Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Dating Widespread Social Networks

Suny At Binghamton, Binghamton NY

Investigators

Abstract

From the 9th to 12th centuries CE, people at Chaco Canyon New Mexico and throughout a vast surrounding region built communities with monumental architecture suggesting the development of an ancient Puebloan elite. Archaeologists have long sought to understand the nature of sociopolitical relations at Chaco Canyon, and between Chaco and its outlier communities. The evidence of sociopolitical hierarchy at Chaco itself is ambiguous, with few of the stamps of individual power seen at other power centers around the world, and archaeologists know even less about Chaco's 100+ outlier communities, of which only a handful have seen significant excavation. Michelle Turner of Binghamton University, under the guidance of Dr. Ruth Van Dyke, will examine the relationship between Chaco Canyon and Aztec Ruins, one of the largest Chacoan outlier communities, by establishing a chronology for the construction of the Aztec North great house. This research will be a basis for Turner's PhD dissertation, so this grant supports the work of a student. The researchers' project was developed in cooperation with archaeologists at Aztec Ruins National Monument, following consultation with tribal representatives, and it will provide valuable new information for the park's staff to share with visitors. The researchers will share their findings with tribal representatives and other members of descendant communities, and the results will also be disseminated at public talks in the region as well as in academic journals and at professional conferences. Turner and Van Dyke conducted limited archaeological testing in 2016 at the previously unexcavated Aztec North great house, one of three great houses at Aztec Ruins National Monument. Aztec North's origins are hotly debated. While its neighbor great house Aztec West was clearly constructed with the involvement of Chacoan builders starting around 1110 CE, Aztec North's architecture includes an unusual combination of Chacoan and non-Chacoan construction features. For example, while the walls of the structure have a sandstone veneer that looks very much like Chacoan masonry, that veneer conceals an adobe fill core that looks more local. Was this structure built by newly arrived Chacoan builders who had not yet developed the work force to build a full masonry structure, or was it built by local people imitating Chacoan ways? Or was it perhaps a much later experiment in adobe construction? Turner will test these possibilities by running radiocarbon dating on organic materials from Aztec North to pinpoint the site's occupation dates. If Aztec North was built in the years just after construction of Aztec West, then it is probable that Chacoan builders were already present, while earlier dates would indicate it was most likely built by local people emulating Chaco. Dates after the mid-1100s would suggest a post-Chacoan origin. The radiocarbon dates, interpreted in combination with the researchers' analysis of the architecture, ceramics and other artifacts from the excavation, will provide valuable data for archaeologists seeking to understand the history of both Aztec Ruins and the wider Chacoan region. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.