Day Seventeen in Chaco Canyon

Eric Faull

October 27, 2016

First of all I want to give a shout out to the Carlos Rey Elementary School History Club for letting me visit them and present what we are doing in the UNM Chaco Canyon Field School.  That being said, this morning was crisp and refreshingly cool.  The sunrise was very beautiful as well. 

Sunrise from our campground

Sunrise over Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon.

 

Pueblo Del Arroyo which is right next to Pueblo Bonito where we are working

Campground just before sunrise

Night Sky in Chaco Canyon

 Chaco Canyon is a designated International Dark Sky Park, one of very few in the whole world.  Because there is no light pollution, (city lights, house lights, car lights, and other things that interfere with your ability to see the stars at night) you can see a lot of stars that you normally can’t see elsewhere. 

Fajada Butte with the full hunter's moon glow on it

Full hunters moon rise behind the ridge that surrounds our campsite.

Field School group at Chetro Ketl Great Kiva.  Dr. Wills in the orange vest.

The morning and evening’s spectacular views are just an added bonus to what we are experiencing at the field school.  Not only are we learning how to do archaeology, which in itself I feel is a privilege, but we are also learning the history of the Canyon from one of the most prominent Chacoan archaeologists alive, Dr. Wills.  We take the time to visit all of the great houses, the really big buildings that have multiple stories and great kivas associated with them.  A lot of them have hundreds of rooms as well, although a lot of the later great houses have just a few rooms.  Today, we visited Chetro Ketl to watch the reclamation crew do repairs to it.  Unfortunately, they showed up late so we couldn’t stay to watch them. Dr. Wills gave us a tour of the site before we returned to work.  The crew split into three groups: some excavating at the Wetherill Trading Post, some doing Site Assessment, and some working on the geomorphology of the Chaco Wash.