- Chetro Ketl
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Chetro Ketl is a Chacoan Anasazi great house and notable archaeological site located in Chaco Canyon, a canyon in the U.S. state of New Mexico. In the cliffs behind the ruins there are ancient stairways that lead to prehistoric roadways that connect to Pueblo Bonito.[1] Chetro Ketl bears the typical D-shape of many other central complexes, but is slightly smaller, appearing to reflect Mexican Toltec architectural influences. Begun between 1020 and 1050 AD, its 450–550 rooms shared just one great kiva. Scientists estimate that it took 29,135 man-hours of construction to erect Chetro Ketl alone; Hewett estimated that it required the wood of 5,000 trees and 50 million stone blocks.[2]The great house called Chetro Ketl was built 825-1125 CE. It features a 30 m (98 ft) colonnade that appears to reflect Mexican Toltec architectural influence. The spaces between the columns were later filled in with masonry, making the colonnade difficult to discern in photographs.
Etymology
The meaning of Chetro Ketl is disputed; an Indian guide for the 1849 Simpson expedition, Carravahal, claimed it meant rain pueblo (or rain village).[3]
Citations
- ^ [1].
- ^ Strutin 1994, p. 26.
- ^ Strutin 1994, p. 62.
References
- Fagan, B (2005), Chaco Canyon: Archaeologists Explore the Lives of an Ancient Society, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-517043-1.
- Strutin, M (1994), Chaco: A Cultural Legacy, Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, ISBN 1-877856-45-2.
- Yankosky, Dan; Malville, J (1996), Chetro Ketl, Confluence Creations, http://www.colorado.edu/Conferences/chaco/tour/ketl.htm.
Coordinates: 36°03′38″N 107°57′15″W / 36.0605°N 107.9541°W
Categories:- Colorado Plateau
- Chaco Canyon
- Former populated places in New Mexico
- Pueblo great houses
- United States archaeology stubs
- New Mexico geography stubs
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