# What was Chaco Canyon? · Great houses of Chaco Canyon > Five answers have been proposed. A ceremonial and pilgrimage centre with a small permanent population, filled at gatherings and supplied from… leads… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/questions/QST0D9KTSC476X2/what-was-chaco-canyon Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-26T11:57:03+00:00 --- **0** # What was Chaco Canyon? Asked 26 Oct 2026 by [**apollo** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)·5 answers·0·0 following **Most likely: the seat of a hereditary elite whose house at Pueblo Bonito controlled ritual and long-distance exchange** Ahead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted. ## Where it stands Five answers have been proposed. A ceremonial and pilgrimage centre with a small permanent population, filled at gatherings and supplied from… leads, with evidence 2 for, 1 against: partly supported by its tests. Four are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, one is answered. ## Why it matters Chaco is the largest and most elaborate Ancestral Puebloan centre, and how it is read shapes the account of Puebloan society as a whole: a gathering place, a ruling house, a town, or the capital of a regional polity. The readings differ in what they predict about residents, storage, imports and burials⁠[[1]](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT9R418H9/ecosystem-impacts-by-the-ancestral-puebloans-of-chaco-canyon)⁠[[2]](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT4C82JBK/archaeogenomic-evidence-reveals-prehistoric-matrilineal)⁠[[3]](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT9GA76P7/how-many-people-lived-in-the-chaco-regional-system-and-why). ## Answers 5 [**A ceremonial and pilgrimage centre with a small permanent population, filled at gatherings and supplied from…** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/answers/ANS0D9KTTV06WWN/a-ceremonial-and-pilgrimage-centre-with-a-small-permanent) Partly supported by its tests Evidence: 2 for, 1 against Most likely [**A lived-in farming town of ordinary households that also hosted ceremonies.** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/answers/ANS0D9KTX1A4GXQ/a-lived-in-farming-town-of-ordinary-households-that-also) Partly supported by its tests Evidence: 1 for, 1 against Most likely [**The centre of a populous regional polity that expanded rapidly after 1040, with roads, shrines and outliers…** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/answers/ANS0D9KTXRR2HK7/the-centre-of-a-populous-regional-polity-that-expanded) Partly supported by its tests Evidence: 2 for Most likely [**The seat of a hereditary elite whose house at Pueblo Bonito controlled ritual and long-distance exchange.** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/answers/ANS0D9KTVT83VDE/the-seat-of-a-hereditary-elite-whose-house-at-pueblo-bonito) Partly supported by its tests Evidence: 4 for Most likely [**None of these.** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/answers/ANS0D9KTYG672SJ/none-of-these) Not tested enough to call either way Evidence: none yet Still possible ## History 1. 2001[English et al.: all the great-house timber and much other material was brought from 75 to 100 km away.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT3D01V6X/strontium-isotopes-reveal-distant-sources-of-architectural)For: A ceremonial and pilgrimage centre with a small permanent population, filled at gatherings and supplied from… 1. 2009[Crown & Hurst: cacao was drunk from cylinder jars almost unique to Pueblo Bonito, a Mesoamerican-style ritual.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT53P03ZH/evidence-of-cacao-use-in-the-prehispanic-american-southwest)For: The seat of a hereditary elite whose house at Pueblo Bonito controlled ritual and long-distance exchange. 1. 2010[Plog & Heitman puts forward: the seat of a hereditary elite whose house at Pueblo Bonito controlled ritual and long-distance exchange.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT62Y27B3/hierarchy-and-social-inequality-in-the-american-southwest-a) 1. 2010[Plog & Heitman: radiocarbon dates place marked social differentiation in Room 33 150 to 200 years earlier than once thought.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT62Y27B3/hierarchy-and-social-inequality-in-the-american-southwest-a)For: The seat of a hereditary elite whose house at Pueblo Bonito controlled ritual and long-distance exchange. 1. 2015[Watson et al.: scarlet macaws were brought from Mesoamerica from about 900 onward, mostly before the 1040 to 1110 peak.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT5V47827/early-procurement-of-scarlet-macaws-and-the-emergence-of)For: The seat of a hereditary elite whose house at Pueblo Bonito controlled ritual and long-distance exchange. 1. 2016[Guiterman et al.: timber came first from the Zunis and then, from about 1060, from the Chuskas, where Chuskan tools and pottery…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT3WM6189/eleventh-century-shift-in-timber-procurement-areas-for-the)For: The centre of a populous regional polity that expanded rapidly after 1040, with roads, shrines and outliers… 1. 2021[Lentz et al. puts forward: a ceremonial and pilgrimage centre with a small permanent population, filled at gatherings and supplied from…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT9R418H9/ecosystem-impacts-by-the-ancestral-puebloans-of-chaco-canyon) 1. 2021[Lentz et al. puts forward: a lived-in farming town of ordinary households that also hosted ceremonies.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT9R418H9/ecosystem-impacts-by-the-ancestral-puebloans-of-chaco-canyon) 1. 2021[Lentz et al.: pollen and plant remains point to centuries of continuous local farming and woodcutting, which Lentz and…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT9R418H9/ecosystem-impacts-by-the-ancestral-puebloans-of-chaco-canyon)Against: A ceremonial and pilgrimage centre with a small permanent population, filled at gatherings and supplied from… 1. 2021[Lentz et al.: the canyon's woodland was cut back continuously from Late Archaic times to the Bonito phase, consistent with…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT9R418H9/ecosystem-impacts-by-the-ancestral-puebloans-of-chaco-canyon)For: A lived-in farming town of ordinary households that also hosted ceremonies. 1. 2025[Kohler et al. puts forward: the centre of a populous regional polity that expanded rapidly after 1040, with roads, shrines and outliers…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT9GA76P7/how-many-people-lived-in-the-chaco-regional-system-and-why) 1. 2025[Kohler et al.: an Ideal Free Distribution model puts the regional population above even the highest earlier estimates.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT9GA76P7/how-many-people-lived-in-the-chaco-regional-system-and-why)For: The centre of a populous regional polity that expanded rapidly after 1040, with roads, shrines and outliers… 1. 26 Oct 2026Asked on this site ## Discussion 0 [Add to the discussion](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/chaco-canyon/questions/QST0D9KTSC476X2/what-was-chaco-canyon%23discussion) Help with this question [ **Propose an answer** Something the evidence could support or rule out ] [ **Propose an answer** Something the evidence could support or rule out ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/chaco-canyon/questions/QST0D9KTSC476X2/what-was-chaco-canyon%23add-answer) [ **Add evidence** A result for or against an answer ] [ **Add evidence** A result for or against an answer ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/chaco-canyon/questions/QST0D9KTSC476X2/what-was-chaco-canyon%23add-evidence) [ **Ask a sub-question** A smaller question that would help settle this one ] [ **Ask a sub-question** A smaller question that would help settle this one ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/chaco-canyon/questions/QST0D9KTSC476X2/what-was-chaco-canyon%23add-question) [ **Add a source** A paper, archive record or image ] [ **Add a source** A paper, archive record or image ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/chaco-canyon/questions/QST0D9KTSC476X2/what-was-chaco-canyon%23add-source) Where it fits Great houses of Chaco Canyon **What was Chaco Canyon?** Key question · you're here [Where did the great-house timbers come from?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/questions/QST0D9KTTBC2PDT/where-did-the-great-house-timbers-come-from)Answered · Most construction timber came from the Chuska, Zuni and Mount Taylor ranges, 75 km or more away, with the… [ Ask a question under this one ]