Ever since archaeologists discovered the magnificent Anasazi ruins in Chaco Canyon, in the middle of nowhere in the Four Corners region of New Mexico, they’ve been struggling for an explanation.
Author Stephen Lekson of the University of Colorado Museum is one of the outstanding young archaeologists to come out of the Chaco Project, a 15-year effort by the National Park Service to understand what is often called the “Chaco Phenomenon.” The project produced mountains of new data and dozens of scholarly publications, but to date it has failed to produce a widely accepted general theory of Chaco Canyon.
In The Chaco Meridian, Lekson takes another stab at the problem and produces an intriguing theory, along with lots of insight into Southwestern prehistory. Lekson identifies three ceremonial centers in the Southwest—Chaco Canyon and Aztec Ruins in New Mexico and Paquime (or Casas Grandes) in northern Mexico. These centers were sequential and directly related, dominating the region from A.D. 900 to 1450. A major source of their power was the control of rare, exotic materials that everyone else in the region wanted desperately, such as parrots, copper bells, shells, and turquoise. And all three centers are located on the same line of longitude—the
so-called Chaco Meridian.
It’s a fascinating theory, but even if you don’t agree with it, the book is a good source of the most up-to-date information on Southwestern cultures and the various attempts to explain them. Lekson details the latest research and theories in a highly readable narrative spiked with humor. —Mark Michel
