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CHACO’S PLACE IN THE FORMALIZED LANDSCAPE DESIGN AND SURVEYING OF LARGE SCALE GEOMETRIES AS Hopi ceremonial instrument RITUAL PRACTICE DENNIS DOXTATER - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA Biographic Note The author is a licensed architect with professional academic and practice experience in architecture and landscape architecture. A professional Bachelor of Architecture is from the University of Washington, Seattle, with a M.A. in Socio-Cultural Anthropology at the same institution. A Doctor of Architecture comes from an interdisciplinary program at the University of Michigan. Present status is Professor Emeritus in the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona. The ancestral Doxtater name is Oneida Indian. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 READING THIS BOOK FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS 3 Social organization 3 Introducing probability comparisons between existing and random patterns 4 “Reading” the design analyses 6 A note to archaeologists 9 1. Toward an Evolutionary Theory of Formalized Large Scale Ritual 11 Frameworks in the Landscape Shamanistic use of “web” structures in the landscape 11 Ritually used cross frameworks in the larger landscape 26 Archaeological interpretations of the interim between shamanistic and 32 historic landscapes Possible origins of ritual landscape cross structures on the Southern Colorado 39 Plateau 2. Probability Comparisons: Alignment Involvement of Great Kiva 51 Locations Existing literature on random comparisons 51 Influence of large scale natural topography on alignments 52 Natural features used in the analysis 57 Locations of great kiva sites 58 Comparing BMIII/PI and PII/PIII 70 3. A Surveyed East Meridian and First Triadic Structure of Chaco 79 The first built ceremonial site as mediator of a large scale bipolar line 84 Intercardinal axes and a triadic ritual definition in Chaco Canyon 86 Great kiva linkage to the landscape: “villages” in the West 93 PROBABILITY TEST: THE MOUNT WILSON MERIDIAN 97 4. Formalizing the “West” and a Triadic Plateau Frame 106 Kiva Mesa – Broken Flute Cave 106 A second axis from Sipapu: Butler Wash Main Panel – Lowry 109 The Ganado Cross as more defined southern pole in the West 115 A Ship Rock mediator between West and East 117 Later Lowry and Village of the Great Kivas: an introduction to major 120 changes at Chaco PROBABILITY TEST: THE “FAN” PATTERN OF LINES FROM THE SIPAPU 126 5. “East” Communities and Integration with the Triadic Chaco Focus 132 PROBABILITY TEST: LOCATIONS OF PI GREAT KIVAS AND THEIR 138 ALIGNED RELATIONSHIP TO THE GREATER LANDSCAPE AND EARLY TRIADIC CHACO Early alignments not involved in the Chaco focus 145 REVISED TRIADIC EXPRESSION OF CHACO/CURVED ROCK THAT 147 SPEAKS New meaning to Curved Rock That Speaks/Pueblo Bonito: A Lizard Head 152 meridian 6. The Lizard Head Meridian: Framing the Large Scale Foundation 156 for Formalized Great Houses in Chaco Establishing the Lizard Head meridian 158 The search for natural cross axes congruent with the new meridian: Chaco East X 160 Adjusting the original Chaco triangle to create Chaco West X 165 Axial unification and bringing power to the Curved Rock That Speaks 170 Canyon survey points and lines as framework for major great kivas and houses 174 7. Locating New Great Houses / Casa Rincoñada and Orienting 175 Monumental Walls An architectural history perspective on “monumental” great houses 175 Architecturalization of the meridian: Pueblo Alto and Tsin Kletsin 180 Hungo Pavi as “Keeper of Chaco East X”: symbolically understanding early great 183 walls Pueblo del Arroyo and Chetro Ketl: terminating the axes of West Chaco X 187 Meanings of Peñasco Blanco and Una Vida additions 190 Formal integration of Casa Rincoñada, New Alto and Pueblo Bonito 193 PROBABILITY TEST: GREAT HOUSE WALLS AS ASTRONOMY OR 200 LANDSCAPE INTEGRATION? NOT YET A TEMPLE 205 8. The Plateau Frame Beyond Chaco 208 “OUTLIERS” Kin Ya’a and Muddy Water 208 Standing Rock 213 EXTENSION OF THE WILSON MERIDIAN Cerro Moctezuma and Paquime 216 Replicating the Chaco landscape/architecture scheme at Aztec 218 Aztec West X and its great house emulation of Chaco West X 223 The Great North Road as ritual integrator of Aztec and Chaco 228 9. Toward an Anthropology of Prehistoric Landscape/Architecture 239 Design ANCESTRAL PUEBLO EVOLUTION OF FORMALIZED LANDSCAPE RELIGION The religious effect of alignments among or with prominent natural features 240 Formalization of a triadic ritual framework across a likely previously shamanistic 242 plateau Lizard Head meridian and Curved Rock That Speaks 243 The move to Aztec 247 The great north road as design/surveying evidence 249 Territorialization of landscape ritual and formality 250 Adding a design dimension to cultural anthropology 254 A SUMMARY OF PROBABILITY TESTING OF POSSIBLE DESIGN PATTERNS 255 Simple three-point alignments among a total group of great kiva sites 256 Testing the Mount Wilson meridian complex 257 Testing the “fan” pattern of lines from the Sipapu 258 Symbolic “great walls”: comparing probabilities of astronomical with landscape 259 meaning FUTURE RESEARCH 260 Appendix I: Computer Applications as Essential Design Analysis Tools 262 Geopatterns 2 264 Geopatterns 3 270 Appendix II: Prehistoric Surveying 273 A field exercise aligning an interim point between two visible end points 275 Simulating a line survey between Humphrey’s Peak and Blanca Peak 278 List of Three – Point Alignment Accuracies Described in the Analyses 285 References Cited 289 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Butler Wash panel detail. 12 2. Numic and Yuman spiderweb of landscape features and connecting trails. 13 3. Spatial layout of Isoma ritual. 14 4. “Cosmic” structure of shamanistic Warao landscape. 15 5. Symbolic structure of the Warao roundhouse. 18 6. Oppositional structures of the Navajo cosmos. 21 7. Symbolic meanings of the Navajo Hogan. 23 8. Formal graphic diagram of quartets of natural ritual foci in the Tewa landscape 27 9. Graphically formal diagram of “local cosmology” of the Keres Pueblos. 28 10. Dualistically structured “villagescape” around 14th century Rio Grande pueblo. 29 11. Triaxial ritual structure of Hopi landscape and ceremonial cycle. 30 12. Most coincidentally accurate three-point alignment of natural features; possible 40 early line to Comb Ridge; relation of alignments to Canyon de Chelly. 13. “Sipapu” as junction of the Little Colorado and Colorado Rivers in the Grand 42 Canyon. 14. Highest mountains other most prominent natural features in the Ancestral Pueblo 44 region. 15. Two coincidental crosses formed by prominent natural features: De Chelly X and 46 Kin Bineola X. 16. Comb Ridge natural north-south “axis mundi”. 47 17. Butler Wash Main Panel rock art. 49 _________________________________________________________________________ 18. Location of 61 Basketmaker III – Pueblo III great kiva sites plus 21 most 53 significant natural features on the Southern Colorado Plateau. 19. Thirteen random point areas in Chaco Canyon to test the influence of smaller 54 scale linear features on alignment numbers. 20. Examples of most prominent natural features in the Ancestral Pueblo landscape. 59 21. Locations of the most prominent natural features used in the analysis. 60 22. Great kiva images from Google Earth. 61 23. Location of test area in which all 61 existing great kiva sites occur, and in which 67 100 sets of equivalent numbers of random points are scattered. 24. Probability relationship between random and designed alignments. 68 25. Box and whisker plots for tests of random alignments at ten accuracies. 69 26. Number of involved alignments for each site, natural and built, during early and 71 late periods. 27. Box and whisker plots for alignments created in 100 sets of 34 random points at 72 four accuracies, compared to the number of alignments among 34 early great kiva points. 28. Comparisons of early and late great kiva groups in combination and individually. 73 29. Comparisons of numbers of alignments in the existing 34 and 27 groups taken 74 independently w/o natural features. 30. Map comparison of existing early group alignments with highest random set of 75 34 points each of 100 sets at an accuracy of 0.075°. 31. Map comparison of total existing alignments with highest random set of 61 points 76 each of 100 sets. __________________________________________________________________________ 32. Coincidental natural cardinal alignment between Abajo Peak, El Diente and 80 Mount Wilson. 33. Simulation of required survey station points in cardinal north-south line from 83 Mount Wilson to McCarty’s Flow. 34. Photo of McCarty’s Flow, most recent volcanic event in the Zuni-Bandera field. 84 35. Chaco Canyon intersection of MountWilson – McCarty’s Flow axis and the 85 Sipapu “sunray” to Mount Chicoma and Truchas Peak. 36. Chimney Rock natural feature and associated later PII Chacoan “outlier” great 87 kiva and great house. 37. Most precise coincidental triaxial intersection point on the plateau adjacent to 88 later major Chacoan great kiva and house, Kin Bineola. 38. Hypothetical unification of MountWilson meridian, natural amphitheater and 89 most precise triaxial intersection point on plateau at Kin Bineola. 39. Location of “Curved Rock That Speaks” natural amphitheater with respect to 90 29SJ423 – Shabik’eschee line. 40. Plan of Shabik’eschee Basketmaker III village in Chaco Canyon. 91 41. Location of early great kiva sites and possible rock art evidence of early large- 94 scale ritual. 42. Coincidental natural and built features cardinally associated with Mount Wilson: 101 best two comparable patterns from 100,000 random sets. 43. Alternative test areas for Mount Wilson meridian pattern. 102 ____________________________________________________________________________ 44. Kiva Mesa BMIII great kiva site in large scale context with possible other early 108 ritual foci. 45. Technical drawing of “Main Panel” at Butler Wash: precise alignment with Sipapu 110 and Lowry great kiva. 46. Location of Rincon “great kiva” at the topographic tip of Comb Ridge with respect 112 to the Sipapu – Lowry line and the Main Panel at Butler Wash. 47. Location of Bluff great kiva and great house: relation to Sipapu – Lowry line.