Archeologists estimate that the main architectual landmark, the great Kiva of Chetro Keti, was . (Credit: Patrick Campbell/CU Boulder) By Daniel Strain, Nicholas Goda Feb. 22, 2023 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. Study Traces DNA Of Inca Emperors To Their Modern-Day Descendants, 2,000-Year Old Engraved Kurdistan Tablet Referring To A Hellenistic Ruler Demetrius Analyzed, Does A 2,000-Year-Old Tomb Belong To Marquis of Haihun? Copyright 2023 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), all rights reserved. "The mountains are the most sacred places for the descendant Din and Pueblo peoples. 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 famous site in the Southwest called Chaco Canyon, Majority of students masked up amid early COVID days, Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed, Tend to get sick when the air is dry? It is located in the region known as the Four Corners, where the states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet. 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. Its wide roads, circular ritual sites called kivas, and sprawling. Most large complexes had four or five stories and averaged over 200 rooms, with the. He and Wilson decided to read everything they could about the properties of dried wood. They help porters to support weight using the bones of their neck and spine rather than their muscles. Being Native American myself (Cherokee) I felt odd about the spot being studied, trespassed upon if you will. I am the Rural and Small Communities Reporter at KUNC. University of Colorado Boulder Regents of the University of Colorado 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. New Mexico PBS has broadcast this full-length documentary more than 90 times. They estimated that a 16-foot-long pine log weighed closer to 85 kilograms, or just over 185 pounds. "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.". They help porters to support weight using the bones of their neck and spine rather than their muscles. Credit: Patrick Campbell/CU Boulder, "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. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon - Solstice Project For years archaeologists have assumed that Chaco Canyon was primarily an ancient trading center. 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. of Anthropology, Sarah Lawrence College'It does an outstanding job of weaving Pueblo traditions of migration and human agency into scientific accounts of the past at Chaco Canyon, affording both forms of knowledge the respect they deservehelps place Pueblo people in their contemporary context, as well as explain the pastI highly recommend it.' The duo and their colleaguesdescribed their experimentFeb. 22 in theJournal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Jen has worked at KPBS since 2000. The film challenges the notion that Chaco Canyon was primarily a trade and redistribution center. From the 9th to the 12th century BCE, Chaco Canyon was the center of a pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the San Juan Basin of the American Southwest. 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., Peeking out of adoorway inside Pueblo Bonito. When/Where: Thursday, January 24, 2019 / 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. / James A. 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. "Maybe the best way is to do it yourself.. Search For His Seal Continues, Proof That Neanderthals Ate Crabs 90,000 Years Ago Is Another Nail In The Coffin For Primitive Cave Dweller Stereotypes. 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. The Mystery of CHACO CANYON - YouTube The sample of Chacoan Great Houses assessed for astronomical associations was unchanged from the mid 1990s to 2007. The great number of circular ritual structures, called kivas, tell of large-scale ceremonies, possibly drawing thousands of pilgrims from across the region of the Four Corners. 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. Located above the Little Colorado River in east-central Arizona, a natural rock formation casts a dynamic shadow-line onto a panel of ancient rock art during the summer solstice. This documentary examines the ancient ruins of Chaco Canyon, built between 850 and 1150 A.D. in northwest New Mexico. Aerial and time-lapse footage, computer modeling, and interviews with scholars unveil how the Chaco culture designed, located, and oriented their major buildings and roads in relationship to the sun and moon. The so-called "great houses" of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico may have taken decades or longer to construct. New to Docuseek? The number, Kram discovered, could be traced back to a study published in the 1980s. I cut a section that was one foot long and I weighed it on my bathroom scale. They first tried carrying a log on their shoulders. Dr. T.J. Ferguson, Anthropologist/Archaeologist'A stunning piece--the graphics are astounding and the entire production is powerful.' 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. 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. Each attached a tumpline to one end of that log to share the load. Additional manual findings using NVDA screen reader 1. That changed the calculation significantly when determining how many people would have been needed to carry the timbers 60-70 miles. 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. Most of the putative lunar standstill and June solstice sunrise alignments comprise a subset of this SSE facing group. A majority of the Great Houses built before A.D. 1000 are front-facing to the SSE. The number, Kram discovered, could be traced back to a study published in the 1980s. W. David Laird, Books of the Southwest'The video, then, is a multi-leveled phenomenon, like Chaco, which embraces complexity, beauty and mystery.' Four ESE facing Great Houses were constructed within and in proximity to Chaco between A.D. 860 and A.D. 1090. Keep up with all the latest news, arts and culture, and TV highlights from KPBS. A feasibility study, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2023). The Wall Street Journal'A beautiful piece. Most large complexes had four or five stories and averaged over 200 rooms, with the largest boasting as many as 700 rooms. They built "Great Houses," which were as much as four stories tall and contained hundreds of rooms. During the same period, the first cardinal NS and EW architectural alignments were also completed. This third orientation tradition may represent some form of cultural affiliation with contemporary Rio Grande Valley people based upon comparison to previous orientation studies conducted by Lakatos, or it may perhaps represent an alternative cosmological intent. It's now a Guinness World Record, Hundreds of students march on the Colorado Capitol to demand action on gun violence, Nevada tribe claims desecration as digging begins at site of planned lithium mine, What was life like 10,000 years ago? We can remove the first show in the list to add this one. Most large complexes had four or five stories and averaged over 200 rooms, with the largest boasting as many as 700 rooms. Your California Privacy Rights | Do Not Sell My Personal Information That's where we go to heal, to pray,'" said Weiner, who will receive his doctorate in anthropology from CU Boulder later this spring. Anna Sofaer - Wikipedia It should be mentioned that archaeological work at Chaco Canyon had a significant contribution to the film. Contemporary Pueblo Indians, descendants of the Chacoans, speak in the film of the spiritual significance of Chaco in their world today. I don't know how they could have possibly done that.. Well hear their analysis, and what they think life may have been like for the child and her family. Under the terms of a U.S. National Park Service field research permit some location- specific site data has been deliberately redacted from this document, as required by the U.S. Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979. 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? Join the Ars Orbital Transmission mailing list to get weekly updates delivered to your inbox. Kram rewrote history when he published a paper showing the Chaco logs were actually much lighter, weighing closer to 200 pounds. Workable solstice horizon calendars are now confirmed at Casa Chiquita, Kin Kletso, Headquarters Site A, Wijiji, Bis saani, and 125 m from Roberts Small Pueblo at 29SJ 2538/2539. The site is an artifact of the Pueblo peoples of north america and is now a protected national heritage site. Rina Swentzell, Architect, Santa Clara Pueblo, Sofaer, Anna (film director) Custom Review of "The Mystery of Chaco Canyon" Essay Paper "As these guys showed, you don't have to be super trained to carry a log," he said. Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors. Chaco is also an enduring enigma for researchers. 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. 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. He and Wilson decided to read everything they could about the properties of dried wood. For years, archaeologists believed that the 16-foot-long timbers transported long distances to Chaco Canyon weighed about 600 pounds. When a load is positioned at the top of the head, the spine supports the weight and it doesnt fatigue muscles. Murphy said it's not uncommon to see lights moving among the ruins or to hear sounds coming from parts of the canyon.. Did you know the U.S. has a pre-historic Puebloan place of mystery that has . 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. "Some people baked sourdough bread during COVID," said Kram, an emeritus professor of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Get The Mystery of Chaco Canyon from the Microsoft Store "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 film reveals that between 850 and 1150 AD, the Chacoan people designed and constructed massive ceremonial buildings in a complex celestial pattern . In a 2022 study, they and their colleagues estimated that a pine log measuring about 16 feet long probably weighed closer to 85 kilograms (a little over 185 pounds). More information: See page 43 of attached scanned book. 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. Chaco Canyon Worksheets. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. A study finds that those on the CU Boulder and Colorado State University campuses showed high levels of mask use and positive attitudes about masks during pandemic. Archaeological evidence suggests that ancient peoples in the Southwest employed tumplines woven from yucca plants to transport everyday items like food and water. Pueblo Bonito, a Chaco Canyon "Great House," once spanned hundreds of rooms and was several stories tall. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. They have been used by many cultures across the world for thousands of years, from African to Asia and the Americas. Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa6vhwh3rTB0rmu6mN9bj3A/joinMAD HISTORY .. HISTORY has no sides, no opinions no rig. "I had Dr. Kram and James initially focus on walking greater and greater distances with what felt like light tumpline training loads," said Carzoli, who earned his doctorate in integrative physiology from CU Boulder in 2022. Summaries America's Stonehenge? The irritation paid off. He and Wilson weren't trying to start a new exercise fad. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties. Wage theft is commonplace in San Diego. How scientists hauling logs on their heads may have solved a Chaco The Mystery Of Chaco Canyon reveals that, instead, Chaco was a complex ceremonial center with extraordinary astronomical alignments of buildings and roads. THE MYSTERY OF CHACO CANYON presents new discoveries about the intricateastronomical knowledge of an ancient Pueblo Indian people, ancestors of todays Pueblopeople. 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). Pueblo Indians, descendants of the Chacoan people, regard Chaco as a place where their ancestors lived in a sacred past. THE MYSTERY OF CHACO CANYON examines the deep enigmas presented by the massive prehistoric remains found in Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico. Today, the legacy of the extraordinary Chaco culture is threatened by both natural and human developments. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon streaming online - JustWatch "As they became more comfortable with their training, we began alternating training days between carrying light loads for greater distances and heavier loads for shorter distances.". Arch 226 assign 2.docx - 1.The purpose of the construction James A. Wilson et al, Were timbers transported to Chaco using tumplines? But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. America's Stonehenge?America's Stonehenge?America's Stonehenge? 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. 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. That photograph influenced many of the proposed mechanisms for transporting the logs. He and Wilson werent trying to start a new exercise fad. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon Unveiling the Ancient Astronomy Privacy Legal & Trademarks Campus Map. 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. 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. Read our affiliate link policy. I multiplied by 16 feet and realized, That cant add up to 275 kilograms.. Cinematography by Steve Bannister [and 15 others]; computer animation by the Imaging Research Center; music, Michael Stearns; editor, Matt Dibble. 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. 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. The structures and ruins are protected from destruction and development and . 22K views 1 year ago The Mystery Of Chaco Canyon examines the deep enigmas presented by the massive prehistoric remains found in Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico, revealing that. Medical research advances and health news, The latest engineering, electronics and technology advances, The most comprehensive sci-tech news coverage on the web. These straps, which sherpas, or native mountain peoples of Nepal, still widely use today, loop over the top of the head. The largest structure built in the US until the early 1890's is Pueblo Bonito . Peter Whiteley, Dept. the mystery of chaco canyon transcript. Click here to sign in with THE MYSTERY OF CHACO CANYON examines the deep enigmas presented by the massive prehistoric remains found in Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico. Produced by The Solstice Project. 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. The most uncomfortable part, Wilson noted, was the strap of the tumpline rubbing into his head. The Mystery of Chaco Canyon (TV Movie 1999) - IMDb They help porters to support weight using the bones of their neck and spine rather than their muscles.