Chaco Culture: Culture, Community, and Science –  Timeless Connections

Jon Ghahate is of the Pueblos of Laguna and Zuni, of the Turkey and Badger Clans. He is an educator at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, and a board member of the Chaco Culture Conservancy.

Ever since human eyes marveled at all that encompasses Chaco, mystery and fascination has centered on the structures built by a human civilization a millennia ago. The scientific community for the most part agrees that what is known of the Chacoan culture is minuscule compared to what isn’t known. Excavated artifacts and evidence of this civilization and numerous outliers have generated theories and science-based hypotheses as to why humans began to establish Chaco as their home, how they accomplished and sustained a civilization five centuries before the Eastern Hemisphere was aware of this side of planet Earth, and what contributed to this highly developed, specialized society to leave the numerous structures built over a period of four centuries. Today’s 19 contemporary Pueblo communities of New Mexico, who the scientific community purports as the descendants of the Chacoan civilization, each lay claim to an origin, emergence narrative of their association to the Chaco civilization. For someone who has never experienced Chaco or for a frequent Chaco guest, this presentation will highlight the uniqueness and expertise the builders of the 14 Great Houses of Chaco Culture National Historical Park and the intimate cultural legacy of New Mexico’s Pueblo communities.