Peñasco Blanco — Chaco Canyon Outer Great House West
Peñasco Blanco · Peñasco Blanco Great House · Penasco Blanco
Pueblo II–III (1050–1140 CE)·Ancestral Pueblo (Chacoan)·🇺🇸 New Mexico, San Juan County, Chaco Canyon West Mesa cliff, United States
About
About Peñasco Blanco — Chaco Canyon Outer Great House West
Peñasco Blanco is a remote Chaco Great House (1050–1115 CE) on the San Juan-Chaco cliff point excavated by Neil Judd and later Gwinn Vivian. Oval house 70 m arc, D-shaped with McElmo masonry, summer solstice–lunar major-lunar-standstill rock alignments (Chaco supernova pictograph debated), and prehistoric dam/water system cascading to lower canyon. Distinct from Supernova slab supernova association.
Why it mattersImportant to Chaco archaeoastronomy and water-management engineering on cliff edge.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Did Penasco pictograph record 1054 Supernova?
Theories
- 01Sofaer: Solstice dagger marker 12 m slab above great house
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.1050 CE (Pueblo II)
- Period
- Pueblo II–III (1050–1140 CE)
- Culture
- Ancestral Pueblo (Chacoan)
- Builders
- Chacoan masons
- Purpose
- Astronomical observatory and farming reservoir outlier guarding western approach
- Abandoned
- c.1140 CE
- Rediscovered
- 1886 Jackson; 1950 Hayes Chaco survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1886
Jackson first mapping
1050–1115
Arc-shaped great house and dam construction
On the ground
Structures & features
36.0500° N · 107.9800° W · 1920 m · 3 mapped features
Peñasco Blanco Arc Great House
structureOval 1050 CE great house with McElmo masonry arc
36.0506° N · 107.9795° WPeñasco Blanco Cliff Dam-Water System
hydraulicThree-terrace masonry dam below cliff storing 800 m3
36.0493° N · 107.9792° WPeñasco Supernova-Solstice Pictograph Slab
rock art12 m dagger slab pictograph above great kiva
36.0510° N · 107.9806° W