A Great House will usually be multi-storied, have large rooms, and contain both Great Kivas and small kivas. Built on elevated areas, positioned next to towering cliffs, or incorporating massive, unoccupied fronts, the Great Houses appear to have been designed to overwhelm visitors. Great Houses dominate the surrounding areas where they have been erected.
Pueblo Wijiji: (Turquoise House) Because of its isolated location on the eastern side of Chaco Canyon, Pueblo Wijiji is a seldom visited ruin, but well worth the journey. About one-half mile further east, a stairway leads to a rock ledge where a sun symbol has been painted onto the wall. When viewed from the ledge, a rock pillar to the southeast accurately functions as a solar marker. A person standing on the ledge will observe the sun rise directly behind toward the pillar on the winter and summer solstices. A person orienting themselves near a bolder with a petroglyph marked upon it will see the sun set directly in line with a V-shaped notch in a cliff to the southwest.
Casa Rinconada: (Box Canyon House) The largest kiva in Chaco Canyon has 28 regularly spaced rectangular niches following the curved inside walls. 6 additional niches are located below these uniform niches: 2 on the east side and four on the west side of the kiva. On the day of the summer solstice, a small window to the east of the north entrance channels sunlight directly onto the wall above one of the 6 niches. As the sun moves higher in the sky, light travels down the wall, illuminating the niche. The kiva is carefully aligned with the cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west. The south doorway is aligned with the Sun at noon, and the north doorway is aligned to the North Star. The holes that once served to anchor the four pillars suspending the roof form a square which is also oriented to the four cardinal directions. The center point of this ensuing square is also the center of the circular kiva. One of the Native American creation myths is of four trees that the people used to journey from the previous world to the current world.
Variables in the National Park Service’s reconstruction of Casa Rinconada cast some doubt on the validity of the solar marker, but the number of sites throughout Chaco Canyon that carefully record the sun’s journey provides overwhelming evidence of a people who were accomplished astronomers and attuned to celestial events.
Chetro Ketl: This name defies explanation and translation. “Rain Pueblo” is offered as a translation by William Henry Jackson who was an explorer and photographer who visited Chaco Canyon in 1877. Nastl’a kin or “House in the corner,” is one of the Navajo names for this site. The construction of Chetro Ketl has been exhaustively chronicled using tree ring dating. 5000 trees were used in the approximately 500 rooms and 16 kivas of Chetro Ketl. There were over 15 separate stages of construction. The first major phase of construction occurred between 945 and 1030 AD. A change in masonry styles reflects a second major phase of construction lasting about 60 years (1030 - 1090 AD). Several different styles of masonry were used during the last major phase of construction between 1099 and 1116 AD. Chetro Ketl measures more than 1,500 feet around and contains approximately 50 million pieces of stone. The plaza at Chetro Ketl has been elevated 12 feet above the surrounding landscape. The result must have made this dramatic-looking building even more impressive and imposing when viewed upon completion.
Tsin Kletzin: (Burnt Wood or Charcoal Place) Oriented along a true north-south straight line axis with Pueblo Bonito, Tsin Kletsin may have served as an astronomical marker. Although absolute proof of its role in recording and honoring astronomical events is unobtainable, such precise alignments and observable phenomena provide overwhelming circumstantial evidence. This 70+ room Great House may have been three stories tall in some places and once contained kivas that were two stories tall. The tallest kiva may have been used as a lookout station, since Kin Klizhin is viewable to the west, Bis sa’ani is viewable to the northeast, both Peñasco Blanco and Casa Chiquita are viewable to the northwest, and Kin Kletso and the Pueblo Alto buildings are viewable to the north. In all, there may have been as many as 29 line-of-sight watch towers allowing the people of Chaco Canyon to relay messages using reflective mica signaling rocks during the day or signal fires at night. Several roads connect Tsin Kletzin to other Great Houses in Chaco Canyon.
Pueblo Alto: (High House) is situated at the terminus of the Great North Road. There are actually four buildings in the Pueblo Alto Complex: Pueblo Alto, New Alto, East Ruin, and Rabbit run. New Alto was originally two stories in places and had a large plaza that may have served as a trade center. The elevation at Pueblo Alto (High House) is 6,440 feet (1,963 m), and provides a panoramic view of 60 miles or more in all directions. Tsin Kletzin, Hosta Butte, and Mount Taylor are visible to the south, Huerfano Mesa, the San Juan Mountains, and La Plata Mountains can be seen to the north, the Chuska Mountains to the west, and the Jemez Mountains to the east are all within viewing and signaling range. Ruins that appear to be relay stations have been identified atop prominent mesas, buttes, and mountains. The use of reflective mica rocks during the day and signal fires at night would have enabled the people living in Chaco Canyon to maintain communication with the people at Chimney Rock and Mesa Verde in Colorado—90 miles away.
Research by Tom Windes suggests that there may have been as few as 5 of the 85 rooms at Pueblo Alto that were used for members of the permanent population. Yet the trash midden near Pueblo Alto contains massive amounts of broken pottery (approx. 150,000 vessels) and animal bones deposited at intermittent times. This suggests that Pueblo Alto was used for ceremonies that included feasts and the breaking of pots. Traditionally, the breaking of a pot is an offering. Breaking a pot can signify a sacrifice; commemorate the beginning of a journey or the ending of an event.
Pueblo del Arroyo: (House by the Stream or Village by the Wash) This Great House was three and four stories high, with approximately 284 rooms and 14 kivas. Construction lasted until approximately 1103 making this one of the last Great Houses to be built. The South Roads depart from Pueblo del Arroyo through South Gap, a natural geologic break between South Mesa and West Mesa. Some sections of the South Roads have sections with four or eight parallel segments, leading to speculation that portions of these roads may have been ceremonial in nature.
Kin Kletso: (Yellow House) is a medium-sized Great House with about 55 rooms, four kivas, and a tower kiva. Evidence of a bead manufacturing workshop has been uncovered during excavations. Beads made from turquoise, shale and shells have been uncovered. The turquoise may have come from a mine near the present-day town of Cerillos, New Mexico which is in the hills south of Santa Fe—a distance of over 115 miles!
Was there a sun watching station atop the two story kiva at Kin Kletso? A large boulder was incorporated into the west side of this Great House. The two story kiva atop the boulder offers a 16 to 17 day advance notice of the approaching winter solstice. Kin Kletso may have been built around a pre-existing sun-watching station atop this boulder.
Pueblo Pintado: (Painted House or Village) is located about 16 miles east of the main canyon. There is a spring with good water nearby.
Kin Bineola: (House in the Wind or House the Wind Blows Around) This Great House is about 10 miles southwest of Pueblo Bonito. Kin Bineola had approximately 100 rooms and 10 kivas. It may have been 4 stories high in places. Evidence of irrigation systems and suitable farm land are nearby.
Hungo Pavi (Crooked Nose or Reed Spring Village) This name may be related to the Hopi Village on Second Mesa, Shungopavi. This Great House contains 150 rooms and once reached 3 stories in height. A remarkable stairway is visible in the cliff behind and to the east, linking Hungo Pavi to the roads on the northern side of Chaco Canyon. (use sketch and photo of Jackson stairway)
Kin Klizhin: (Black House) is approximately 6.5 miles southwest of Pueblo Bonito. It may have been 3 stories in height, containing 18 rooms and 6 kivas.
Kin Ya-a: This outpost is connected by a well-defined road. Kin Ya-a is about 26 miles south of Pueblo Bonito, with 22 rooms and 3 kivas.
Peñasco Blanco: (White Rock Point) This is the only Great House built in an oval. Several of the western roads connect to Peñasco Blanco. There are more than 150 rooms and perhaps as many as 9 kivas. Peñasco Blanco once stood 3 stories tall and offered a commanding view of the confluence of Chaco Wash and Escavada Wash.
Casa Chiquita: (Little House) This Great House was built on top of a hillside and is an excellent example of how the Chacoan masons used elevated areas or positioned their buildings next to towering cliffs. The Great Houses dominate the surrounding areas and appear to have been designed to overwhelm visitors.
Una Vida: (One Life) is known to the Navajo people as “witchcraft woman’s house.” Legends tell of a witch who held humans hostage atop Fajada Butte, denying them food and water.
Drawings and Photo courtesy of NPS.
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