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Chaco Culture

Chaco Culture

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.

Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0

La culture chaco

Pendant plus de 2 000 ans, les peuples pueblo ont occupé une vaste région au sud-ouest des États-Unis. Chaco Canyon, grand foyer de la culture ancestrale pueblo entre 850 et 1250, était un centre cérémoniel, commerçant et politique de la région préhistorique des Four Corners. Chaco est remarquable par ses bâtiments publics et cérémoniels monumentaux et son architecture caractéristique qui en font un ancien centre cérémoniel unique en son genre. Outre le parc national historique de la culture chaco, le bien du patrimoine mondial comprend le Monument national des ruines aztèques et plusieurs plus petits sites chaco gérés par le Bureau pour l'aménagement du territoire.

Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0

ثقافة شعوب شاكو

على مدى أكثر من ألفي سنة، احتلّ الهنود الحمر منطقةً شاسعةً جنوب غرب الولايات المتحدة. وكان كانيون شاكو موئل ثقافة الهنود الحمر السالفة للفترة بين عامي 850 و1250 فكان مركزاً احتفالياً وتجارياً وسياسيّاً في منطقة الزوايا الأربع "فور كورنر" للعصر الحجري. وتتميّز شاكو بأبنيتها العامة والاحتفاليّة الأثريّة وبهندستها التي تجعل منها مركزاً احتفالياً فريداً من نوعه. إلى جانب المنتزه الوطني التاريخي لثقافة شاكو، يشتمل التراث العالمي على النصب الوطني لأطلال شعب الأزتيك إلى جانب مواقع أخرى أصغر حجماً يديرها مكتب إدارة الأراضي.

source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0

查科文化国家历史公园

在长达两千多年的时间里,印第安人统治着现在美国西南部的大片土地。查科大峡谷曾是公元850年至1250年间古代原住民文化的中心,也是史前四角地区重要的宗教中心、贸易中心和政治中心。查科地区还以其独特的建筑而世界闻名,它不仅有许多古代公共建筑和宗教仪式建筑,而且还有一处古代城市仪式中心,这个建筑的风格可谓前无古人,后无来者。除了查科文化国家历史公园以外,世纪遗产还包括了其他几处由国家土地管理局管辖的阿兹特克遗迹国家古迹和较小的查科遗迹。

source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0

Национальный исторический парк Чако

В течение более 2 тыс. лет племена индейцев пуэбло проживали в обширном регионе на юго-западе современных США. Каньон Чако, являвшийся в 850-1250 гг. главным очагом культуры предков этих индейцев, служил важным религиозным, торговым и политическим центром. Чако замечателен своими монументальными общественными и церемониальными зданиями с их четкой архитектурой. Он представляет собой древний городской церемониальный центр, отличный от всего, что было сооружено до и после него. В дополнение к национальному историческому парку Чако, объект всемирного наследия включает национальный памятник Руины Ацтеков и несколько более мелких памятников в районе Чако, находящихся в ведении Бюро землепользования.

source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0

Cultura chaco

Durante más de 2.000 años, los indios pueblo ocuparon una vasta región del sudoeste de Estados Unidos. El Cañón Chaco, núcleo principal de la cultura pueblo entre los años 850 y 1250, fue un centro ceremonial, comercial y político situado en la región prehistórica de Las Cuatro Esquinas. El sitio de Chaco destaca por sus monumentales edificios ceremoniales y públicos de singular arquitectura. Cuenta con un antiguo centro urbano ceremonial muy superior probablemente a todos cuantos hayan podido construirse antes o después. El sitio inscrito en la Lista del Patrimonio Mundial comprende, además del Parque Histórico Nacional de la Cultura Chaco, el Monumento Nacional Ruinas Aztecas y otros sitios más pequeños administrados la Oficina de Ordenación Territorial.

source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0

チャコ文化

source: NFUAJ

Chaco cultuur

Meer dan 2000 jaar lang leefden er Pueblo-volkeren in een groot deel van het zuidwesten van de Verenigde Staten. Chaco Canyon was een belangrijke plaats binnen de voorouderlijke Pueblo cultuur tussen 850 en 1250 en vormde het centrum voor ceremonies, handel en politieke activiteiten in het prehistorische vierstatenpunt. Chaco is bijzonder vanwege zijn monumentale openbare en ceremoniële gebouwen en zijn karakteristieke architectuur. De stad heeft een oud-stedelijk ceremonieel centrum dat anders is dan alles wat er daarvoor of daarna gebouwd werd. Behalve het Nationaal park van de Chaco cultuur, behoren ook de ruïnes van de Azteken tot het werelderfgoed.

Source: unesco.nl

Outstanding Universal Value

Brief synthesis 

Chaco Culture is a network of archaeological sites in northwestern New Mexico which preserves outstanding elements of a vast pre-Columbian cultural complex that dominated much of what is now the southwestern United States from the mid-9th to early 13th centuries. It includes Chaco Culture National Historical Park, the associated sites at Aztec Ruins National Monument, and five additional protected archaeological areas. The Chacoan society reached its height between about 1020 and 1110.These sites were a focus for ceremonies, trade, and political activity and they are remarkable for their monumental public and ceremonial buildings and distinctive multi-storey “great houses.” The sites were linked by an elaborate system of carefully engineered and constructed roads, many of which can still be traced. These achievements are particularly remarkable given the harsh environment of the region.

The highly organized large-scale structures, featuring multi-storey construction and sophisticated coursed masonry, illustrate the increasing complexity of Chaco social structure, which distinguished itself within the regional culture of the ancestral Pueblo and dominated the area for more than four centuries. The high incidence of storage areas indicate the probability that the Chacoans played a central economic role, and the great size and unusual features of the ceremonial kivas suggest that complex religious ceremony may have been significant in their lives.

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

Integrity

Within the boundaries of the property are located all the elements necessary to understand and express the Outstanding Universal Value of Chaco Culture, including walls built of sandstone and mud mortar standing more than five storeys tall, pine roof beams, and well-preserved archaeological remains that provide a comprehensive picture of the Chaco culture, all having survived due to high-quality craftsmanship and the dry, remote location. The  property is of sufficient size to adequately ensure the complete representation of the features and processes that convey the property’s significance. Further evidence of the Chacoan system, including road traces and outlier communities with “great houses,” extends well beyond the property boundaries, but was not considered for inclusion at the time of inscription. There is no buffer zone. Since the property’s inscription, efforts such as partial site reburial, fencing, and patrolling have dramatically slowed the rate of deterioration. However, threats to its integrity from adjacent development (including associated utilities and roads), energy exploration, extraction, as well as transportation projects and proposals have increased. The property does not otherwise suffer from adverse effects of development and/or neglect.

Authenticity

Chaco Culture is authentic in terms of its forms and designs, materials and substance, and location and setting. The property’s good state of preservation means that many walls, tools, personal goods, datable material, and other objects of information remain in their original context. A careful policy of stabilization has ensured that the original fabric and design of the structures is preserved for continuing research and interpretation.

Protection and management requirements

The property is comprised of the acreage to which the federal government had surface title in 1987 located within seven components: Chaco Canyon, formerly a National Monument (1907) and now Chaco Culture National Historical Park (1980); Aztec Ruins, a National Monument (1923, expanded in 1928, 1930, 1948, 1988); and five Chaco Culture Archaeological Protection Sites (1980). The inclusion of Chaco Canyon and Aztec Ruins in the National Park system gives them the highest possible level of protection, and assures them a high standard of interpretation and public access. The legislation designating these components requires that the preservation of cultural resources be given high priority. Each Park unit has a General Management Plan and other related documents that address resource and land management and visitor use. The National Park Service’s general policies in these areas supplement the site-specific plans. The five Chaco Culture Archaeological Protection Sites are owned and managed for conservation by the Bureau of Land Management, a sister agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior. The property is subject to a suite of federal laws protecting archaeological properties. An Interagency Management Group established by federal law represents all federal, state, tribal, and local governments managing the property’s components. This group assures consistent and coordinated management through review of management decisions, sharing of technical expertise, and assistance with necessary legislation.

A long-term goal for the property is to ensure that interventions that may occur within or adjacent to the property – including development, energy exploration, extraction, and transportation projects – do not have a negative impact on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value, authenticity and integrity.

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