He and Wilson weren't trying to start a new exercise fad. I felt that in opening the sealed rooms, the purpose of the rooms and their having been sealed being unknown to the archaeologists, something that had been meant to be kept there was being released. Murphy said it's not uncommon to see lights moving among the ruins or to hear sounds coming from parts of the canyon.. This documentary examines the ancient ruins of Chaco Canyon, built between 850 and 1150 A.D. in northwest New Mexico. New Mexico PBS has broadcast this full-length documentary more than 90 times. The planned Thacker Pass lithium mine in remote northern Nevada has drawn protests and a lawsuit from local tribes. Aerial and time lapse footage, computer modeling, and interviews with scholars show how the Chacoan culture designed, oriented and located its major buildings in relationship to the sun and moon. They attempted their final test on a forest road leading to Gross Reservoir southwest of Boulder, carrying the timber using tumplines on either end. These achievements emerged a thousand years ago in the exceptionally demanding environment of New Mexicos San Juan Basin. Ars may earn compensation on sales from links on this site. Shining light on the astronomical brilliance of the austere civilization of Chaco Canyon Narrated by Robert Redford . The film has also streamed at 130 colleges and universities where 5,000 viewings have taken place in classrooms, student centers, dorm rooms and apartments for a total time viewed of 1,800 hours. Nonetheless, there is general acceptance among archaeologists of the idea that visual astronomy had a role in Chacoan culture, if for no other reason than to provide a calendrical system. They recall the brilliant knowledge of the ancestors that gave them control over natural forces, but suggest also the corrupting effect of such power. But how this society got its construction supplies has been a long-standing mystery. Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Robert Redford, The video becomes part of the ongoing dialogue between archeologists, anthropologists, and native peoples [It's] a multi-level phenomenon, like Chaco, which embraces complexity, beauty, and mystery. Rina Swentzell, Architect, Santa Clara Pueblo, "A stunning piece of work the graphics are astounding and the entire production is powerful." The Mystery of Chaco Canyon. Chaco Canyon Worksheets. [DVD] examines the deep enigmas presented by the massive prehistoric remains found in Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1/20) and Ars Technica Addendum (effective 8/21/2018). It seemed unrealistically high to him. The canyon itself has been carved from ancient sea beds by centuries of erosion. Chaco Canyon National Historical Park is one of those extraordinary gems and an excellent example of ArchaeoAstronomy. The two made three round trips over the course of the day. After three months of training with tumplines for six or seven days a week, Kram and Wilson were ready to try a real log. In the process, we get a whole new picture of the intelligence at work behind Chacoan society and its architectureThe Mystery of Chaco Canyon interweaves a narrative that is both attentive to indigenous thought and values, and robustly grounded in the rigors of scientific method. It seemed unrealistically high to him. The site is an artifact of the Pueblo peoples of north america and is now a protected national heritage site. Kram got interested in Chaco Canyon several years ago. More information: He and Wilson decided to read everything they could about the properties of dried wood. The most uncomfortable part, Wilson noted, was the strap of the tumpline rubbing into his head. Human porters would have needed to carry 16-foot-long wooden beamsto Chaco Canyon by footfollowing a network of ancient roads to sites like the Chuska Mountains to the west. In a 2022 study, they and their colleagues estimated that a pine log measuring about 16 feet longprobably weighed closer to 85 kilograms(a little over 185 pounds). Archeologists estimate that the main architectual landmark, the great Kiva of Chetro Keti, was . Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors. These structures offered humans a domestic sphere within a realm of wild nature, ensuring stability, centricity, meaning, security, familiarities, knowledge of controlling, social and power classifications. Then the researchers hit on the idea of tumplines, which are depicted in ceramic effigiesrecovered from close to Chaco Canyon. On todays show, we hear from two Colorado scientists who recently discovered one of the oldest female infant burial sites in a cave in Europe. Instead, we carried sand and heavy logs around using our heads, said Kram, who is a passionate runner in his free time. The study was published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Written byJan Bartek AncientPages.comStaff Writer, Runes Were Just As Advanced As Roman Alphabet Writing New Study, Ancient Burials Of Worlds First Horse Riders Found Near The Black Sea, Clevelands Prehistoric Sea Monster Had A Mouth Twice As Large As A Great White Shark, Mysterious Bronze Age Golden Tomb Unearthed In Armenia. Kram got interested in Chaco Canyon several years ago. Narrated by Robert Redford. The documentary is very well done, but its the PLACE thats the subject here. World Archaeological Congress Handbook Series. The film reveals that between 850 and 1150 AD, the Chacoan people designed and constructed massive ceremonial buildings in a complex celestial pattern . Pueblo Indians, descendants of the Chacoan people, regard Chaco as a place where their ancestors lived in a sacred past. The new Great Houses built during the Late Bonito phase at Chaco after A.D. 1100 are all either involved in inter-site cardinal NS alignments, or positioned at or in proximity to observing locations that can function as solstice calendrical stations. Symbolically, the centerline of each of the three nearby Hooper Ranch Pueblo kivas aligns with this ancient Sun Dagger shrine. Keep up with all the latest news, arts and culture, and TV highlights from KPBS. During the same period, the first cardinal NS and EW architectural alignments were also completed. What is known is that beginning around the mid-800s, Chaco people began building here, creating multi-story stone buildings on a grand scale. "As these guys showed, you don't have to be super trained to carry a log," he said. For decades, people have wondered how ancient ancestral Puebloans transported heavy building materials to Chaco Canyon, one of the most important archaeological sites in the Southwest. and Terms of Use. Join this. For years archaeologists have assumed that Chaco Canyon was primarily an ancient trading center. - Feb 24, 2023 9:00 pm UTC. When a load is positioned at the top of the head, the spine supports the weight and it doesnt fatigue muscles. Once you get it positioned so that it's right on the crown of your head, then the load lines up with your neck and with the rest of your spine, Kram said. The average logs that were carried to build these great houses at Chaco were about 16 feet long, so I multiplied it by 16, he said. W. David Laird, Books of the Southwest'The video, then, is a multi-leveled phenomenon, like Chaco, which embraces complexity, beauty and mystery.' They built "Great Houses," which were as much as four stories tall and contained hundreds of rooms. CU Boulder Today is created by Strategic Relations and Communications. The astronomical evidence presented supports the idea that people with at least three distinct cosmological intents collaborated at Chaco; it also supports Van Dykes hypothesis that Late Bonito phase construction at Chaco represented an attempt by a weakened ritual elite to reinvigorate their legitimacy and power. For more information, contact Bullfrog Films, Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; 1-800-543-FROG (3764); info@. Dr. T.J. Ferguson, Anthropologist/Archaeologist'A stunning piece--the graphics are astounding and the entire production is powerful.' She chanced to record petroglyphs on Fajada Butte at what is now called the Sun Dagger or Three Slab site, now perhaps the most famous site in Chaco Canyon, located at a southeastern facing cliff near the top of Fajada Butte. The team's findings open up a new understanding of the day-to-day lives of the people who shaped the Southwest more than a thousand years ago, said study co-author Robert Weiner. These cosmographic concepts of habitation across cultures are transformed into designed landscapes, cultic caves, tents, campsites, houses, cities, or temples. We calculate that probably each of the big timbers took three people and took them about four days to get from where the trees were cut down to where they were used for the construction site, Kram said. Lecture: Chacoan Astronomy, Cosmography, Roads, and Ritual Power: Insights into the Chaco World Using New Technologies. Chaco Canyon was the center of the ancestral Puebloan world, home to immense great houses as high as five stories tall and containing as many as 800 rooms, cavernous kivas built so that dancers . Chaco Canyon sits near the border between New Mexico and Colorado. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. Thousands of people, the ancestors of todays Din, or Navajo,and Pueblo peoples, may have lived there from around A.D. 850 to 1200. Understanding that it was sacred to a People was what mattered. The film challenges the notion that Chaco Canyon was primarily a trade and redistribution center. But how this society got its construction supplies has been a long-standing mystery. Once home to the Ancient Puebloans, Chaco Canyon was a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture between 850 and 1250 A.D. By 1000 A.D., the Chaco culture had firmly established a spiritual, political, and economic center serving the Four Corners area. In the process, we get a whole new picture of the intelligence at work behind Chacoan society and its architectureThe Mystery of Chaco Canyon interweaves a narrative that is both attentive to indigenous thought and values, and robustly grounded in the rigors of scientific method. He read a statistic suggesting that the mass of a typical roof beam, or "viga," in a Chacoan Great House likely averaged around 275 kilograms (more than 600 pounds). A summary of the film provides the teacher with useful background knowledge for his or her own preparation and to share with students prior to viewing the film. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon. Pueblo descendants say that Chaco was a special gathering place where many peoples and clans converged to share their ceremonies, traditions, and knowledge. Dr. Brad Eden, UNLV, MC Journal'Make(s) a compelling case for this ancient people's astronomical prowess. video produced and directed by Anna Sofaer. Redford, Robert (narrator) The Mysterious Books Of Prophecies Of The Knights Templar Where Are They Hidden? Visit the Chaco Web Exhibit. This film is relevant to secondary- and college-level courses in Social Studies, Earth and Space Science, Traditional Literature, Pueblo Culture, Art, Symbols, and Architecture, . Human porters would have needed to carry 16-foot-long wooden beams to Chaco Canyon by footfollowing a network of ancient roads to sites like the Chuska Mountains to the west. "Tumplines allow one to carry heavier weights over larger distances without getting fatigued," said Wilson, now a medical student at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Sofaer, Anna (film producer) NASA began researching Chaco Canyon in the 1970s, when the organization discovered some 300 kilometers of sophisticated roadways and underground kivas through multispectral scanning technology. Tumplines are hardly a new innovation. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon 2000 0 hr 56 mins Documentary NR Watchlist Robert Redford narrates this report exploring magnificent 1000-year-old Native American ruins in Chaco Canyon, N.M. At. The Mystery of CHACO CANYON - YouTube The biggest mystery in North America is Chaco Canyon . Summaries America's Stonehenge? These include front-facing south-southeast (SSE) orientation, front facing east-southeast (ESE) orientation, alignments to the cardinal directions of North-South and/or East-West (NS/EW), and the construction of Great Houses at workable calendrical stations with horizon foresights for solstice dates. Register to request a quote. Ancient Chaco. University of Colorado at Boulder. Copyright 2023 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), all rights reserved. Most large complexes had four or five stories and averaged over 200 rooms, with the largest boasting as many as 700 rooms. The largest structure built in the US until the early 1890's is Pueblo Bonito . The team's findings open up a new understanding of the day-to-day lives of the people who shaped the Southwest more than a thousand years ago, said study co-author Robert Weiner. Jen is a web producer at KPBS, responsible for program promotion, online membership-related activities, and is the editor of the KPBS community calendar. In and around Chaco Canyon, archaeologists have found ceramic effigies illustrating Puebloan people using tumplines to carry resources, as well as yucca fiber wraps that could be the remains of ancient tumplines.. The sun beam lines up with different spirals or edges on the equinoxes and solstices. It appears that they served instead as centers of great spiritual power. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon TV Movie 1999 56 m IMDb RATING 7.3 /10 212 YOUR RATING Rate Documentary America's Stonehenge? They estimated that a 16-foot-long pine log weighed closer to 85 kilograms, or just over 185 pounds. One of the tribes, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, has increased its efforts to stop the project. It proved worthwhile, though, because their efforts helped prove that the multiple-tumpline method was viable. In consequence and accompanying hominid evolution, which caused a partially freeing up from strong drives, organizing the world into a meaningful consistent and dynamic framework of interacting subsystems was necessary to integrate and orientate the human lifeworld within changing natural ecospheres. That's where we go to heal, to pray,' said Weiner, who will receive his doctorate in anthropology from CU Boulder later this spring. That's where we go to heal, to pray,'" said Weiner, who will receive his doctorate in anthropology from CU Boulder later this spring. The film reveals that between 850 and 1150 AD, the Chacoan people designed and constructed massive ceremonial buildings in a complex celestial pattern . Dr. R. Gwinn Vivian, former Curator of Archaeology, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona'I highly recommend this video for anthropological, sociological, and American studies classes.' Music by Michael Stearns. Its wide roads, circular ritual sites called kivas, and sprawling. A majority of the Great Houses built before A.D. 1000 are front-facing to the SSE. They built Great Houses, which were as much as four stories tall and contained hundreds of rooms. These and other bizarre encounters suggest the park may be a portal between our world and distant star system. "Some people baked sourdough bread during COVID, Instead, we carried sand and heavy logs around using our heads," said Kram, who is a passionate runner in his free time. Read About our Chaco Tours in 360 West Magazine Article, The Dallas News, Adventure Pro Magazine and Cowboys & Indians. "It's just a dumb way to carry a heavy object.". Although this solar marker is considerably older than the one on Fajada Butte, here in succession both the early morning shadow-line and Sun Dagger itself appear to emanate from the hand of an anthropomorphic figure, first bisecting a spiral and then, a few minutes later, an S-shaped image. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has agreed to put off oil and gas leasing for a year on land that tribes consider sacred surrounding Chaco Culture, Northern Colorado Center for Investigative Reporting, Tom Sizemore, 'Saving Private Ryan' actor, has died at 61, Election-denying former Colorado clerk guilty of obstruction, He visited Disneyland 2,995 days in a row. After three months of training with tumplines for six or seven days a week, Kram and Wilson were ready to try a real log. Ancient Desert Mystery Did Thousands Vanish Without A Trace Because Of An Ominous Prophecy And Revenge? For general inquiries, please use our contact form. Pueblo Bonito, a Chaco Canyon "Great House," once spanned hundreds of rooms and was several stories tall. Ancient Mona Lisa Mosaic Of Kadirli Discovered, 2500-Year-Old Objects Made From Goat Bones Discovered In Turkeys City Of Aigai, Fragment Of Unique Egyptian Sphinx Unearthed In North Israel, Ancient Symbol Seed Of Life Contains Hidden Secrets Of The Seven Days Of Creation, Siege Of Alesia: Last Decisive Battle That Ended Gallic Independence In France And Belgium, Ostrich Eggs Dated More Than 4,000 Years Discovered In Negev Desert Of Southern Israel, Artifacts Shed Light On 2,100-Year-Old Jewish Town In Judea Dated Back To Hasmonean-Era. Past archaeoastronomy work has had limited influence on such debate. Kram decided to take proving his theory a stepor haulfurther, though. Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. February 17, 2014 Chaco Canyon in New Mexico is one of the largest archeoastronmical sites in the world. 'From the pyramids and temples of Egypt, to England's Stonehenge, (ancient peoples) locked their buildings to the movements of the sky gods. But that account is inconsistent with the known sourcing of the timbersthe Chuska, Zuni, San Mateo, La Plata, ad Sa Juan Mountainsand there is also no archaeological evidence for the existence of such carts, according to the authors. Instead, they were hoping to solve an archaeological mystery that has perplexed researchers for decades: How did ancient peoples transport more than 200,000 heavy construction timbers over 60 miles to a famous site in the Southwest called Chaco Canyon? In the center of America's Four Corners Region, Chaco Canyon is an arid, desolate place, sprinkled with the occasional, lonely juniper tree, cactus, or sage bush. Rodger Kram, associate professor emeritus of integrative physiology, and James Wilson, then an undergraduate studying biochemistry, spent the summer of 2020 training for an impressive test of endurance: Together, they carried a ponderosa pine log weighing more than 130 pounds for 15 miles up and down a forest road in Boulder County, Coloradoand they did it using only their heads in a technique inspired, in part, by sherpas in Nepal. Additional manual findings using NVDA screen reader 1. Click here to sign in with Tells that between 850 and 1150 AD, the Chacoan people constructed massive ceremonial buildings in a complex celestial pattern throughout a vast desert region, and uses aerial and time lapse footage and computer modeling to show how the Chacoan culture designed, oriented and located these buildings . Director Anna Sofaer Writers Matt Dibble Anna Sofaer Stars Paul Pino Robert Redford (voice) Anna Sofaer See production, box office & company info Watch on Prime Video included with Prime More watch options Add to Watchlist To make sure they were being safe, Kram and Wilson started with light loads and worked their way up, said Joseph Carzoli, a study co-author and certified strength and conditioning coach. The duo wanted to find out if such a journey would be possible. This program presents evidence that the Chacoan people expressed a complex solar and lunar cosmology in their magnificent architecture.The Mystery of Chaco Canyon, airing Monday, October 31, 2011 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV/HD (DT21.1/cable 11 and 1011), examines the deep mysteries presented by the massive prehistoric architectural remains found in Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico. Well-paced and absorbing, simultaneously poetic and analytical, this film provides a new benchmark of understanding for serious studies of ancestral-Pueblo astronomy and culture.' Kram and a fellow researcher decided to test out the theorized method in the foothills outside of Boulder. Half hour versions of both films are avaliable for teaching (please emailinfo@bullfrogfilms.comfor this option). Explore how the Chacoan people expressed a complex solar and lunar cosmology in their arch, The Mystery of Chaco Canyon is a local public television program presented by. The so-called "great houses" of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico may have taken decades or longer to construct. Others have suggested that the timbers were rolled rather than carried to construction sites, perhaps bundled within smaller wood pieces for protection or carried on the shoulders. Peter Whiteley, Dept. As the title states - they used their heads but not just by thinking about it. Long Mysterious Tunnel Discovered Inside The Khufu Pyramid, 220 Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Footprint Found On Wales Beach By Girl, Archaeologists Excavate Two Roman Bath Hidden In A Dark Passage Below The Streets Of Bath, On This Day In History: The Battle of Salamis Sep 22, 480 BC, Vikings Brewed Beer With Heated Stones Old Tradition Popular In Germany, Finland And Baltic States, Indigenous Communities Used The Caribbean Sea As An Aquatic Highway, Ancient Underwater City Of Heracleion Reveals More Archaeological Treasures. Krams big insight was that multiple tumplines could have been attached, side by side, to a single log, allowing several people to share the load. Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. One such road, the Great North Road, connects the central canyons ceremonial buildings across 35 miles of desert to a steep badlands canyon in the North a direction of profound significance to descendant Pueblo people. So how did the ancestral Puebloans manage it? Left Coat Press, Walnut Creek CA. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon - Ritterbush - 2001 - American Anthropologist - Wiley Online Library Skip to Article Content Skip to Article Information An enduring mystery from the great houses of Chaco Canyon is the origin of more than 240,000 construction timbers. To make sure they were being safe, Kram and Wilson started with light loads and worked their way up, said Joseph Carzoli, a study co-author and certified strength and conditioning coach. Rather it argues that it was a center of astronomy and cosmology and that a primary purpose for the construction of the elaborate Chacoan buildings and certain roads was to express astronomical interests and to be integral parts of a celestial patterning.While the Chacoans left no written text to help us to understand their culture, their thoughts are preserved in the language of their architecture, roads and light markings. See production, box office & company info, Self - Laguna Pueblo Council member - this is not the same Paul Pino in your database, The Extraordinary Tale of William Buckley: The great untold story of Australia's Robinson Crusoe, Australia's Lost Gold: The Legend of Lasseter. An examination of the prehistoric remains found in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, which functioned as a complex ceremonial center, harmonized by extraordinary astronomical alignments of buildings and roads, and elegant light and shadow markings. Dr. R. Gwinn Vivian, Ex-Curator of Archaeology at the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona. "Some people baked sourdough bread during COVID," said Kram, an emeritus professor of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Sofaer, Anna (screenwriter) The SSE orientation tradition continued during the peak of Bonito Phase construction activity (A.D. 1020-1100). The Mystery of Chaco Canyon challenges the long-held assumption that Chaco was a center of trade and offers an explanation of the site which reveals the brilliant astronomy of ancient pueblo people. With Chaco Canyon now declared a national park and UNESCO World Heritage site, visitors to Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico can marvel at the remains of 12 great houses and more than 4,000 areas of archaeological interest in the rocky landscape. "I cut a 1-foot-long section of pine and weighed it on my bathroom scale," said Kram, who lives on a wooded property in the hills west of Boulder. I multiplied by 16 feet and realized, That cant add up to 275 kilograms.. The Wall Street Journal'A beautiful piece. Chaco Canyon is a shallow, ten-mile canyon situated in the northwest corner of New Mexico. Then the researchers hit on the idea of tumplines, which are depicted in ceramic effigies recovered from close to Chaco Canyon. We can remove the first video in the list to add this one. Krams experiment isnt definitive proof that ancestral Puebloans used to haul their loads, but Kram says his research suggests that that's likely what happened. The type of artifacts in the collection include the full range of Chacoan material culture -- prehistoric vessels, stone and bone tools, matting and sandals, ground stone tools for making corn flour, projectile points, hammers and mauls, hoes and digging sticks, corn cobs and turkey bones, and ornaments of shell, Turquoise, jet, and bone. Being Native American myself (Cherokee) I felt odd about the spot being studied, trespassed upon if you will. The composition and photography could not have been betterthe publicwill eat it up and ask for more.'F. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no Credit: Patrick Campbell/CU Boulder. He and Wilson werent trying to start a new exercise fad. "Once we corrected the mass of the timbers," Wilson said, "that changed almost everything about how many people were required to carry those timbers, how much time it would take to cover 60 miles.". Yearning to be the center of everything, when we are the center of nothing: The parallels and reversals in Chaco, Hubble, and Facebook, "The Sky Starts at Our Feet: Anasazi Clues about Overcoming the Mind/Body Dualism through the Unity of Earth/Sky, A Sensory Approach to Exotica, Ritual Practice, and Cosmology at Chaco Canyon, MRES Thesis: The Fluteplayer of Chaco Canyon, Ritual, Timelessness, and Lived Experience in the Pueblo World, Materialities of Place: Ideology on the Chacoan Landscape, The Beginning of Prehistoric Settlements of the American SouthwestThe Beginning of Prehistoric Settlements of the American Southwest, Rock Art Studies: A Bibliographic Database_North America_United States_Arizona, Rock Art Studies: A Bibliographic Database_North America_United States_New Mexico, Unheard Voices, Part 1: The Astronomy of Many Cultures -- A Resource Guide, Rock Art Studies: A Bibliographic Database_North America_United States_Southwest_Navajo Rock Art, Great Houses, Shrines, and High Places: Intervisibility in the Chacoan World. They help porters to support weight using the bones of their neck and spine rather than their muscles. New to Docuseek? Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request. "Instead, we carried sand and heavy logs around using our heads.". Lekson suggests that much of what we believe about the ancient Southwest should be radically revised. Chaco Culture For over 2,000 years, Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States. They describe the deliberate action of their ancestors to seal off the buildings and these aspects of their past. Ever since she discovered the Sun Dagger, Anna Sofaer and her Solstice Project team of researchers have been exploring the enigmas posed by the massive prehistoric ruins in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. 1999. 1.The purpose of the construction of the Fajada Butte calendar. Archaeology February 22, 2023 How scientists hauling logs on their heads may have solved a Chaco Canyon mystery by Daniel Strain, University of Colorado at Boulder James Wilson, left, and. The number, Kram discovered, could be traced back to a study published in the 1980s. Thus specific cultural systems including cosmovisions emerged, which allowed man to establish and maintain order and rhythm in personal and social life, interacting with given environmental conditions and to answer the human questions about the whys and wherefores concerning him and the world. Most large complexes had four or five stories and averaged over 200 rooms, with the. I found no convincing evidence for previously proposed architectural alignments to lunar standstills, June solstice sunrises, or equinox events. The Mystery of Chaco Canyoncontinues to impact and inform audiences in significant ways; 800 K-12 schools and colleges have purchased copies ofThe Mystery of Chaco Canyonto teach about the remarkable archaeoastronomy of the ancient Pueblo people of Chaco. That changed the calculation significantly when determining how many people would have been needed to carry the timbers 60-70 miles. "I multiplied by 16 feet and realized, 'That can't add up to 275 kilograms.'". New Mexico's Chaco Canyon is home to some of the most impressive pre-Columbian architecture in the Western Hemisphere. Pueblo leaders speak of the significance of Chaco to the Pueblo world today. A new study has solved the third mystery - how they carry as many as 200,000 16-foot-long wooden beams to Chaco Canyon from forests over 60 miles away. Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer. Landscape, directions, sun and moon, and movement of shadow and light were the materials used by the Chacoan architects and builders to express their knowledge of an order in the universe.