Exploring the Post-Chaco Era in Southeastern Utah

在国家科学基金会的支持下，凯瑟琳·卡梅伦和一个由考古学家和其他专家组成的团队将在犹他州东南部的布拉夫大房子和梳洗社区进行挖掘。这些发掘探索了10-12世纪查科地区体系的崩溃和向后查科时代的过渡。这些遗址位于曾经的查科世界的北部边缘，这个地区被称为北部圣胡安地区。查科地区系统是史前西南部地理上最广泛的系统，其中心是位于新墨西哥州西北部查科峡谷的一个由巨大的、不朽的伟大房屋和伟大的基瓦(地下礼仪房间)组成的综合体。在整个西南部北部，超过150座较小的大房子(包括布拉夫)以与查科峡谷相同的风格建造，(以及史前连接道路)表明与查科峡谷有很强的联系。查科峡谷外的这些较小的大房子被人们的居住村庄包围着，他们把这些建筑作为他们社区的焦点。大约在公元1150年，查科峡谷的中心突然倒塌，在这些不朽的大房子上的建筑停止了。奇怪的是，在圣胡安北部这样的周边地区，一些查科式的豪宅(如布拉夫)继续被使用，而在后查科时代(公元1150-1300年)，人们又建造了新的豪宅(如梳洗)。本项目探讨查科思想的这一明显延续。犹他州东南部(圣胡安北部地区的最西端)尤其有趣，因为两大史前文化的领土在这里相遇：东部的梅萨维德和南部和西部的卡扬塔。在查科时代，这些文化似乎被无处不在的查科文化所覆盖。本项目的目标是探索查科时代和后查科时代之间的连续性和不连续性：1)查科崩溃后，犹他州东南部的大房子的建造和使用发生了什么变化？2)布拉夫和科布的居民在后查科时代或更遥远的地区与圣胡安北部的其他地区进行贸易或以其他方式互动？如果是这样的话，这些互动在规模和方向上与查科时代的区域和区域间互动相比如何？3)查科和后查科时代的伟大家族与周围社区的关系如何？这些建筑是继续作为社区中心，还是本身就成为了居民？该项目加深了对西南史前一次关键转变的了解，在方法上和实质上都有助于了解中级社会的发展和运作(特别是在这种社会连续体的复杂一端)。它提供了一个探索文化互动的机会，特别是在一个更强大的社会制度的发展和崩溃期间，文化认同的那些方面被保留、丢失或重新建立。该项目以科罗拉多大学考古野外学院的形式运作，本科生和研究生都参与了一个备受瞩目的研究项目。有关的美洲原住民团体被征询了关于该项目的意见，他们对遗址的访问帮助学生理解土著参与考古的重要性。该项目与当地考古组织密切合作，吸收志愿者，并通过公共渠道交流结果。最后，该项目帮助联邦土地管理局和私营的西南遗产基金会(遗址土地所有者)实现他们的管理目标。

With support from the National Science Foundation, Catherine Cameron and a team of archaeologists and other experts will conduct excavations at the Bluff Great House and the Comb Wash Community in southeastern Utah. These excavations explore the collapse of the 10th - 12th century Chacoan regional system and the transition to the post-Chaco era. The sites are on what was once the northern periphery of the Chaco world, an area called the northern San Juan region. The Chacoan regional system, the most geographically extensive system in the prehistoric Southwest, was centered on a complex of massive, monumental great houses and great kivas (underground ceremonial chambers) located at Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico. Throughout the northern Southwest over 150 smaller great houses (including Bluff), were built in the same style as those in Chaco Canyon and (along with prehistoric connecting roads) suggest strong links with Chaco Canyon. These smaller great houses outside Chaco Canyon were surrounded by the residential hamlets of people who used the structures as a focus for their community.About A.D. 1150, the center at Chaco Canyon suddenly collapsed and building on the monumental great houses ceased. Oddly, in peripheral regions like the northern San Juan, some Chacoan great houses (like Bluff) continued to be used and new great houses (like Comb Wash) were built during the post-Chaco era (A.D. 1150-1300). The present project explores this apparent continuation of Chacoan ideas. Southeastern Utah (the westernmost part of the northern San Juan region) is especially interesting, as the territories of two major prehistoric cultures met here: Mesa Verde to the east and Kayenta to the south and west. During the Chaco era, these cultures appear to have been overlain by the pervasive Chacoan culture. The goal of the present project is to explore continuities and discontinuities between the Chaco and post-Chaco eras: 1) How did the construction and use of great houses in southeastern Utah change after the Chaco collapse? 2) Did the residents of Bluff and Comb conduct trade or otherwise interact with other parts of the northern San Juan region during the post-Chacoan era or with more distant regions? If so, how do these interactions compare in scale and direction with regional and interregional interactions during the Chaco era? 3) How did Chacoan and post-Chaco great houses relate to their surrounding communities? Did these buildings continue to serve as community centers or did they become residences themselves? The project furthers understanding of a key transition in Southwestern prehistory and contributes both methodologically and substantively to knowledge of the development and operation of middle range societies (especially at the complex end of the continuum of such societies). It provides an opportunity to explore cultural interaction, especially those aspects of cultural identity that are retained, lost, or reestablished during the development and collapse of a more powerful social system. The project operates as the University of Colorado's Archaeological Field School, involving both undergraduate and graduate students in a high profile research project. Concerned Native American groups are consulted about the project and their visits to the site help students understand the importance of indigenous involvement in archaeology. The project works closely with local archaeological organizations, incorporates volunteers, and communicates results through public outlets. Finally, the project assists the Federal Bureau of Land Management and the private Southwest Heritage Foundation (site landowners) in reaching their management goals.