James A. Wilson et al, Were timbers transported to Chaco using tumplines? Their immense buildings in Chaco Canyon, a remote, barely habitable canyon innorthwestern New Mexico, have been the subject of heated archaeological debate for decades. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon: Unveiling the Ancient Astronomy Since its release in 2000, our award-winning film, The Mystery of Chaco Canyon, has aired more than 10,000 times on 95% of PBS stations across the country. It's likely the best way to do it.. Adjust the colors to reduce glare and give your eyes a break. He and Wilson decided to read everything they could about the properties of dried wood. 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. Left Coat Press, Walnut Creek CA. The study found that about 1 in 6 adult deaths in the U.S. are related to excess weight or obesity. 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. As a person who studies biomechanics and physiology of the human body, I was like, that's crazy, Kram said. Pueblo Indians, descendants of the Chacoan people, regard Chaco as a place where their ancestors lived in a sacred past. The so-called "great houses" of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico may have taken decades or longer to construct. "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.". The mountains are the most sacred places for the descendant Din and Pueblo peoples. When a load is positioned at the top of the head, the spine supports the weight and it doesnt fatigue muscles. The Wall Street Journal'A beautiful piece. The film reveals that between 850 and 1150 AD, the Chacoan people designed and constructed massive ceremonial buildings in a complex celestial pattern . And the published oral traditions and ethnography of the Pueblo and Dineo peoples descended from the Chachoans don't shed much light on the issue, either. One of the characteristics of the human mode of existence shows up in modelling the structures and processes of the world onto the living space, which consists of certain landscapes, locations, and habitations. Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors. Chaco Canyon, located in northwest New Mexico, is perhaps the only site in the world constructed in an elaborate pattern that mirrors the yearly cycle of the sun and the 19-year cycle of the moon. For more information, contact Bullfrog Films, Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; 1-800-543-FROG (3764); info@. 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. They built "Great Houses," which were as much as four stories tall and contained hundreds of rooms. They help porters to support weight using the bones of their neck and spine rather than their muscles. But how this society got its construction supplies has been a long-standing mystery. Ever since she . New to Docuseek? That still left a bigger question unanswered, though. THE MYSTERY OF CHACO CANYON helps students to appreciate the scientific and cultural achievements of a significant civilization in pre-Columbian North America. Join this. During the same time period, SSE orientation was dominant in the Totah region to the north at sites including Aztec and Chimney Rock. Colorado Sun. 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). 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? Chaco Culture For over 2,000 years, Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States. What is known is that beginning around the mid-800s, Chaco people began building here, creating multi-story stone buildings on a grand scale. And I had thoughts, gut feelings, about the place itself. The activities in the Guide are primarily for grade-levels 5-12, although they also may be useful to college students. To test that hypothesis, co-authors Rodger Kram and James Wilson spent the summer of 2020 training until they could haul a heavy log some 15 miles using tumplines. The sun beam lines up with different spirals or edges on the equinoxes and solstices. Millions of years of history reveal . Cinematography by Steve Bannister [and 15 others]; computer animation by the Imaging Research Center; music, Michael Stearns; editor, Matt Dibble. Most large complexes had four or five stories and averaged over 200 rooms, with the. This small calendar allowed for those living at Chaco Canyon to determine the beginning . 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. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. The most uncomfortable part, Wilson noted, was the strap of the tumpline rubbing into his head. See page 43 of attached scanned book. 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. New Mexico's Chaco Canyon was once the center of the most influential culture in the American Southwest. Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. Chaco is also an enduring enigma for researchers. 1999. The largest structure built in the US until the early 1890's is Pueblo Bonito . The two made three round trips over the course of the day. Weiner said the team's results show that supplying Chaco Canyon with goods may not have been as back-breaking an undertaking as archaeologists once assumed. She is originally from Las Vegas and attended UNLV. "It's just a dumb way to carry a heavy object.". It is the summation of 20 years of research. The Late Bonito calendrical Great Houses may have been intended as pilgrimage destinations where people could witness a dramatic solstice sunrise or sunset. I don't know how they could have possibly done that.. Privacy Legal & Trademarks Campus Map. Scientists may have solved a Chaco Canyon mystery by hauling logs with their heads James Wilson, left, and Rodger Kram, right, use tumplines to carry a log weighing more than 130 pounds in Boulder's Chautauqua Park. The field work, conducted under National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management permits, included compass survey, theodolite survey, and photography at a total of 28 sites. video produced and directed by Anna Sofaer. One of the tribes, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, has increased its efforts to stop the project. These and other bizarre encounters suggest the park may be a portal between our world and distant star system. Riddle Of The Ancient Sarcophagus And Its Strange Properties Can Science Solve This Mystery? 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.This is the long-awaited sequel to Anna Sofaers classic film THE SUN DAGGER, which changed forever our perception of Americas earliest Indian peoples. However, Kram et al. 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.' Stephen Lekson, Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado Boulder, "The Architecture of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico", Rina Swentzell, Architect, Santa Clara Pueblo, News study outlines air pollution from Tijuana sewage, Art Show: 'The Possibility of Something Happening', Current rainy season could be a drought buster, forecaster says, Settlement reached in Tijuana sewage lawsuit, Brittney Griner urges the return of U.S. detainees abroad at NAACP Image Awards, Washington state attorney general says FDA rules on abortion drug are unreasonable, An Arizona driver is in custody after crashing into bicycling group, killing 2, How Cardiff's new farmers market may help keep small farms in business, San Diego officials work to stop elephant poaching. Archaeological evidence suggests that ancient peoples in the Southwest employed tumplines woven from yucca plants to transport everyday items like food and water. Directed by Anna Sofaer. June 12, 2022 . 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. This is the long-awaited sequel to Anna Sofaer's classic film THE SUN DAGGER, which changed forever our perception of America's earliest Indian peoples.THE MYSTERY OF CHACO CANYON examines the deep enigmas presented by the massive prehistoric remains found in Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico. The SSE orientation tradition continued during the peak of Bonito Phase construction activity (A.D. 1020-1100). Register to request a quote. Faculty-Staff Email Archive Student Email Archive Graduate Student Email Archive New Buffs Email Archive Senior Class Student Email Archive CommunityEmail Archive COVID-19 Digest Archive. Archaeological evidence suggests that ancient peoples in the Southwest employed tumplines woven from yucca plants to transport everyday items like food and water. 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. Shining light on the astronomical brilliance of the austere civilization of Chaco Canyon Narrated by Robert Redford . People relied on an ordered and organized spatiotemporal natural world domesticated in culture, into which human life could be embedded and from which life received a deeper spirit and purpose. 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. It is the summation of 20 years of research. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon TV Movie 1999 56 m IMDb RATING 7.3 /10 212 YOUR RATING Rate Documentary America's Stonehenge? University of Colorado at Boulder. 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. After three months of training with tumplines for six or seven days a week, Kram and Wilson were ready to try a real log.