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Chaco Canyon: Archaeologists Explore the Lives of an Ancient Society
Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, has been called the Stonehenge of North America. Its spectacular pueblos, or great houses, are world famous and have attracted the attention of archaeologists for more than a century.
Beautifully illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs, Chaco Canyon draws on the very latest research on Chaco and its environs to tell the remarkable story of the people of the canyon, from foraging bands and humble farmers to the elaborate society that flourished between the tenth and twelfth centuries A.D. Brian Fagan is a master story teller, and he weaves the latest discoveries into a compelling narrative of people living in a harsh, unpredictable environment. Indeed, this is not a story about artifacts and dusty digs, but a riveting narrative of people in the distant past, going about their daily business, living and dying, loving, raising children, living in plenty and in hunger, pondering the cosmos, and facing the unpredictable challenges of the environment. Drawing on rare access to the records of the Chaco Synthesis Project, Fagan reveals a society where agriculture and religion went hand-in-hand, where the ritual power of Chaco's leaders drew pilgrims from distant communities bearing gifts. He describes the lavish burials in the heart of Pueblo Bonito, which offer clues about the identity of Chaco's shadowy leaders. And he explores the enduring mystery of Chaco's sudden decline in the face of savage drought and shows how its legacy survives into modern times.
Here then is the first authoritative account of the Chaco people written for a general audience, lending a fascinating human face to one of America's most famous archaeological sites.
Beautifully illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs, Chaco Canyon draws on the very latest research on Chaco and its environs to tell the remarkable story of the people of the canyon, from foraging bands and humble farmers to the elaborate society that flourished between the tenth and twelfth centuries A.D. Brian Fagan is a master story teller, and he weaves the latest discoveries into a compelling narrative of people living in a harsh, unpredictable environment. Indeed, this is not a story about artifacts and dusty digs, but a riveting narrative of people in the distant past, going about their daily business, living and dying, loving, raising children, living in plenty and in hunger, pondering the cosmos, and facing the unpredictable challenges of the environment. Drawing on rare access to the records of the Chaco Synthesis Project, Fagan reveals a society where agriculture and religion went hand-in-hand, where the ritual power of Chaco's leaders drew pilgrims from distant communities bearing gifts. He describes the lavish burials in the heart of Pueblo Bonito, which offer clues about the identity of Chaco's shadowy leaders. And he explores the enduring mystery of Chaco's sudden decline in the face of savage drought and shows how its legacy survives into modern times.
Here then is the first authoritative account of the Chaco people written for a general audience, lending a fascinating human face to one of America's most famous archaeological sites.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published May 1, 2005
About the author
Brian M. Fagan
143 books286 followersBrian Murray Fagan was a British author of popular archaeology books and a professor emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 24, 2014
I used to live in southwestern Colorado, only a few hours from Mesa Verde. It was during a trip to Mesa Verde, actually, that I first learned about Chaco Canyon, which is a few hours to the south. The NPS employee manning the Mesa Verde bookstore that day insisted that I just had to visit Chaco Canyon because it was amazing. And since I was kind of just meandering around for the next few days and didn't need to get back home for two more, I decided to do something crazy and deviate from my itinerary - and am I glad that I did!
Chaco Canyon is indeed amazing. To be honest, it's a bitch to get to, about twenty miles off of Route 550, and only four of those miles are paved. When I went the first time, the road was seriously just sand and washboard ruts (the last time I went, the NPS had just laid down some gravel, but I'm not sure how long that lasts). It took me nearly an hour to drive those sixteen miles, and I figured that I'd need at least a front-end alignment for my car and a serious massage for my newly-acquired aches and pains. But then you get the breathtaking view of Fajada Butte, and that's only the beginning.
All of the times I've gone to Chaco Canyon, it's been relatively quiet. It's not as well-known as Mesa Verde, and it's much less accessible. That translates into the ability to wander through the ruins with minimal human interaction, which is always a plus for me in these sites. I love to think and think and think some more, and I just can't do that when people are clamoring behind me trying to get the best selfie so they can post it on Instagram. And yes, Mesa Verde's Cliff Palace is beautiful and awe-inspiring, but I'd argue that Pueblo Bonito is just as beautiful and even more awe-inspiring. And at Chaco Canyon, you aren't kept separate from the ruins like you are in Mesa Verde, only allowed to approach in carefully guided and time-controlled ranger programs. Nope, you can spend all day in Pueblo Bonito if you want, or hike up to the Pueblo Alto complex and wander around for hours, or take a splendid backcountry hike to Peñasco Blanco and see pottery shards still littering the ground of that unexcavated great house, hundreds of years after the people who made those pieces of pottery left the area.
Chaco Canyon is magical.
Fagan tries to bring that magic to a general audience in this book. He discusses the various eras of Chaco Canyon, the people who built and inhabited the place, the possible connections with other communities, and why the people ultimately left the area. (In spite of what some sensationalist "stories" try to proclaim, the ancestral Puebloan people did not "vanish." They dispersed, moving to other settlements or founding their own in other locations. Their descendants still populate the Four Corners area and beyond.)
Fagan tends to repeat himself a lot, and the book skips around quite a bit, even though he tries to proceed in a linear way. The book also says that it presents various ideas about Chaco, which it technically does, although Fagan is quick to dismiss those he doesn't particularly agree with or those he sees as "unconventional" (which I am guessing is archaeologist-speak for "nutcase"). Fagan tends to favor the "conservative" ideas of Chaco as being more correct, which is really a shame, because I love to read about speculation and possibilities. He also agree s with Gwinn Vivian on EVERYTHING, apparently. I mean, I know that Vivian is one of the pillars of research when it comes to Chaco Canyon, but I there are others out there who also provide interesting and unique research (those are the "unconventional" types, I suppose).
The pictures are also OLD - which isn't necessarily bad, since Chaco has changed little in a hundred years (some of the pictures are from the 1930s), except for part of Pueblo Bonito being obliterated by the collapse of Threatening Rock, but some of them really don't do justice to the areas discussed. For example, the picture of Mesa Verde's Cliff Palace is taken so far away from Cliff Palace that if you don't know the geography of the area, you might have a hard time even locating Cliff Palace in the picture (it's the left-central top portion of the picture, FYI).
Still, this isn't a bad starting point for those interested in Chaco Canyon; I'd highly recommend those who plan on visiting the place to read up on it before going, because it's just so much more interesting than the few sentences on the signs in the park proper can possibly explain.
Chaco Canyon is indeed amazing. To be honest, it's a bitch to get to, about twenty miles off of Route 550, and only four of those miles are paved. When I went the first time, the road was seriously just sand and washboard ruts (the last time I went, the NPS had just laid down some gravel, but I'm not sure how long that lasts). It took me nearly an hour to drive those sixteen miles, and I figured that I'd need at least a front-end alignment for my car and a serious massage for my newly-acquired aches and pains. But then you get the breathtaking view of Fajada Butte, and that's only the beginning.
All of the times I've gone to Chaco Canyon, it's been relatively quiet. It's not as well-known as Mesa Verde, and it's much less accessible. That translates into the ability to wander through the ruins with minimal human interaction, which is always a plus for me in these sites. I love to think and think and think some more, and I just can't do that when people are clamoring behind me trying to get the best selfie so they can post it on Instagram. And yes, Mesa Verde's Cliff Palace is beautiful and awe-inspiring, but I'd argue that Pueblo Bonito is just as beautiful and even more awe-inspiring. And at Chaco Canyon, you aren't kept separate from the ruins like you are in Mesa Verde, only allowed to approach in carefully guided and time-controlled ranger programs. Nope, you can spend all day in Pueblo Bonito if you want, or hike up to the Pueblo Alto complex and wander around for hours, or take a splendid backcountry hike to Peñasco Blanco and see pottery shards still littering the ground of that unexcavated great house, hundreds of years after the people who made those pieces of pottery left the area.
Chaco Canyon is magical.
Fagan tries to bring that magic to a general audience in this book. He discusses the various eras of Chaco Canyon, the people who built and inhabited the place, the possible connections with other communities, and why the people ultimately left the area. (In spite of what some sensationalist "stories" try to proclaim, the ancestral Puebloan people did not "vanish." They dispersed, moving to other settlements or founding their own in other locations. Their descendants still populate the Four Corners area and beyond.)
Fagan tends to repeat himself a lot, and the book skips around quite a bit, even though he tries to proceed in a linear way. The book also says that it presents various ideas about Chaco, which it technically does, although Fagan is quick to dismiss those he doesn't particularly agree with or those he sees as "unconventional" (which I am guessing is archaeologist-speak for "nutcase"). Fagan tends to favor the "conservative" ideas of Chaco as being more correct, which is really a shame, because I love to read about speculation and possibilities. He also agree s with Gwinn Vivian on EVERYTHING, apparently. I mean, I know that Vivian is one of the pillars of research when it comes to Chaco Canyon, but I there are others out there who also provide interesting and unique research (those are the "unconventional" types, I suppose).
The pictures are also OLD - which isn't necessarily bad, since Chaco has changed little in a hundred years (some of the pictures are from the 1930s), except for part of Pueblo Bonito being obliterated by the collapse of Threatening Rock, but some of them really don't do justice to the areas discussed. For example, the picture of Mesa Verde's Cliff Palace is taken so far away from Cliff Palace that if you don't know the geography of the area, you might have a hard time even locating Cliff Palace in the picture (it's the left-central top portion of the picture, FYI).
Still, this isn't a bad starting point for those interested in Chaco Canyon; I'd highly recommend those who plan on visiting the place to read up on it before going, because it's just so much more interesting than the few sentences on the signs in the park proper can possibly explain.
January 3, 2011
Around the age of ten I sat through a Rocky Mountain thunder storm in Spruce Tree House ruin at Mesa Verde. I don't know how long the storm lasted, nor how my parents, sisters and our National Parks guide occupied their time, because I was imagining, from what I could see and feel, how another young girl might have sat where I was sitting during a similar storm hundreds of years earlier. This visualization tendency has continued throughout years of visiting historical and prehistorical sites in Europe, as well as in North America. Thus, reading a respected archaeologist's perspectives on the people of what is often referred to as the Chaco Culture became a must read for me. By using years of archaeological facts, the beliefs and lifestyles of modern Pueblo cultures and by discussing many other experts' discoveries and opinions, Fagan offers realistic, if not dramatic and colorful, descriptions of life and individuals within this prehistoric era. There's a lot of technical information, perhaps not altogether fodder for casual readers, 'manna' for prehistory addicts, such as I am.
March 16, 2008
This book provides a brief and understandable overview of the history of Chaco Canyon. Fagan presents data, from current archaeological research, on the rise, decline, and final abandonment of the “great houses” in the canyon. He also provides information on the migration of the dwellers of Chaco to other locations and short summaries on the similarities between Chaco Canyon and other Chaco-influenced ruins in the Southwest.
I liked this book because of its approachability. It was easy to read and easy to understand – unlike technical archaeology articles and reports. Great notes and references are provided at the end of the book for those interested in further studying Chaco Canyon.
I liked this book because of its approachability. It was easy to read and easy to understand – unlike technical archaeology articles and reports. Great notes and references are provided at the end of the book for those interested in further studying Chaco Canyon.
possible-purchase
August 16, 2008Saw an awesome DVD recently, "The Mystery of CHACO Canyon" and would really like to learn more about the astronomical phenomenom of the ancient American southwestern culture.
November 7, 2014
For more than a century archaeologists have been digging in Chaco Canyon. They have measured the ruins of houses and ceremonial structures, tracked pottery designs across the southwest, counted tree rings, and offered nearly as many explanations as there are archaeologists in the canyon. Chaco Canyon has been presented as a religious center, political empire, home to thousands, and the heartland of Anasazi culture. There is little doubt that this remote and remarkable complex occupied a special place in the past. The canyon became a national monument in 1907 and is today the Chaco Culture National Historic Park.
Making sense of the archaeological studies is a formidable task, one that must consider both the changes in the discipline’s methods of inquiry and the growing body of data from other sciences. Amid these shifting sands of information, theories come and go, are resurrected and die again. What happened at Chaco Canyon? Where did the people come from and where did they go? Is the canyon part of a huge religious system stretching from Dolores, CO to Mexico City?
These questions, and many others, are the subjects of Chaco Canyon, Archaeologists Explore the Lives of an Ancient Society by Brian Fagan (Oxford University Press, 2005). He paints a picture of life in the canyon during times of plenty and during droughts, and examines the leading theories about what happened to the complex of ruined communities and ceremonial centers in Chaco Canyon. Fagan discusses the role of Chaco in the Anasazi lifestyle, how drought could have changed residential and religious patterns, and what the archaeological record has to say about astronomy, climate change, resource utilization, and social relationships. It is a story of adaptation told at the levels of household, clan group, and village.
Making sense of the archaeological studies is a formidable task, one that must consider both the changes in the discipline’s methods of inquiry and the growing body of data from other sciences. Amid these shifting sands of information, theories come and go, are resurrected and die again. What happened at Chaco Canyon? Where did the people come from and where did they go? Is the canyon part of a huge religious system stretching from Dolores, CO to Mexico City?
These questions, and many others, are the subjects of Chaco Canyon, Archaeologists Explore the Lives of an Ancient Society by Brian Fagan (Oxford University Press, 2005). He paints a picture of life in the canyon during times of plenty and during droughts, and examines the leading theories about what happened to the complex of ruined communities and ceremonial centers in Chaco Canyon. Fagan discusses the role of Chaco in the Anasazi lifestyle, how drought could have changed residential and religious patterns, and what the archaeological record has to say about astronomy, climate change, resource utilization, and social relationships. It is a story of adaptation told at the levels of household, clan group, and village.
May 13, 2015
Fagan is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, an esteemed academic. Yet his attempt to make Chaco culture accessible to the layman reads more like a lowering of the reader's ability to understand, rather than elevating that reader (compare that to writer George Johnson, or David Stuart's "Anasazi America"). He includes vignettes of peoples' lives back then, and descriptions of spirituality and politics and governance, that, to my eye, reflect the frustration of not knowing that leads to an overwhelming desire to speculate anyway. History based on archaeology/anthropology can be dry; that's an understatement. But to introduce your book recalling how the ancient inhabitants "surrounded me and entered my consciousness", and "enticed me into their long-vanished world" tells me Fagan is leaving the world of true scientific wonder and entering the world of writing gimmicks to embellish his subject and enhance sales.
I read it anyway. And to his credit, I found much in there of interest. The history of archaeological discoveries is good, and his criticisms of different academic theories about Chaco history were gentle and not demeaning. Altogether, there was much to pick up from such an easy book so early in my studies of what was an empire in an improbable place. I'm glad it wasn't my first book on the topic, but it's probably a good first book for the very casually interested.
Lastly, someone said Fagan on the topic of droughts and building construction is confusing. I've read several books on the topic: It will never not be confusing.
I read it anyway. And to his credit, I found much in there of interest. The history of archaeological discoveries is good, and his criticisms of different academic theories about Chaco history were gentle and not demeaning. Altogether, there was much to pick up from such an easy book so early in my studies of what was an empire in an improbable place. I'm glad it wasn't my first book on the topic, but it's probably a good first book for the very casually interested.
Lastly, someone said Fagan on the topic of droughts and building construction is confusing. I've read several books on the topic: It will never not be confusing.
July 23, 2012
I camped at Chaco a couple of years ago, froze my tail off, and wondered what in the world people were doing building huge buildings in such a crazy place. I came across this book at the library while looking for something else, and hoped to find out some more about the place and the people who lived there.
This book is described as written for a general audience. I found the language accessible, but still had trouble following the narrative. It seemed like the author jumped around, describing 3 drought periods, then going back to a building phase after the first drought, or making contridictory statements without making it clear that they were (I assume) competing theories of what was going on.
I guess the bottom line is, we don't really know what Chaco was all about, and a book that purports to give a more definitive answer is likely on somewhat shaky ground.
This book is described as written for a general audience. I found the language accessible, but still had trouble following the narrative. It seemed like the author jumped around, describing 3 drought periods, then going back to a building phase after the first drought, or making contridictory statements without making it clear that they were (I assume) competing theories of what was going on.
I guess the bottom line is, we don't really know what Chaco was all about, and a book that purports to give a more definitive answer is likely on somewhat shaky ground.
September 29, 2019
I was excited to learn about Chaco from Someone as renowned as Fagan before a trip to visit the canyon. I found myself frustrated throughout the book with how much he disparaged other archaeologists’ work just because he didn’t agree with them. I also got the sense that female researchers were especially “wrong” in Fagans opinion. Unfortunately, this is the last Fagan book I’ll be reading - I’ll give Lekson a try instead.
March 31, 2021
I find Brian Fagan's masterful writing to be some of the best for taking readers through stories of civilizations. I recommend having maps in hand as you read about some of the most impressive archeological sites on the world. The author has a nuanced and candid way of acknowledging limitations on the information available, and to me that's part of the joy in the journey of both historic and prehistoric research and literature.
June 15, 2017
A great read about the mystery of Chaco and the incredible ruins there. Still a lot to know and learn about this place. Need to go back and visit again now that I have read this book and others by Steve Lekson. Good color photos showing many sites in northwest New Mexico.
June 15, 2011
Well-written and supported by references. I'm looking forward to visiting Chaco at some point.
Want to Read
February 12, 2015Definitely very dry reading at parts\nA look at what life might have been like in Chaco Canyon and what other things influenced life there
February 2, 2020
Good prep reading for a visit later in Feb.
But, for vacation prep, too much detail.
I didn't like the introductory sections in each chapter, so I skipped them.
A good reference.
But, for vacation prep, too much detail.
I didn't like the introductory sections in each chapter, so I skipped them.
A good reference.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews