Wijiji (Chaco Canyon)
Wijiji · Wijiji, Chettro Kettle outlier, Wijiji Great House
Pueblo III; late McElmo revival·Mesa Verde McElmo → Chaco East Wash·🇺🇸 New Mexico, Chaco Canyon, eastern narrow canyon, United States
About
About Wijiji (Chaco Canyon)
Isolated eastern great house (c.1105–1115 CE) at Chaco Wash narrows — diminutive classic McElmo great house (30 rooms) informally informing late McElmo re-colonization after 1100 collapse, excavated 1970s– Nabokov. Single wing with McElmo banded masonry, small blocked kiva and East Road check-dam agriculture below. Dendro dates 1105–1115 inform terminal Chaco reoccupation phase.
Why it mattersYoungest Chaco canyon dendro dates anchor McElmo Mesa Verde migration terminal phase after 1130 drought.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Is Wijiji built by Mesa Verde immigrants or in-place Chaco revival?
- 02Check-dam productivity after drought resilience
Theories
- 01Windes diaspora model vs Lekson continuity collapse nuance
- 02Wijiji as isolated rump vs scouting outlier for east road
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.1105–1115 CE McElmo construction
- Period
- Pueblo III; late McElmo revival
- Culture
- Mesa Verde McElmo → Chaco East Wash
- Builders
- McElmo refugee masons and local holdovers
- Purpose
- Check-dam outlier great house controlling East Wash maize
- Abandoned
- c.1180 CE final abandonment
- Rediscovered
- Tested 1970s Windes/Mathien; trail NPS stabilization
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1105 CE
McElmo wing erected as easternmost Chaco house
1972
Windes dendro anchors late 1105 phase to Mesa Verde diaspora
On the ground
Structures & features
36.0350° N · 107.8560° W · 1880 m · 2 mapped features
Wing great house
great house30-room one-wing McElmo house
36.0353° N · 107.8565° WCheck-dam fields
fieldEast Wash McElmo check dam series below house
36.0348° N · 107.8560° W
Gallery