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| The size and number of the kivas surrounding the plaza at Pueblo Bonito. by 1050 A.D. Chaco had become the economic, administrative, and ceremonial center of the San Juan Basin, and archeological evidence shows that items (shells, turquoise, and feathers) were traded from as far away as the Gulf of California, the Texas Gulf, and Mexico. Current thought is that the great houses were not traditional farming villages occupied by a large population, but were used primarily for family and clan gatherings and ceremonies, commerce, storage, and trade. However, by 1150 A.D. Chaco Canyon appears to have been completely abandoned and its surviving populations had migrated elsewhere and assimilated to become part the modern Puebloan cultures that exist in the region today. |
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