Chetro Ketl (pronounced "Chet-row Kettle") is the second most famous Anasazi (Ancestral Pueblo) great house site in the Chaco Canyon National Park of New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The site lies half a mile east of Pueblo Bonito and it is the largest great house site in the canyon, even if it has “only” about 400 multi-storied rooms, 100 less than Pueblo Bonito. Constructions at Chetro Ketl date to the mid-10th century AD, as do the majority of the other great house sites in Chaco Canyon.
Tree-Ring Dating at Chetro Ketl
Chetro Ketl played an important role in the development of the tree ring dating sequence (dendrochronology) at Chaco Canyon. Chetro Ketl, in fact, is among the best dated ruin of the canyon.
At other Chacoan sites, the tree-ring dating method, developed by astronomer Andrew Ellicott Douglass and archaeologist Clark Wissler at Chaco Canyon, was focused on the roof beams, large roof support logs found in every large structure in the canyon. However, archaeologists quickly realized that many of the roof beams had been reused in later constructions: thus a roof beam date may not accurately date a particular structure. At Chetro Ketl, archaeologist Florence Hawley took samples of wood from every element available, not just the beams. She then compared the obtained dates and established a detailed, reliable chronology for the site's construction history.
From Hawley's study, it appears that the history of Chetro Ketl can be divided into at least three main periods:
- From AD 945 to AD 1030: this long period, unfortunately also the least known so far, is when first constructions at Chetro Ketl began. This period is known only from reused beams found in later rooms.
- From AD 1030 to 1090: this is the greatest period of constructions at Chetro Ketl, and in general in Chaco Canyon. Many buildings were extended, rooms added and the typical polished black-on-white Anasazi pottery became widespread.
- From AD 1090 to 1116: this is a period of decline for Chetro Ketl. No beams date after AD 1116 and the site was probably abandoned by 1120.
Architecture at Chetro Ketl
Chetro Ketl presents the typical D-shape of many great house sites. It has about 400 rooms in a building 3-4 floors tall, and 12 kivas (ceremonial structures). Among these are two great kivas and a tower kiva. The purpose of the tower kiva, which has a T-shaped door and windows, is still unclear, but based on the types of artifacts and features, archaeologists suggest that the function probably differs from the regular kivas. In front of the cluster of buildings runs a curving wall that encloses the central plaza of the site. The most atypical construction of Chetro Ketl is a masonry colonnade along the building walls, facing the plaza. This colonnade, a feature typical of a contemporary central Mexico style, is one of the elements that is considered evidence of Mesoamerican influence in Chaco Canyon.
Stone disks to support and balance the posts necessary to sustain the building's roof were found during the excavations of Chetro Ketl. Some of the actual timber posts were still in place during the 1920s excavation conducted by archaeologist Edgar Lee Hewett.
Outside the walls of the site, other elements show the importance of Chetro Ketl in the Chaco canyon region. The Jackson Staircase, a set of steps carved into the canyon wall and part of the Chaco road system, begins behind the site. Furthermore, aerial photos have shown a system of “gridded gardens”, squared field plots used for cultivation (mainly maize). These features, along with the sophisticated irrigation systems known for Chaco Canyon, represent one of the best example of farming infrastructures in the American Southwest.
Artifacts and Ritual at Chetro Ketl
In Chaco Cayon great house sites, burials of any kind are rare, but exotic goods found in other contexts have suggested the presence of a leadership living in sites such as Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl. In the 1920s, the excavation of Room 93 in Chetro Ketl produced almost 200 artifacts. These were mainly figurines carved in wood, depicting brightly colored birds, parrots along with plume arcs, all of organic materials preserved thanks to the dry climate of the area. These elements have been explained as ritual objects used during processions or other public rites.
A further example of objects found at Chetro Ketl comes from some of the niches along the walls of one of the great kivas. These were sealed with masonry, and contained body ornaments such as strings of beads and pendants.
Sources
Vivian, R. Gwinn and Bruce Hilpert, 2002 The Chaco Handbook. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
Frazier Kendrick, 2005 People of Chaco. A Canyon and Its Culture. Updated and Espanded. W.W. Norton and Company, New york-London