo del Arroyo



the presence of two Chaco-McElmo Black-on-white

bowls in nearby Room 5 (Windes 1985) and a

McElmo Black-on-white canteen in Room 2 (Judd

1959 104ndash105) temporally agree with the tree-ring

date for the early 1100s construction in Room 1 and

use of the South Annex rooms after construction of

the main south wing in 1104 or thereafter

The suite of small rooms and kivas that formed the

South Annex follows similar late incursion patterns

in the plaza corners of Pueblo del Arroyo and other

greathouses The suites have small habitation and

storage rooms and two small kivas that represent

single- or dual-family domestic units Small domestic

suites were also placed in the plazas at Pueblo Alto

and Pueblo Bonito (Windes 1987a 150ndash151 373

2003 26) while several more were built in the Annex

just outside the west wall of Aztecrsquos West Ruin

(Morris 1924 227ndash257) Salmon Ruin was also later

arranged into scattered small-unit domestic suites

(Adams and Reed 2006 86ndash87) These changes reflect

a shift in the use of greathouse space to small-house

habitational units built by newcomers that probably

moved into abandoned architectural units (Wills

2009)

Use of Species and Wood Source AreasThe wood from Pueblo del Arroyo was procured in a

different manner than that from nearby Pueblo

Bonito (Windes and Ford 1996) and Chetro Ketl

(Dean and Warren 1983) There is still reliance on

young straight conifers for much of the building but

for the first time the construction elements are not

overwhelmingly ponderosa pine (TABLE 2) Through-

out the two primary periods of construction (1070s

and the early 1100s) ponderosa pine remains almost

the exclusive species for large-diameter vigasmdashas it

does from the beginning of canyon greathouse

construction Smaller elements for roof secondary

poles and aperture lintels often came from other tree

species

Compared to other nearby greathouses the selec-

tion of spruce and fir (17) and Douglas-fir (14) for

construction sets Pueblo del Arroyo apart While the

growth characteristics of the trees are similar in terms

of age diameter and uniformity the stands from

which they are gathered differ from those used in

adjacent greathouses The reliance on high-altitude

conifers may have resulted from the depletion of

ponderosa pine at lower altitudes for the construction

of the earlier greathouses Chetro Ketl yielded more

spruce and fir (23 of the total) and ponderosa pine

(62 versus 53 at Pueblo del Arroyo) but less

Douglas-fir (8) and Populus sp (4 versus 9) a

difference that is Chi-square significant in the

selection of structural wood at the two sites

(n51560 df52 xc25377 r50)

Reynolds and her colleagues (2005) examined the

trace element strontium from 12 ponderosa pine

Pueblo del Arroyo samples which indicated that the

primary source of the pine may have been forests in

the Chuska Mountains 90 km to the west although

some may have come from the northern La Plata or

San Juan Mountains much farther away than the

Chuskas An earlier study by English and his

colleagues (2001) of 12 spruce and fir samples from

Pueblo del Arroyo also suggests that most specimens

came from the Chuska Mountains but two may have

come far to the SE in the San Mateo Mountains near

Grants New Mexico As many as four or five of

Englishrsquos samples were reused logs obtained from

Chetro Ketl during stabilization The variety of

different species utilized by the builders of Pueblo

del Arroyo is currently found in the Chuska

Mountains (Windes 1987a table 765)

The dominance of species other than ponderosa

pine for the initial construction occurs at a rate of

Table 2 The structural use of sampled wood by species at Pueblo del Arroyo

Species

Element function

Total Roofviga

Rooflatilla

Balconypole

Doorlintel

Ventlintel Post Other Intra-mural

Kivapilaster

Alder ndash ndash ndash 1 12 ndash ndash ndash ndash 13 11Douglas-fir 1 46 2 72 40 1 1 ndash ndash 163 14Juniperus sp 1 4 ndash ndash 4 1 2 3 22 37 32Non-coniferous ndash ndash ndash ndash 2 ndash ndash ndash ndash 2 02Pinon ndash 2 ndash 19 6 ndash ndash ndash ndash 27 23Ponderosa pine 103 162 18 221 70 4 6 27 5 616 529Populus sp (unclassified) 1 6 ndash 18 30 0 3 ndash ndash 58 5Aspen ndash 47 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 47 4Cottonwood ndash ndash ndash 2 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 2 02Sprucefir (unclassified) 14 33 ndash 82 42 2 3 5 2 183 157Abies sp (fir) 1 5 ndash 1 1 1 0 ndash ndash 9 08Picea sp (spruce) ndash 2 ndash ndash 3 ndash ndash 2 ndash 7 06Totals 121 307 20 416 210 9 15 37 29 1164 100 104 264 17 357 180 08 13 32 25 ndash 100

Includes 1 kiva ventilator (Kiva L) with 28 lintels (only eight could be sampled and these were of ponderosa pine Douglasndashfir andsprucefir) Includes wall pegs (3) and loose pieces Includes intramurals tie beams and basal wall supports



almost 21 This sample is skewed by the 32 aspen

latillas used in Room 44 (Tennessen et al 2002) the

only roof containing all Populus sp documented at

the site Nevertheless without this roof ponderosa

pine was still selected less than half the time for small

architectural elements (ie not vigas) This contrasts

with the later construction in the early 1100s when

ponderosa pine was preferred almost 21 over other

species which indicates a shift in procurement areas

Sampling successOverall 49 of the 1060 conifer samples taken from

Pueblo del Arroyo have provided dates As expected

the dating success declines among the smaller diameter

elements and results also vary by species Favored

ponderosa pine vigas produced the best results (79

dated) Overall ponderosa pine (62 dated of the

total pine sampled) and Douglas-fir (47) yielded the

best results from the site discounting the rare species

of pinon (61) and juniper (39) As a group spruce

and fir date poorly (12 success) with the best results

obtained from viga samples (22) Populus sp (2)

alder (0) and non-coniferous (0) samples almost

never date The two aberrant samples of Populus sp

which dated to 1101 come from second-story venti-

lator lintels Considering the amount of Populus sp

used at the site (9) and the large number of small-

diameter ventilator samples taken the dating success

at the site is very good

Harvest periodsTree growth occurs only during a short time of the

year when temperatures and moisture are adequate

(Ahlstrom 1985 Windes and McKenna 2001 fig 2)

The response of some species of trees to environ-

mental conditions in the Southwest provides the

unique signatures of ring growth used for dating By

determining the status of the final growth ring present

in a specimen it is possible to infer the period of the

year when it died An incomplete final growth ring

signifies that the tree was cut during the early spring-

early fall season A complete ring denotes that the

growth process had stopped sometime in the fall but

had not yet commenced again by early spring of the

following year Thus specimens that date with a

complete final ring were obtained from a tree that

naturally died (or had been cut) by fall of the dated

year or was cut sometime in the early following year

before new growth commenced

Different species exhibit different periods of yearly

growth and growing season lengths that help deter-

mine when a group of mixed species was harvested

These periods vary by timber area and species and are

imprecisely known Douglas-fir for instance may

start and finish growth early (May or June) compared

to ponderosa pine (May to September) and spruce and

fir (June to August) In high elevations Douglas-fir

may start new growth as early as March and finish

growth as early as June (Fritts et al 1965 120) Pinon

grows between late May and early September At

higher elevations such as those found at Mesa Verde

pinon may start growth in early June and finish by late

July or August (Fritts et al 1965 120)

The record from Pueblo del Arroyo provides

evidence for the periods of tree harvest (TABLE 3)

The sample for the initial harvesting in the 1070s is

not clearly defined owing to small sample size but it

Table 3 Harvest periods during the 1070s and 1100s for structural wood at Pueblo del Arroyo

Species Ponderosa pine Douglas-fir Sprucefir Spruce Juniper Pop-ulus Total

Season Inc Com Inc Com Inc Com Com Com IncYear 1074 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 2 ndash ndash ndash 2 541075 ndash 2 ndash 1 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 3 811076 1 2 1 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 4 1081076z 3 1 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 4 1081077 3 1 ndash 1 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 5 1351077z 3 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 3 811078 4 4 1 ndash 2 ndash ndash ndash ndash 11 2971078z ndash 2 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 2 541079 1 ndash 2 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 3 81Subtotal 15 11 4 2 2 2 ndash ndash ndash 37 999 405 324 108 54 54 54 ndash ndash ndash 999 ndash1099z 4 4 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 8 311100 10 45 ndash 1 ndash 1 1 ndash ndash 58 2271101 9 9 2 1 ndash 1 ndash ndash 1 23 901101z 9 2 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 11 431102 14 3 6 4 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 27 1051102z 1 2 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 3 121103 17 43 4 17 2 ndash ndash 1 ndash 84 3281104 26 3 7 1 ndash ndash 3 ndash ndash 40 1561105 2 ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash ndash 2 08Subtotal 92 111 19 24 2 2 4 1 1 256 100 359 433 74 94 08 08 16 04 04 100 ndash

Season Inc5Incomplete outer ring tree cut during growing season (between late spring and early fall depending upon species)Com5Complete outer ring tree cut during dormant season (between fall and spring) Condition of outer ring not noted for all cuttingdate samples Yearszreflects the possibility that one or two outer rings may be missing



reveals that trees were cut in 1076 with incomplete

rings as well as a few trees that had not yet started

growth (ie dated to 1075) Conversely it may be

argued that a few trees were cut in late 1075 with the

major effort expanded during the summer of 1076

The same patterns exist through 1077 and 1078 with

a sudden drop in cutting afterwards Most years in

the 1070s show that a small majority of sampled

elements had incomplete rings Whichever pattern

existedmdashharvesting twice a year or just oncemdashthe

initial harvest effort was concentrated between 1076

and 1078 A small sample of trees dated to the years

1070ndash1074 but have characteristics (z or zz rings)

that suggest that the last few years of the treersquos life

were stressful with minimum tight ring-growth

Some rings are probably missing making it difficult

to assess the final death year It is likely that these

elements came from dead or dying trees collected

during the major period of harvest between 1076 and

1078

The initial construction strategy in the 1070s may

have been altered in favor of a more logical plan of

using cured timbers described above The few vigas

that dated to the proposed construction period were

cut the earliest (1076) during the three years of

harvest but the majority of the roof latillas were cut

in the final year (1078) In contrast the majority of

the earliest vigas were not cut during the initial

harvest but were scavenged or selected from earlier

stockpiles and then all the elements were utilized in

the late 1070s or early 1080s

The expanded construction at the site in the early

1100s provides a more reliable indication of harvest

strategies A large number of samples (n538) dated

to the late 1080s and 1090s but 26 of them exhibited

the growth indicators of weathered dead or dying

trees The majority dated to 1098 and 1099 (n515)

and all revealed terminal ring symbols (zv zvv

zzv or zzvv) that suggest unhealthy trees

(Ahlstrom 1985 614ndash617) The large collection of

dead trees dated to 1098 and 1099 just after a

prominent warm dry period between 1089 and 1092

(Van West and Grissino-Mayer 2005 table 331)

when the die-off of trees may have accelerated These

elements are always associated with large clusters of

samples firmly dated in the early 1100s and they

must represent trees harvested with the later dated

elements The selection of dead trees was narrowly

restricted by Chacoan standards only those less than

a decade or two old were selected for construction

The initial tree harvest for the later additions began

late in the growing season of 1100 the majority of the

73 samples (almost exclusively ponderosa pine) were

cut with complete rings but a quarter of them were

incomplete This suggests cutting in September or

early October when most trees had stopped summer

growth The smaller 1101 sample reflects mostly

incomplete growth suggesting that trees were cut

slightly earlier late in the growing season of 1101 and

perhaps in smaller numbers The pattern of 1101 is

repeated in 1102 smaller numbers of trees were cut

late in the growing season (ie August or

September) In 1103 we see the pattern of 1100

repeated large numbers of trees were cut mostly with

complete outer rings but a third have incomplete

rings For the first time Douglas-firs were harvested

in large numbers with many cut in the spring during

its short growing season Finally the 1104 dates

reveal mostly incomplete outer rings but there were

fewer elements mirroring the pattern of 1101 and

1102 There are almost no dates in the following

years marking the cessation of major tree harvesting

In summary it appears that major tree-felling

efforts occurred late in the growing season of

September or early October in 1100 and 1103 with

smaller efforts in 1101 1102 and 1104 that took

place slightly earlier in the year (late August or in

September) with the exception of Douglas-fir

Proveniences with large clusters of dates show that

no single yearrsquos elements were exclusively cut between

1100 and 1104 Instead mixed cutting dates within

the same architectural units indicate that tree harvest-

ing took place over four years (1100ndash1104) before the

actual construction occurred in 1104 or shortly

afterwards Thus in the first four years trees were

cut and then stockpiled before construction took

place allowing the wood to cure and for the full

supply of wood to be accumulated

Despite the length of the period for amassing the

construction wood for Pueblo del Arroyo there was

not differential selection of tree species for specific

tasks Wood for lintels latillas and vigas was cut in

approximately proportional numbers based on the

number of each class that dated A different strategy

that might seem appropriate given our knowledge of

construction (Bannister and Robinson 1978 133

Windes and McKenna 2001) was not practiced by

the Chacoans in this casemdashcutting the large diameter

vigas first so that their greater weight and bulk would

be offset by a longer period of curing (drying) and

then cutting the roof latillas last because they are the

least essential component for completing wall con-

struction and are much lighter elements to carry The

effort required to haul in fresh heavy vigas (Syngg and

Windes 1998) for Pueblo del Arroyo suggests that

large labor crews were involved and that some change

from earlier transportation methods had occurred It

might be that more laborers were available to harvest

and transport timbers because no other greathouses

are known to have undergone major construction in

the years 1100ndash1105 In addition the period was one

of increased moisture when more food should have

been available to support specialized activities Among

large construction projects in Chaco the early 1100s



additions to Pueblo del Arroyo involved the most

estimated labor hours and person trips to procure

timbers (Lekson 1984 257ndash267 Windes and

McKenna 2001 table 4) This effort would have

required suprahousehold organizational capabilities

to schedule and mobilize long-distance acquisition

of timber that superseded almost all previous

construction projects

Correlates of Social BehaviorThe Pueblo del Arroyo samples provide insights into

the strategies of tree harvesting for two prehis-

toric construction periods which are informative

about the changing strategies of construction and

probable shifts in the oversight and control of

these building projects First the trees destined for

Pueblo del Arroyo rarely came from a common

canyon stockpile generated from multiple construc-

tion efforts but the majority of these were used in the

early construction The Pueblo del Arroyo building

periods are unique for known greathouse construc-

tions in the canyon Trees cut for the addition of the

southeastern part of Pueblo Bonito were harvested

only a few years after the earliest construction at

Pueblo del Arroyo with some cuttings overlapping

the two periods Laborers could have harvested

timbers for the two sites during a continuous process

of successive cutting years but the ratio of species use

varied between the two greathouses suggesting that

different forest stands were harvested perhaps by

separate labor crews

Second we do not know how the trees were

processed for delivery to the sites whether they were

trimmed debarked cut to preplanned lengths or

whether the ends were finished before shipment If

this work was conducted on the site it left no

evidence although we would expect that wood debris

would have been used for fuel or other crafts The

paucity of axes in the greathouses (Breternitz 1997

991ndash994 Windes 1987b 294ndash296) suggests that on-

site axe-work was rare and that the majority of work

was completed before shipment Bundles of the small

elements for lintels could have been carried on the

back (Windes and McKenna 2001 131 133) but

larger elements required more coordinated effort

Vigas in particular must have been carried by teams

perhaps using latillas under the vigas as the carrying

poles (Snygg and Windes 1998) a method demon-

strated by Zuni workers for Judd (1925 234) during

his investigations at Pueblo Bonito It seems prudent

that wood preparation would be completed before

shipment to make the elements easier to transport

and to eliminate the bulk waste and extraneous

weight (limbs bark and the wood from cutting the

elements to size) A curing time of three to five years

would have been necessary to dry vigas and

lessen their carrying weight (Snygg and Windes

1998 17ndash18)

Considerable effort was expended to finish the

rough axe-cut ends of the Chaco beams which for

other Southwestern societies examined by the author

are left unmodified after cutting Exposed and hidden

viga ends and latillas were typically whittled-flat

presumably with sharp-flake cutting tools Of the 274

recorded prehistoric modified beam ends 77

revealed whittled- (nibbled- or nicked-) flat ends

the highest for any greathouse (Windes and

McKenna 2001 fig 5 table 2) A large set of these

crafted beams survives in the intact roofs of Rooms 8

and 9 where all the visible latilla ends were carefully

flattened Tools for this activity have not been

identified at the sites but our lack of knowledge of

woodworking has precluded their identification in the

material culture (Windes and McKenna 2001 fig 4)

In rare instances when deadwood was used the ends

were sanded flat The special care exhibited in the

roofs of Rooms 8 and 9 suggests the importance of

these enclosed spaces and the specialized efforts of a

single individual or of an exceptionally skilled

construction crew Room 9 is also unusual in its

extraordinary length of 34 m (FIG 10) although it was

later subdivided

Third expectations for organization of the harvest

and transportation of the elements range from

individual social units to specialized labor How

was the wood distributed for construction at the site

Species distribution within the features suggests that

often but not always elements from the same or

Figure 10 The long corridor of Room 9 in Pueblo del Arroyo

looking west in about 1925 Note the bark removal marks

along the replacement beam under the second-story wall

Photograph by O C Havens (National Geographic Society)



similar trees were kept together until placed in a

feature For rare species such as Douglas-fir spruce

and fir this would be difficult to achieve if the wood

had been stockpiled without regard to individual

construction units For instance samples from some

late roof latillas in individual rooms are almost

entirely Douglas-fir even though proportionally the

species comprises only 14 of the total This is

particularly evident in the southeastern section

where Rooms 13ndash14 21 and 23ndash24 yielded latilla

samples that were exclusively Douglas-fir spruce-fir

or both This means that beams for individual rooms

may have been pre-ordered and kept together during

their transportation from the source to the site

Overall species identification was determined to

some extent in 66 roofs at the site

The use of aspen for all roof latillas in Room 44

illustrates the planned selection of a single species cut

at a far distance and kept together during transit for

use in a single roof construction The adjacent Room

43 contains some aspen latilla stubs but these were

stabilized and it is unclear if they are original or not

Several other rooms also contain selected rare species

While the Room 43 and 44 roofs are unusual in their

use of aspen in Chaco Canyon the beam ends reveal

little alternation after the initial axe-cut which

suggests that the additional labor required to flatten

the ends was not performed This could be a result of

the replacement of the roofs it is clear that the

standards for the beam end treatments here were less

rigorous than many others Excavations revealed that

Rooms 44 and 47 were inhabited they were sooted

and contained firepits and other features associated

with domestic use A row of habitation suites facing

east may have been the primary component of the

initial roomblock The beam-end sample (n525)

from the earliest constructed rooms is small but only

40 exhibit flattened ends This suggests that the

necessity of this extra-laborious work on beam ends

greatly increased later during the early 1100s con-

struction perhaps in response to increased ritual

activities or displays of prestige at the site

Harvest totals and impactsVast quantities of trees were cut for greathouse

construction in Chaco Canyon An estimated 26000

elements procured for construction at Chetro Ketl

suggested that about 18700 trees were cut (Dean and

Warren 1983 205 table V 5) while an estimated

25000ndash50000 trees were cut for Pueblo Bonito

(Windes and Ford 1996 297) At Pueblo del

Arroyo between about 6000 and 18000 trees were

cut (TABLE 1) Few Chacoan elements are matched to

the same tree therefore the numbers are based

mostly on the premise that a single large element

represents a single tree Efforts to expedite matches

are part of the tree-ring laboratory analysis (Richard

Warren personal communication 1994) for instance

there are numerous matches in the sample recovered

from Pot Creek Pueblo (Crown 1991 313 footnote

2) Matching is most applicable for elements with

long ring series and distinguishing anomalies There

are cases where matches are inevitable (eg the

burned fragmented roofing in the Alto refuse

mound Windes 1987a 211) and yet fail to produce

any duplicates Thus the estimation of numbers

procured for a single construction event is hampered

by the quality of the data For the most part the lack

Figure 11 Location of Pueblo del Arroyo and other major sites in and around Chaco Canyon



of significant taper for long elements plus the clusters

of high altitude species within the same features

indicate harvesting of stands that yielded multiple

elements from individual trees which is reflected in

the higher estimated number of total elements in

Table 1

The recent sampling at Pueblo del Arroyo relied

heavily on small elements with short ring series and

so identifying duplicates is difficult Duplicate

matches at Chaco may be hampered by a number

of factors exclusive to the area Many of the

specimens exhibit short ring records from rapidly

growing saplings which limit the specimen varia-

bility For instance Bannisterrsquos laboratory notes cite

the similar growth characteristics of the roof latillas

to a particular yearrsquos frost ring from Room 93 in

Chetro Ketl and attributes these to a single groove of

trees Most limiting to the study is the prevailing use

of small-diameter core samples that make matches

difficult Lastly exhaustive study for duplicates in

large samples is not always carried out because of

time constraints and the need to reexamine all

previously analyzed samples For sites like Pueblo

Bonito and Chetro Ketl gathering all the samples for

matching analysis from different projects can be

formidable and costly

Aside from difficulties in matching duplicates

there is the question of harvest effort The short ring

series and small trunk taper ratio of much of the

Pueblo del Arroyo wood indicate widespread cutting

of fast-growing saplings in wet climatic localesmdashtrees

ideal for yielding multiple elements The same rare

species of trees utilized in individual features and the

slight differences in their pith dates suggest that

multiples were cut from the same tree stem Selection

of these trees also reduces the number of cuts needed

for individual elements and provides long even-

tapered elements that yield symmetrical sets of

feature elements The uniformity of elements used

in construction appears to have been standardized

during the late 11th-century greathouse construc-

tions but it contrasts with other cultural traditions

Given the considerable effort and organization

required to harvest the elements for Pueblo del

Arroyo labor could have been economized by using

residents from near the wood procurement areas

such as those living along the eastern slope of the

Chuska Mountains rather than residents of Chaco

Canyon (Windes and McKenna 2001 135ndash136)

Wills (2000 35) argues that the act of timber

harvesting for greathouses is part of the calendrical

sequence of communal activities that follow astro-

nomical cycles Thus work parties gathering timbers

in the distant mountains are symbolically connected

to the form and function of greathouses While all

three greathouses probably obtained much of their

structural wood from the Chuska Mountains

(Reynolds et al 2005) the variety of wood species

obtained indicates different sources for each great-

house and the possibility of different labor crews and

different areas under control of the neighboring

residents of the Chuska Mountains

Discussion and ConclusionPueblo del Arroyo is an interesting example of a

Chacoan greathouse but what was its role within the

larger Chacoan picture With Pueblo Bonito only

200 m away and the crowding of other large

structures and small house sites nearby in Chacorsquos

core why was it necessary to build Pueblo del

Arroyo Two contemporary small multistory great-

houses (29SJ 823 and 29SJ 1119) directly across the

Chaco Wash from Pueblo del Arroyo (Judd 1954

plate 4 lower Force et al 2002 fig 41a) were

inexplicably buried beneath the flood plain sediments

Pueblo del Arroyo rests mainly on the flood plain

(post-Bonito channel fill Force et al 2002 21)

adding to the mystery of this cluster of three unusual

buildings Masonry style plan and ceramics suggest

that the three houses are approximately the same age

Pueblo del Arroyo is the only large greathouse in

Chaco Canyon located in the middle of the canyon

What effect did the construction of Pueblo del

Arroyo have on the social and religious dynamics

within the network of houses and special-use

structures in downtown Chaco The structural wood

provides some insights into these questions

Based on the plan and the relatively small size of

the initial roomblock at Pueblo del Arroyo along

with the two adjacent roomblocks these greathouses

do not appear to be important structures in the

Chaco core although their proximity to the great-

house giants Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl indicates

a relationship with the users of these important

buildings and the area around them There is some

evidence that the initial roomblock at Pueblo del

Arroyo was partly used for habitation although

much of it remains unexamined In the 1070s a shift

in greathouse building strategies is mirrored in a shift

in the processing and treatment of wood for

construction (Windes and McKenna 2001 133

137) Pueblo del Arroyo marks the beginning of a

large architectural renewal effort (Lekson 1984

fig 52 Van Dyke 2004 Vivian 1990) when new

planners and builders may have resided in the cluster

of these three small houses on the west side of the

Chaco core The initial construction of Pueblo del

Arroyo with some reused beams taken from nearby

stockpiles as well as the lack of treatment on beam-

ends suggest there was less emphasis on craftsman-

ship than during the construction events that

followed Small initial houses at nearby Pueblo

Alto (Windes 1987a) and the distant Salmon Ruins

(Baker 2008) which temporally bracket the initial

Pueblo del Arroyo construction suggest that some



on-site buildings were erected just prior to massive

labor investments in construction Although there

has been much discussion over the past twenty years

little has been resolved regarding the logistics of the

workforce that created the greathouses with the

exception of labor estimates (Lekson 1984 257ndash63

277ndash286 Metcalf 2003)

Judd (1959 172) first proposed that Pueblo del

Arroyo was constructed as a result of a factional

dispute at nearby Pueblo Bonito Factionalism within

puebloan society is well documented and the most

famous split occurred at Old Oraibi in 1906 (Levy

1992 Titiev 1944) which could be what Judd had in

mind when he proposed the founding of Pueblo del

Arroyo by a group of dissidents from Pueblo Bonito

Oddly few researchers have challenged Juddrsquos inter-

pretation The uncompleted expansion of Pueblo

Bonitorsquos Northeast lsquolsquoFoundationrsquorsquo Complex might be

indicative of factional construction disputes

(Ashmore 2007 194) but how this disruption among

the planners and builders would affect the construc-

tion of Pueblo del Arroyo is uncertain

Factional splits are often acrimonious affairs and

can result in one group leaving their homes and

moving some distance away (eg at Laguna Pueblo

Ellis 1979 446ndash448) Historically splits among the

puebloans resulted in one group taking up residence

far away from the point of conflict because the

disputes impacted local land tenure practices forcing

the losers to find new farming lands The distance

between Pueblo Bonito and Pueblo del Arroyo is so

small that it seems unlikely that feuding precipitated

the construction of Pueblo del Arroyo A non-hostile

split is proposed by Vivian (1990 480ndash481) who

envisions natural fissioning of groups at the large

older greathouses that resulted in new settlements

such as Pueblo del Arroyo If people had moved from

Pueblo Bonito to Pueblo del Arroyo we would

expect to find some evidence in the tree-ring record

Belongings of the disenfranchised including beams

from their old homes would have been moved to the

new site We find little overlap however in the tree-

ring records of the two sites and rare reuse of beams

in the initial construction Therefore the construction

of Pueblo del Arroyo must be ascribed to other

factors

Habitation at Pueblo del Arroyo appears to have

been limited There may have been a series of four or

five large living rooms in the 1070s core roomblock

facing east across the interior plaza (and perhaps two

more facing north in the south wing) but these were

mostly converted when several kivas were installed in

them and to the front Behind the living rooms were

about 36 two-story rooms probably used for storage

According to Anne Marshall (personal communica-

tion 2005) a maximum of four to seven room suites

existed at the initial site which was occupied by

about 24 to 42 people Although heavily sooted

rooms with firepits existed in at least two of the

possible living rooms and numerous mealing bins

were recovered from another there has been little

exploration of the original roomblock The additions

made in the early 1100s changed the character of the

space to resemble its neighbors with massive addi-

tions a lack of living areas the placement of large

elevated kivas and the enclosed plaza

Just to the south of the South Annex are the

remnants of a low block-masonry McElmo-style wall

that paralleled the south wing of the pueblo (Jackson

1878 443 Judd 1959 120) The true length of the

wall is unknown and much of it has collapsed into the

Chaco Wash although it may have once extended far

to the east It resembles the road walls found on the

nearby mesa tops but known road alignments do not

intercept it Judd (1959 120) proposed that it might

have been built to divert floodwaters away from

Pueblo del Arroyo The style of masonry suggests it

was built in the early 1100s or thereafter

Although prehistoric roads are not visible on the

ground in the flood plain where Pueblo del Arroyo is

located the west road from Pueblo Alto drops over

the cliffs at three staircases just west of Pueblo Bonito

(Stein et al 2007 plate 83 Windes 1987a fig 52)

Roads from these three staircases pass nearby along

the east and west sides of Pueblo del Arroyo (Force et

al 2002 21 33 fig 41a Stein et al 2007 plate 83)

The site lacks lsquolsquoroad-relatedrsquorsquo accessible storage

rooms (Windes 1987a 109ndash112) but Pueblo del

Arroyorsquos proximity to the road alignment is closer

than nearby Pueblo Bonito which does exhibit road-

related storage rooms The small unit building

constructed in the 1070s at Pueblo del Arroyo may

have been integral to the road traffic nearby but once

the subsequent expansion of the site occurred in the

early 1100s direct access to the western side was

blocked by the lack of doorways and the high back

walls The data are not detailed enough to establish

whether the roads predate Pueblo del Arroyo or

whether they were constructed or elaborated at the

same time as or shortly after the greathouse

construction

Pueblo del Arroyo has a commanding view from

the high three-story back rooftops to the south

through South Gap to prominent Hosta Butte which

is covered in shrines far to the south that the

inhabitants of Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl lacked

People arriving from the south along the prehistoric

road would first see the concentrated architecture of

Pueblo del Arroyo at the end of the gap (Van Dyke

2008 161) perhaps an important consideration in its

construction (Stein and Lekson 1992 Van Dyke

2008 161ndash162) The location of the site allowed its

occupants to be alerted to the presence of road

travelers and to control traffic (see similar road



controls at Pueblo Alto Windes 1987a 109ndash111)

although everyday life would have been primarily

focused across the plaza EndashSE (115u) up-canyon This

orientation places the site along the azimuth for the

lunar minor standstill (Sofaer 2007 237) The east view

is important as it covers the vast open area of the plaza

and amphitheater between Chetro Ketl and Pueblo

Bonito on the north side the open area across the

middle of the canyon and the isolated Casa Rinconada

Mound the Rinconada great kiva and the small-house

community in the rincon to the south (Stein et al

2007) In addition a route from the Pueblo Bonito and

Hillside complex leads across this area to ascend the

hill next to Casa Rinconada (Stein et al 2007 plate 83

Windes in press) This area east of Pueblo del Arroyo is

unquestionably the most important space in the entire

canyon if not lsquolsquothe most important space in the Chaco

worldrsquorsquo (Stein et al 2007 208)

What Pueblo del Arroyo does share with the two

nearby large greathouses besides massive architec-

ture is elevation of a single very large kiva (Kiva L

wall-to-wall D 86 m) with 10 pilasters and a foot

drum built high and late in the second story that

overlooks the building and provides a broad view of

the surrounding area from its roof Another large

kiva (Kiva K) was placed immediately west of Kiva L

but was set much lower into the North Wing

roomblock This late period also corresponds to

when the rare three-story tower kivas appeared in

two Chacoan outliers and the shrine communication

system was operative (Hayes and Windes 1975

Windes et al 2000) suggesting that long-range

visibility and communication for increased regional

control had become important facets of Chacoan

society In addition the views offered by the elevated

late kivas may be relevant to the orientations thought

to have guided much of the greathouse construction

and the Chacoan shared cosmology

Pueblo del Arroyo lacks the broad landscaping

massive mounds full of refuse and architectural debris

and a great kiva that herald the special status of Chetro

Ketl and Pueblo Bonito Its association with these

greathouses however permits incorporation into the

activities that must have been conducted in these

special open spaces The small early 1100s midden to

the SE of the greathouse indicates that refuse-generat-

ing activities took place but not of the same magnitude

as at other greathouses in the core group Pueblo del

Arroyo lacks substantial refuse deposits as do its

newly built canyon contemporaries Activities such as

large regional celebrations and landscaping activities

that generated sizable mounds filled with refuse and

architectural debris elsewhere had ceased by the time

Pueblo del Arroyo was constructed

A new surge in greathouse and small house

construction followed the drought of the 1090s when

conditions were favorable for food production Thus

the main configuration of architecture at Pueblo del

Arroyo was established during a period of wide-

spread construction inside and outside the canyon

which suggests the implementation of work in concert

with social economic and political changes If these

changes were similar to Van Dykersquos (2004) Leksonrsquos

(1984 268ndash269) and Willsrsquo (2009) interpretation of

the rise of McElmo-style greathouses a decade or two

later then Pueblo del Arroyo may have become the

new center in downtown Chaco while Pueblo Bonito

and Chetro Ketl reverted to increased domestic use

suffering from widespread deterioration and lessened

social controls as much refuse was tossed into rooms

and kivas (Windes 2003) For a time in the early

1100s Pueblo del Arroyo may have provided the new

center for downtown Chaco events although it lacks

a great kiva but the near concurrent rise of Great

Kiva B in Pueblo Bonito at about 1113 indicates that

the latter still hosted important community activities

The expansion of Pueblo del Arroyo in the early

1100s coincides with other construction projects in the

canyon that overlap the planning groundwork and

construction of Tsin Kletzin Wijiji the renovation of

the elevated kiva complex in Chetro Ketl (Lekson et al

2007 158) and the construction of the Great Kiva B

complex in Pueblo Bonito (Windes 2003) among

others (FIG 10) There appears to be special emphasis

on the construction and renovation of kivas (Crown

and Wills 2003) Archaeomagnetic and tree-ring dates

from the small house sites (mainly from kivas) along

the north cliff near Chetro Ketl and in the rincon

around Casa Rinconada immediately south of Pueblo

Bonito also indicate that extensive small-house

renovations and construction occurred while Pueblo

del Arroyo was being enlarged Two greathouses with

identical ground plans were planned to the east but

were never completed Vivian and Mathewsrsquos (1965)

Headquarters Site (29SJ515) in the parkrsquos housing area

near Una Vida and Robertsrsquo Pueblo (29SJ2384) (Judd

1927 166ndash167) adjacent to Shabikrsquoeschee Village

This phase of construction and remodeling follows

a NndashS band from the initial core unit behind Kiva L at

Aztec West across the Chaco Canyon core and

south to the Kin Yarsquoa tower kiva near Crownpoint

Pueblo del Arroyo was the final large greathouse to

be built in the core canyon area and it is the last

where large quantities of nonlocal wood were utilized

in its 1100s construction Later greathouses in the

canyon area were constructed with more local wood

including reused elements and reduced the amount

of construction wood employed in roofs and wall

apertures (Windes and McKenna 2001 123) For

example at Wijiji almost all the door and ventilator

lintels were of stone rather than the 8ndash14 wooden

elements used in earlier apertures

The dramatic shift in architectural style ground

plans and workmanship that heralds the new



McElmo phase (Lekson 1984 Van Dyke 2004 Wills

2009) in greathouses and small houses is apparent at

Pueblo del Arroyo with the additions of the north

and south wings the small habitation rooms and

kivas built against the south wall and the later

construction of the Tri-wall Structure which is

unique in Chaco Canyon In addition more kivas

were added across the eastern front of the central

roomblock and in the northeastern corner of the

plaza as part of the potential habitation suites similar

to those noted at Pueblo Alto and in the plaza of

Pueblo Bonito The various constructions additions

and remodeling of Pueblo del Arroyo may provide

the best insights into the late 1000s and early 1100s

social and political dynamics in the Chaco core and

beyond The short occupation and large tree-ring

dated sample provide an opportunity to examine a

relatively brief period of Chacoan history in the core

area

The construction of Pueblo del Arroyo marks

renewed construction effort in the core but with

significant changes The construction of the two

massive multi-storied wings at the site was the last in

the downtown area that employed the architectural

concepts of earlier times (masonry style massive size

and the scale of the nonlocal construction timber

harvests) but also used the new McElmo-style

layoutmdashperhaps a symbolic bridging of the old and

new (Van Dyke 2004) The enhanced scale of

construction at Pueblo del Arroyo indicates increased

managerial control and the high cost of the project

from the gathering of masonry stone from an area

heavily impacted by previous greathouse construc-

tions to the importation of thousands of nonlocal

beams gathered from the mountain tops reveal the

magnitude of this final effort

The buildings that immediately follow the con-

struction of Pueblo del Arroyo construction often

referred to as McElmo-style greathouses (Lekson

1984 268) reveal a shift in planning and construction

(Wills 2009) Wood timbers are often reusedmdash

probably taken from the older greathousesmdashand

the craftsmanship reveals far less care and poor

symmetry resulting in a lack of uniform lintel

placement as well as an expedient use of wood It

appears that the forces enabling large-scale non-local

wood procurement which characterized earlier con-

struction had vanished and there was less oversight

and control on the projects Perhaps the teams of

specialized planners foremen and workers were

deployed north to where new greathouses were being

built such as at Aztecrsquos West Ruin (Brown et al

2008)

Pueblo del Arroyo was an important and integral

part of Chacorsquos core but its beginnings as a small

greathouse along with two others nearby forces

closer examination of its role in the Chacoan

community and center The early 1100s were a

critical time and the restructuring of Chacoan society

resonates in the changing architectural landscapes of

Chaco Canyon and across the San Juan Basin

Between 1104 when the last major batch of timbers

were cut for Pueblo del Arroyo and the construction

of the South Annex in or after 1109 there were major

changes in the built environment displayed in the

construction of Pueblo del Arroyo With its Tri-wall

Structure the site also must have played a key role

during the late 1100s resurgence in canyon popula-

tion when many large and small houses were

refurbished and reoccupied

AcknowledgmentsMy very best thanks to the many volunteers who

helped with this project over the years Angela R

Linse Drayton Vaughn Kim Green David Kosman

Charles Stearns and for most of the field work

Suzanne Hunt Special thanks to Cheryl Ford for the

data entry and to Eileen Bacha for additions and

statistical work Clay Mathers made the final digital

adjustments on the maps for which I am most

grateful A very special thanks to park archaeologist

Dabney Ford and Roger Moore the park staff and

to the Western National Parks Association Tucson

The Friends of Chaco and Chaco Culture National

Historical Park for funding Finally I would like to

thank Stephen Lekson and Stephen Nash for the

review comments Data used for this report have been

revised from the original database The uncorrected

database is online at httpwwwchacoarchiveorg

The original manuscript was produced in 1994 This

article is the 4th in a series of published greathouse

wood reports the others cover Pueblo Bonito

Salmon Ruin and the Aztec Ruins

Thomas C Windes (MA 1967 University of New

Mexico) is an adjunct lecturer at the University of

New Mexico His principal interests are Chacoan and

Mesa Verdean (Four Corners) puebloan archaeology

Pueblo I settlement in the interior San Juan Basin

Chacoan ornament production Chacoan shrine com-

munication systems chronometric dating and histor-

ical and prehistoric structural wood use in a variety of

architectural settings including Hispanic village set-

tlement along the Upper Pecos River Mailing address

305 Richmond Drive SE Albuquerque NM 87106

E-mail windesunmedu

ReferencesAdams R K and P F Reed 2006 lsquolsquoAn Overview of Excavations

at Salmon Ruinrsquorsquo in P F Reed ed Thirty-Five Years ofArchaeological Research at Salmon Ruins New Mexico Vol 1Introduction Architecture Chronology and ConclusionsTucson AZ and Bloomfield NM Center for DesertArchaeology and Salmon Ruins Museum 83ndash94

Ahlstrom R V N 1985 The Interpretation of Archaeological Tree-Ring Dates PhD dissertation University of Arizona TucsonAnn Arbor University Microfilms

Ashmore W 2007 lsquolsquoBuilding Social History at Pueblo BonitoFootnotes to a Biography of Placersquorsquo in S H Lekson ed The



Architecture of Chaco Canyon New Mexico Salt Lake CityThe University of Utah Press 179ndash198

Baker L L 2008 lsquolsquoSalmon Ruins Architecture and Developmentof a Chacoan Satellite on the San Juan Riverrsquorsquo in P F Reeded Chacorsquos Northern Prodigies Salmon Aztec and theAscendency of the Middle San Juan Region after AD 1100Salt Lake City The University of Utah Press 29ndash41

Bannister B 1965 Tree-Ring Dating of the Archaeological Sites inthe Chaco Canyon Region New Mexico Southwest Parks andMonuments Association Technical Series 6(2) Globe AZSouthwest Parks and Monuments Association

Bannister B and W J Robinson 1978 lsquolsquoThe Dendrochronologyof Room 97 Chetro Ketlrsquorsquo in R G Vivian D N Dodge andG H Hartmann eds Wooden Ritual Artifacts from ChacoCanyon New Mexico The Chetro Ketl CollectionAnthropological Papers of the University of Arizona 32Tucson The University of Arizona Press 133ndash134

Breternitz C D 1997 lsquolsquoAn Analysis of Axes and Mauls fromChaco Canyon New Mexicorsquorsquo in F J Mathien ed CeramicsLithics and Ornaments of Chaco Canyon Analysis of Artifactsfrom the Chaco Project 1971ndash1978 Vol III Lithics andOrnaments Publications in Archeology 18G Chaco CanyonStudies Santa Fe National Park Service 977ndash996

Brown G M T C Windes and P J McKenna 2008 lsquolsquoAnimasAnamnesis Aztec Ruins or Aztec Capitalrsquorsquo in P F Reed edChacorsquos Northern Prodigies Salmon Aztec and the Ascendencyof the Middle San Juan Region after AD 1100 Salt Lake CityThe University of Utah Press 231ndash250

Crown P L 1991 lsquolsquoEvaluating the Construction Sequence andPopulation of Pot Creek Pueblo Northern New MexicorsquorsquoAmerican Antiquity 56 291ndash314

Crown P L and W H Wills 2003 lsquolsquoModifying Pottery andKivas at Chaco Pentimento Restoration or RenewalrsquorsquoAmerican Antiquity 68 511ndash532

Dean J S 1996 lsquolsquoDemography Environment and Subsistencersquorsquoin J A Tainter and B Bagley Tainter eds EvolvingComplexity and Environmental Risk in the PrehistoricSouthwest New York Addison-Wesley Publishing 25ndash56

Dean J S and R L Warren 1983 lsquolsquoDendrochronologyrsquorsquo in SH Lekson ed The Architecture and Dendrochronology ofChetro Ketl Chaco Canyon New Mexico Reports of the ChacoCenter No 6 Albuquerque Division of Cultural ResearchNational Park Service 105ndash240

Doxtater D 1991 lsquolsquoReflections of the Anasazi Cosmosrsquorsquo in OGroslashn E Englestad and I Lindblom eds Social SpaceHuman Spatial Behavior in Dwellings and Settlements OdenseDenmark Odense University Press 155ndash184

Doxtater D 2002 lsquolsquoA Hypothetical Layout of Chaco CanyonStructures via Large-Scale Alignments between SignificantNatural Featuresrsquorsquo Kiva 68(1) 23ndash47

Ellis F H 1979 lsquolsquoLaguna Pueblorsquorsquo in A Ortiz ed Handbook ofNorth American Indians Southwest Vol 9 Washington DCSmithsonian Institution 438ndash449

English N B J L Betancourt J S Dean and J Quade 2001lsquolsquoStrontium Isotopes Reveal Distant Sources of ArchitecturalTimber in Chaco Canyon New Mexicorsquorsquo Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences of the United States of America98 11891ndash11896

Force E R R G Vivian T C Windes and J S Dean 2002Relation of lsquolsquoBonitorsquorsquo Paleo-channels and Base-level Variationsto Anasazi Occupation Chaco Canyon New Mexico ArizonaState Museum Archaeological Series 194 Tucson TheUniversity of Arizona Press

Fritts H C D G Smith and M A Stokes 1965 lsquolsquoThe BiologicalModel for Paleoclimatic Interpretation of Mesa Verde Tree-Ring Seriesrsquorsquo Memoirs of the Society for AmericanArchaeology No 19 101ndash201

Hayes A C and T C Windes 1975 lsquolsquoAn Anasazi Shrine inChaco Canyonrsquorsquo in T R Frisbie ed Collected Papers inHonor of Florence Hawley Ellis Albuquerque Papers of theArchaeological Society of New Mexico 2 143ndash156

Jackson W H 1878 lsquolsquoReport on the Ancient Ruins Examined in1875 and 1877rsquorsquo in F Vandeveer Hayden Tenth Annual Reportof the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of theTerritories Embracing Colorado and Parts of the AdjacentTerritories Being a Report of the Progress of the Exploration forthe Year 1876 Washington DC US Government PrintingPress 411ndash450

Judd N M 1925 lsquolsquoEveryday Life in Pueblo Bonitorsquorsquo The NationalGeographic Magazine 48(3) 227ndash262

Judd N M 1927 lsquolsquoArcheological Investigations in Chaco CanyonNew Mexicorsquorsquo Explorations and Field-Work of the Smithsonian

Institution in 1926 Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections78(7) 158ndash168

Judd N M 1954 The Material Culture of Pueblo BonitoWashington DC Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections124

Judd N M 1959 Pueblo del Arroyo Chaco Canyon New MexicoWashington DC Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections138(1)

Judd N M 1964 The Architecture of Pueblo Bonito WashingtonDC Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 147(1)

Lekson S H 1983 lsquolsquoDating the Hubbard Tri-wall and other Tri-wall Structuresrsquorsquo Southwestern Lore 49(4) 15ndash23

Lekson S H 1984 Great Pueblo Architecture of Chaco CanyonNew Mexico Publications in Archeology 18B Chaco CanyonStudies Albuquerque NM National Park Service

Lekson S H T C Windes and P Fournier 2007 lsquolsquoTheChanging Faces of Chetro Ketlrsquorsquo in S H Lekson ed TheArchitecture of Chaco Canyon New Mexico Salt Lake CityThe University of Utah Press 155ndash178

Levy J E 1992 Orayvi Revisited Social Stratification in anlsquolsquoEgalitarianrsquorsquo Society Santa Fe School of American ResearchPress

Malville J M 1993 lsquolsquoChimney Rock and the Moon The Shrine atthe Edge of the Worldrsquorsquo in J M Malville and G Matlockeds The Chimney Rock Archaeological Symposium GeneralTechnical Report RM-227 Fort Collins CO Rocky MountainForest and Range Experiment Station 20ndash28

Metcalf M P 2003 lsquolsquoConstruction Labor at Pueblo Bonitorsquorsquo inJill E Neitzel ed Pueblo Bonito Center of the Chacoan WorldWashington DC Smithsonian Books 72ndash79

Morris E H 1924 The Aztec Ruins Annex Anthropological Papersof the American Museum of Natural History 26 (Part IV) NewYork The American Museum of Natural History

Nash S E 1999 Time Trees and Prehistory Salt Lake City TheUniversity of Utah Press

Reynolds A C J L Betancourt J Quade P J Patchett J SDean and J Stein 2005 lsquolsquo87Sr86SR Sourcing of PonderosaPine used in Anasazi Great House Construction at ChacoCanyon New Mexicorsquorsquo Journal of Archaeological Science 321061ndash1075

Robinson W J B G Harrill and R L Warren 1974 Tree-RingDates from New Mexico B Chaco-Gobernador Area TucsonLaboratory of Tree-Ring Research University of Arizona

Sofaer A 1997 lsquolsquoThe Primary Architecture of the ChacoanCulture A Cosmological Expressionrsquorsquo in B H Morrow and VB Price eds Anasazi Architecture and American DesignAlbuquerque University of New Mexico Press 88ndash132

Sofaer A 2007 lsquolsquoThe Primary Architecture of the ChacoanCulture A Cosmological Expressionrsquorsquo in S H Lekson edThe Architecture of Chaco Canyon New Mexico Salt LakeCity The University of Utah Press 225ndash254

Stein J R and S H Lekson 1992 lsquolsquoAnasazi Ritual Landscapesrsquorsquoin D E Doyel ed Anasazi Regional Organization and theChaco System Maxwell Museum of AnthropologyAnthropological Papers 5 Albuquerque Maxwell Museum ofAnthropology 87ndash100

Stein J R J E Suitor and D Ford 1997 lsquolsquoHigh Noon in OldBonito Sun Shadow and the Geometry of the ChacoComplexrsquorsquo in B H Morrow and V B Price eds AnasaziArchitecture and American Design Albuquerque University ofNew Mexico Press 133ndash148

Stein J R D Ford and R Friedman 2003 lsquolsquoReconstructingPueblo Bonitorsquorsquo in J E Neitzel ed Pueblo Bonito Center ofthe Chacoan World Washington DC Smithsonian Books33ndash60

Stein J R R Friedman T Blackhorse and R Loose 2007lsquolsquoRevisiting Downtown Chacorsquorsquo in S H Lekson ed TheArchitecture of Chaco Canyon New Mexico Salt Lake CityThe University of Utah Press 199ndash223

Syngg J and T Windes 1998 lsquolsquoLong Wide Roads and GreatKiva Roofsrsquorsquo Kiva 64 7ndash25

Tennessen D R A Blanchette and T C Windes 2002lsquolsquoDifferentiating Aspen and Cottonwood in Prehistoric Woodfrom Chacoan Great House Ruinsrsquorsquo Journal of ArchaeologicalScience 29 521ndash527

Titiev M 1944 Old Oraibi A Study of the Hopi Indians of ThirdMesa Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeologyand Ethnology Harvard University 22(1) Cambridge MAPeabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology

Van Dyke R M 2004 lsquolsquoMemory Meaning and Masonry TheLate Bonito Chacoan Landscapersquorsquo American Antiquity 69413ndash431



Van Dyke R M 2008 The Chaco Experience Landscape andIdeology at the Center Place Santa Fe School for AdvancedResearch Press

Van West C R and H D Grissino-Mayer 2005lsquolsquoDendroclimatic Reconstructionrsquorsquo in E K Huber and C RVan West eds Environmental Studies Fence Lake ProjectArchaeological Data Recovery in the New MexicoTransportation Corridor and First Five-Year Permit AreaFence Lake Coal Mine Project Catron County New MexicoNo 3 Technical Series 84 Tucson Statistical Research 331ndash33129

Vivian G 1959 The Hubbard Site and Other Tri-Wall Structures inNew Mexico and Colorado Archeological Research SeriesNo 5 Washington DC National Park Service

Vivian G and T W Mathews 1965 Kin Kletso A Pueblo IIICommunity in Chaco Canyon New Mexico SouthwesternMonuments Association Technical Series 6(1) Globe AZSouthwestern Monuments Association

Vivian G R Rixey and L Abel 1951 Stabilization ReportPueblo del Arroyo 1949ndash1950 Chaco Canyon NationalMonument Mobil Unit Southwestern National MonumentsNational Park Service Globe AZ Albuquerque NM ChacoArchives (CHCU 51981) National Park Service

Vivian W G 1990 The Chacoan Prehistory of the San Juan BasinNew York Academic Press

Wills W H 2000 lsquolsquoPolitical Leadership and the Construction ofChacoan Great Houses AD 1020ndash1140rsquorsquo in B J Mills edAlternative Leadership Strategies in the Prehispanic SouthwestTucson University of Arizona Press 19ndash44

Wills W H 2009 lsquolsquoCultural Identity and the ArchaeologicalConstruction of Historical Narratives An Example fromChaco Canyonrsquorsquo Journal of Archaeological Method andTheory 16 283ndash319

Windes T C 1985 lsquolsquoChaco-McElmo Black-on-white from ChacoCanyon with an Emphasis on the Pueblo del ArroyoCollectionrsquorsquo in N Fox ed Collected Papers in Honor ofAlden C Hayes Papers of the New Mexico ArchaeologicalSociety No 10 Santa Fe New Mexico ArchaeologicalSociety 19ndash42

Windes T C 1987a Investigations at the Pueblo Alto ComplexChaco Canyon New Mexico 1975ndash1979 Volumes I and IISummary of Tests and Excavations at the Pueblo AltoCommunity Publications in Archeology 18F Chaco CanyonStudies Santa Fe National Park Service

Windes T C 1987b lsquolsquoSome Ground Stone Tools andHammerstones from Pueblo Altorsquorsquo in F J Mathien and TC Windes eds Investigations at the Pueblo Alto ComplexChaco Canyon New Mexico 1975ndash1979 Volume III Part 2Artifactual and Biological Analyses Publications in Archeology18F Chaco Canyon Studies Santa Fe National Park Service291ndash358

Windes T C 2003 lsquolsquoThis Old House Construction andAbandonment at Pueblo Bonitorsquorsquo in J E Neitzel edPueblo Bonito The Center of the Chacoan WorldWashington DC Smithsonian Books 14ndash23

Windes T C 2008 lsquolsquoThe Chaco Canyon Sample Setrsquorsquo in R LDubois ed Geomagnetic Results Secular Variation andArchaeomagnetic Chronology United States andMesoamerica Including Archaeomagnetic Data and TimeAssignments Special Publication 2008-2 Norman TheUniversity of Oklahoma 81ndash163

Windes T C in press Early Puebloan Occupations in the ChacoRegion Excavations and Survey of Basketmaker III and PuebloI Sites Chaco Canyon New Mexico Reports of the ChacoCenter No 13 Santa Fe Anthropology Projects NationalPark Service

Windes T C and D Ford 1996 lsquolsquoThe Chaco Wood Project TheChronometric Reappraisal of Pueblo Bonitorsquorsquo AmericanAntiquity 61 295ndash310

Windes T C R M Anderson B K Johnson and C A Ford2000 lsquolsquoSunrise Sunset Sedentism and Mobility in the ChacoEast Communityrsquorsquo in J Kantner and N M Mahoney edsGreat House Communities Across the Chacoan LandscapeAnthropological Papers of the University of Arizona 64 TucsonUniversity of Arizona Press 39ndash59

Windes T C and P J McKenna 2001 lsquolsquoGoing Against theGrain Wood Use in Chacoan Societyrsquorsquo American Antiquity 66119ndash140



stabilized Almost all of the earlier samples were from

sawn timbers The majority of the new samples that

were dated provided cutting or near-cutting dates

Most samples (FIG 4) came from the well-protected

first-story rooms (n5802 351 dates) and fewer

elements were found in the second story (n5376

30 of the total elements plus 15 more [1] possible

second story yielding 180 dates) and third-story

rooms (n549 4 with 11 dates)

Despite recent interest in Pueblo del Arroyo the

site chronology was formerly based on 46 dated

construction elements of a possible 18000 or more

elements (TABLE 1) At present 1536 pieces of wood

are documented primarily in the excavated sections

Although Judd encountered large amounts of woo-

den structural material during his work (primarily

from roofs FIG 5) the majority of the loose or

broken elements were discarded Tree-ring dating was

Figure 1 Location of Pueblo del Arroyo and Chaco Canyon in the southwestern United States










































a larger database










































in Figure 6














and Warren 1983)









Doorlintel

Ventlintel


Kivaradialpilaster

Kivaventlintel

Kivaroofbeam


Total(struct)

Total(shakes)

1070s Needed 156 2690 527 440 769 sq m60055385

16 50iexcl 800 985 sq m6005549

4629 72ndash184

Sampled(orig)


sampledof needed


No oftrees cut

52ndash156

897ndash2690

176ndash527

147ndash440


72ndash184

Needed 561 8283 1740 1410 2533 sq m600551267

28 100iexcl 1300 1669 sq m6005583

13422 223ndash569

1100ndash1104

Sampled(orig)


sampledof needed


No oftrees cut

187ndash561

2761ndash8283

580ndash1740

470ndash1410


223ndash569


239ndash717

3658ndash10973

756ndash2267

617ndash1850


295ndash753












Bonito

































elements





















wing


















dates alone












(Dean 1996 46)

































era buildings


















around 1104















the canyon













































































































































Ruin at Aztec



























































2009)














species
















(n51560 df52 xc25377 r50)






















Species

Element function

Total Roofviga

Rooflatilla

Balconypole

Doorlintel


Kivapilaster





























































































1078
























































































































































1998 17ndash18)
























later subdivided























































































Table 1



























































































































































factors























































construction






















































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu















































































































a larger database










































in Figure 6














and Warren 1983)









Doorlintel

Ventlintel


Kivaradialpilaster

Kivaventlintel

Kivaroofbeam


Total(struct)

Total(shakes)

1070s Needed 156 2690 527 440 769 sq m60055385

16 50iexcl 800 985 sq m6005549

4629 72ndash184

Sampled(orig)


sampledof needed


No oftrees cut

52ndash156

897ndash2690

176ndash527

147ndash440


72ndash184

Needed 561 8283 1740 1410 2533 sq m600551267

28 100iexcl 1300 1669 sq m6005583

13422 223ndash569

1100ndash1104

Sampled(orig)


sampledof needed


No oftrees cut

187ndash561

2761ndash8283

580ndash1740

470ndash1410


223ndash569


239ndash717

3658ndash10973

756ndash2267

617ndash1850


295ndash753












Bonito

































elements





















wing


















dates alone












(Dean 1996 46)

































era buildings


















around 1104















the canyon













































































































































Ruin at Aztec



























































2009)














species
















(n51560 df52 xc25377 r50)






















Species

Element function

Total Roofviga

Rooflatilla

Balconypole

Doorlintel


Kivapilaster





























































































1078
























































































































































1998 17ndash18)
























later subdivided























































































Table 1



























































































































































factors























































construction






















































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu






































































































in Figure 6














and Warren 1983)









Doorlintel

Ventlintel


Kivaradialpilaster

Kivaventlintel

Kivaroofbeam


Total(struct)

Total(shakes)

1070s Needed 156 2690 527 440 769 sq m60055385

16 50iexcl 800 985 sq m6005549

4629 72ndash184

Sampled(orig)


sampledof needed


No oftrees cut

52ndash156

897ndash2690

176ndash527

147ndash440


72ndash184

Needed 561 8283 1740 1410 2533 sq m600551267

28 100iexcl 1300 1669 sq m6005583

13422 223ndash569

1100ndash1104

Sampled(orig)


sampledof needed


No oftrees cut

187ndash561

2761ndash8283

580ndash1740

470ndash1410


223ndash569


239ndash717

3658ndash10973

756ndash2267

617ndash1850


295ndash753












Bonito

































elements





















wing


















dates alone












(Dean 1996 46)

































era buildings


















around 1104















the canyon













































































































































Ruin at Aztec



























































2009)














species
















(n51560 df52 xc25377 r50)






















Species

Element function

Total Roofviga

Rooflatilla

Balconypole

Doorlintel


Kivapilaster





























































































1078
























































































































































1998 17ndash18)
























later subdivided























































































Table 1



























































































































































factors























































construction






















































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu
















































































Bonito

































elements





















wing


















dates alone












(Dean 1996 46)

































era buildings


















around 1104















the canyon













































































































































Ruin at Aztec



























































2009)














species
















(n51560 df52 xc25377 r50)






















Species

Element function

Total Roofviga

Rooflatilla

Balconypole

Doorlintel


Kivapilaster





























































































1078
























































































































































1998 17ndash18)
























later subdivided























































































Table 1



























































































































































factors























































construction






















































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu











































































dates alone












(Dean 1996 46)

































era buildings


















around 1104















the canyon













































































































































Ruin at Aztec



























































2009)














species
















(n51560 df52 xc25377 r50)






















Species

Element function

Total Roofviga

Rooflatilla

Balconypole

Doorlintel


Kivapilaster





























































































1078
























































































































































1998 17ndash18)
























later subdivided























































































Table 1



























































































































































factors























































construction






















































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu




























































































era buildings


















around 1104















the canyon













































































































































Ruin at Aztec



























































2009)














species
















(n51560 df52 xc25377 r50)






















Species

Element function

Total Roofviga

Rooflatilla

Balconypole

Doorlintel


Kivapilaster





























































































1078
























































































































































1998 17ndash18)
























later subdivided























































































Table 1



























































































































































factors























































construction






















































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu



























































































































































Ruin at Aztec



























































2009)














species
















(n51560 df52 xc25377 r50)






















Species

Element function

Total Roofviga

Rooflatilla

Balconypole

Doorlintel


Kivapilaster





























































































1078
























































































































































1998 17ndash18)
























later subdivided























































































Table 1



























































































































































factors























































construction






















































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu































































































2009)














species
















(n51560 df52 xc25377 r50)






















Species

Element function

Total Roofviga

Rooflatilla

Balconypole

Doorlintel


Kivapilaster





























































































1078
























































































































































1998 17ndash18)
























later subdivided























































































Table 1



























































































































































factors























































construction






















































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu
































































































































































1078
























































































































































1998 17ndash18)
























later subdivided























































































Table 1



























































































































































factors























































construction






















































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu































































































































1998 17ndash18)
























later subdivided























































































Table 1



























































































































































factors























































construction






















































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu


















































































































































Table 1



























































































































































factors























































construction






















































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu





















































































































factors























































construction






















































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu














































































































































































































area


































2008)


















































E-mail windesunmedu








































































Dendrochronology and Structural Wood Use at Pueblo del Arroyo, Chaco...

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Transcript of Dendrochronology and Structural Wood Use at Pueblo del Arroyo, Chaco...