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Chaco Culture

United States of America
Date of Inscription: 1987
Criteria: (iii)
New Mexico
N36 3 49.6 W107 58 15
Ref: 353rev

Brief Description

For over 2,000 years, Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States. Chaco Canyon, a major centre of ancestral Pueblo culture between 850 and 1250, was a focus for ceremonials, trade and political activity for the prehistoric Four Corners area. Chaco is remarkable for its monumental public and ceremonial buildings and its distinctive architecture – it has an ancient urban ceremonial centre that is unlike anything constructed before or since. In addition to the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, the World Heritage property includes the Aztec Ruins National Monument and several smaller Chaco sites managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

retouched/Q.C. CWL 8200 Scanner | Martin Gray © Sacred Sites / Martin Gray More pictures ...

Statement of Significance

The Chaco Culture National Historical Park, the associated sites at Aztec Ruins National Monument and five Chaco Culture Archeological Protection Sites are outstanding elements of a vast pre-Columbian cultural complex that dominated much of the south-western United States in the mid-9th to early 13th centuries. Chaco Canyon, a major center of ancestral Pueblo culture between 850 and 1250, was a focus for ceremonies, trade and political activity. Chaco is remarkable for its monumental public and ceremonial buildings and its distinctive multi-storey “greathouses” which demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of astronomical phenomena. They are linked by an elaborate system of carefully engineered and constructed roads. The achievements of the Chaco Anasazi people are exceptional, given the harsh environmental conditions and resource limitations of the region.

Criterion (iii) The Chaco Canyon sites graphically illustrate the architectural and engineering achievements of the Chaco Anasazi people, who overcame the harshness of the environment of the south-western United States to found a culture that dominated the area for more than four centuries.

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