CHIMNEY ROCK
-- GREAT HOUSE EXCAVATION/STABILIZATION --
SUMMER 2009
Dr. Stephen Lekson of the University of Colorado at Boulder will oversee the Summer 2009 Field Project from June 1 to July 5 at Chimney Rock with a team of researchers working to excavate/stabilize rooms of the Great House Pueblo.
The goals of the project are:
- Reduction of fill in two rooms and an ancillary space to allow for stabilization activities to take place.
- Recovery of samples for dendrochronological dating to evaluate the contention that the Great House Pueblo was built to correspond with major lunar standstills (Malville 2004; Eddy 2004).
- Examination of wall construction techniques to evaluate the argument that the Great House Pueblo was a direct export from Chaco Canyon (Eddy 2004).
For stabilization purposes, fill levels in Rooms 5, 7 and 38 will be reduced to take pressure off adjoining rooms and spaces. Rooms 5 and 7 flank Room 8, excavated by Dr. Frank Eddy in the 1970's. Room 38 is an architectural unit associated with the buttressing and ventilation features of the East Kiva, also investigated by Dr. Eddy. The fill from Rooms 5 and 7 will be excavated in 1 x 1 units, and at least half of these units will be screened. Initial excavations will be controlled by "arbitrary" stratigraphic levels. If natural stratigraphic levels become apparent, subsequent excavations will be controlled by these. Considerable wall debris and rubble are likely; these will be excavated with the goal of reconstructing both their initial construction and ultimate deposition. Initial Chimney Rock excavations in 1920-1922 hinted at some unusual roof construction practices so special care will be taken when encountering roof debris such as beams and clay to inform on and/or confirm these conclusions.
Photos by John Richardson
Both the construction and role of Chimney Rock Great House Pueblo in the larger Chaco Region have been interpreted based upon a single tree cutting date of A.D. 1076 from the East Kiva ventilator, and thirteen tree cutting dates of A.D. 1093 from Room 8. Both A.D. 1076 and A.D. 1093 correspond with major lunar standstills, when the moon rises between the massive pillars of Chimney Rock and Companion Rock, just east of the pueblo. Eddy (1977:46) contends that the pueblo was constructed in a single, planned event in A.D. 1076 by Chacoan priest-colonists, and then re-roofed in A.D. 1093. Malville (2004) argues that Chimney Rock was an astronomical observatory, built and sited to purposefully correspond to major lunar standstills to bolster the esoteric knowledge and power of the priests of Chaco Canyon 93 miles to the south.
Finally, the excavations at Chimney Rock can inform on the concepts of "emulation" vs. "export." Eddy (1977) hypothesized that Chimney Rock was an export built by Chacoan priests. More recently, archaeologists have postulated that perhaps outliers like Chimney Rock were more akin to emulations of Chaco Canyon, rather than actual exports (Reed 2006, Cameron 2008). A careful examination of roof and wall construction will inform on this debate. For example, "hidden" construction characteristics found to be similar or identical to those at Chaco would be an indication of export, while more superficial similarities would be indicative of emulation. Beyond the boundaries of this study, if Chimney Rock is found to be an export rather than an emulation of Chaco Canyon, it could be used as a standard to examine other outlying great houses in the San Juan Basin.
Congressman John Salazar (3rd District of Colorado) toured Chimney Rock and inspected the excavation and stabilization project work on June 30, 2009 (CU News Center July 2, 2009 article w/video).
Dr. Lekson and his crew discussed the project in a CU News Center article on July 28, 2009 (Article w/video).
Other Chimney Rock excavation articles:
Photos by John Richardson
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Hours of Operation: In-Season May 15 - September 30, Daily 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Guided Walking Tour Schedule: 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m.
Location: 3 miles South of Hwy 160 on Hwy 151 (map)
Mailing Address: Chimney Rock Interpretive Program, P.O. Box 1662, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
Phone: (970)883-5359 Visitor's Cabin In-season, (970)264-2287 Leave Message Off-season
E-mail: chimneyrock@chimneyrockco.org
Download Chimney Rock Brochure
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