Pueblo Bonito - Chaco Canyon

Path to Pueblo Bonito Overlook

Pueblo Bonito Overlook - Notice the D shape of the ruin

When visiting Chaco Canyon, at minimum you should visit Chetro Ketl and Pueblo Bonito. These two ruins are a short walk from each other. You can visit Chetro Ketl then walk along the canyon to see petroglyphs on the way to Pueblo Bonito.

Pueblo Bonito is one of the most studied ruins in the park. It was built from the 850's to the 1250's. In this ruins you will find T-shaped doors like in Myan ruins and many Kivas within square rooms. You will also find many chinking styles. Chinking is the term for how the stones were stacked to make the walls.

More is known on Pueblo Bonito than many of the other ruins. On our trip we learned that the timbers used to build Pueblo Bonito were from dozens of miles away. We also learned that in the escalation of Pueblo Bonito, very view human remains were found which means that the population is not necessarily reflective of its size. Also, many items were found in Pueblo Bonito the reflected there was a large trade route that included this site. Some of the items found included Macaw skeletons, shells from the west coast and the Gulf of Mexico, and turquoise.

One of the most interesting facts I learned on the tour of Pueblo Bonito was with regards to the charred timbers. Based on the research, some folks believed that when Chaco Canyon was abandoned , by the ancient Puebloens burned the ruins and filled it with dirt. The reason this was so interesting to me was that is similar to what we learned that tribes did in Scotland when they abandoned castles.