Chetro Ketl (Chaco Canyon)
Chetro Ketl · Chetro Ketl, Pueblo del Arroyo? No, Chetro Ketl Great House
Pueblo II-III; Chacoan florescence then McElmo Mesa Verde·Chacoan Ancestral Puebloans (Homools? Pueblo I-III) → McElmo Mesa Verde·🇺🇸 New Mexico, San Juan Basin, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, United States
About
About Chetro Ketl (Chaco Canyon)
Second-largest Chacoan great house (c.400 rooms, 500×250 m) on north mesa of Chaco Canyon — built c.1010–1110 CE as preplanned D-shaped Pueblo with colonnade, great kiva, imported timber and turquoise—and McElmo-style renovation. Excavated 1920–34 Edgar Hewett (UNM) and 1947 Gordon Vivian; kiva and 3-storey walls survive to 8 m. Its McElmo diagnostic with Chacoan McElmo variant and post-Chaco reoccupation show Mesa Verde influence after 1150. UNESCO core alongside Pueblo Bonito; lower south trash mound buries 5 m of stratified midden.
Why it mattersTests Chaco construction chronometry and McElmo Mesa Verde migration after Chaco decline; precise calendrical beams (dendro 1010–1110).
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01McElmo as Mesa Verde migrants vs Chacoans adopting northern style
- 02Preplanned D-shape symbolism vs growth contingency
Theories
- 01Hewett great house community vs Vivian great kiva ritual centre model
- 02Chaco road–Chetro Ketl visibility signalling
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1010 CE initial D-shaped construction; major expansion 1075–1110 CE; McElmo renovation c.1125 CE
- Period
- Pueblo II-III; Chacoan florescence then McElmo Mesa Verde
- Culture
- Chacoan Ancestral Puebloans (Homools? Pueblo I-III) → McElmo Mesa Verde
- Builders
- Chaco master masons and McElmo renovators
- Purpose
- D-shaped great house and great kiva centre opposite Pueblo Bonito
- Abandoned
- c.1180 CE post-drought abandonment
- Rediscovered
- Found 1849 Simpson; excavated 1920–34 Hewett (UNM); 1947 Vivian stabilization
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1010 CE
Initial D-shaped great house laid out pre-planned
1110 CE
McElmo re-facing and colonnade added
On the ground
Structures & features
36.0610° N · 107.9060° W · 1890 m · 3 mapped features
Great House D-shape
great house400-room preplanned D with colonnade
36.0613° N · 107.9065° WGreat Kiva (Chetro Ketl)
kiva16 m great kiva with benches
36.0610° N · 107.9060° WSouth midden mound
midden5 m stratified trash mound (south)
36.0605° N · 107.9062° W
Gallery