Perishable Ritual Artifacts at the West Ruin of Aztec, New Mexico: Evidence for a Chacoan Migration

Ancient Grains: New Evidence for Ancestral Puebloan Use of Domesticated Amaranth

“…Although Aztec North's occupation was short lived, Aztec West and Aztec East continued to be occupied until the late 1200s, when people throughout this region migrated away to the Rio Grande Valley and other parts of the Southwest (Brown et al 2008, 2013; Glowacki 2015). Aztec West is the largest known great house outside of Chaco Canyon, and its rooms were filled with the same kinds of remarkable objects that were found at Chaco—turquoise and jet ornaments, sacred objects, pottery with traces of cacao from Mesoamerica, and more, much of it indicating a use of the great house for ritual, ceremony, and memory both in the Chacoan and post-Chacoan time periods (see e.g., Crown et al 2015; Gruner 2015; Mattson 2016; Morris 1928; Reed 2011; Washburn and Reed 2011; Webster 2008, 2011).…”

“…More recent research has generally focused on architecture at Aztec West and on Aztec West collections and archives (e.g. Baxter 2016; Brown and Paddock 2011; Brown et al 2008; Crown et al 2015; Gruner 2015; Mattson 2016; Morris 1928; Reed 2011; Washburn and Reed 2011; Webster 2008, 2011). Here, we report on new evidence from recent testing at a third structure—the previously unexcavated Aztec North great house, LA5603.…”

Evaluating Chaco migration scenarios using dynamic social network analysis

“…The second major proposed migration is the eleventh-century movement out of Chaco Canyon to expand existing outliers and to establish new ones. Explicit investigation of migration from the receiving end has focused on Aztec Ruins and its neighbours along the Middle San Juan, to evaluate whether material culture similarities can be attributed to emulation, exchange or actual migration (Clark & Reed 2011; Reed 2011; Webster 2011). These researchers concluded that migration out of Chaco Canyon to the Middle San Juan occurred in the late 1000s and early 1100s.…”

What’s new in Chaco research?

“…These attributes were not evenly distributed and changed over the 300-year occupation. Understanding how migrants from different areas came together in Chaco communities is the subject of extensive research focused on technological and religious practices and their relationship to identities at various scales (Mills 2008, 2015; Wills 2009; Duff & Nauman 2010; Clark & Reed 2011; Reed 2011a & b; Webster 2011; Windes 2014; Brown & Paddock 2015; Jolie & Webster 2015; Mattson 2016).…”