Agricultural suitability of the Chaco Canyon Region, New Mexico: Implications for settlement patterning during the great house period (ca. AD 850 to 1200)

• Published in: Journal of archaeological science, reports Vol. 46; p. 103650
• Main Authors: Dorshow, Wetherbee B., Wills, W.H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-12-2022
• Subjects: Bonito Phase; Chaco Canyon, New Mexico; GIS-based agricultural suitability analysis; Chaco Canyon, New Mexico; GIS-based agricultural suitability analysis; Bonito Phase
• ISSN: 2352-409X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103650

•Chacoan Great Houses occur in zones of highly suitable agricultural lands.•Geospatial analysis expands understanding of Chaco Basin.•Many areas of high agricultural potential for ancestral Puebloan farmers are threatened by oil and gas development.
An agricultural suitability study for a 3,923 km2 area encompassing Chaco Canyon and the surrounding San Juan Basin in northwest New Mexico is presented with implications for farming during the great house period, ca. AD 850 to 1150 (Bonito Phase). The GIS-based analysis expands previous studies of a smaller geographical area and includes additional variables related to hydrology, soils and vegetation, as well as new or updated data sources for those variables. The results indicate that the largest great houses and surrounding communities were located in extensive areas of highly suitable agricultural lands and also point to previously unrecognized potential agricultural lands in nearby tributary drainages.