Dan Flores

Most of the people who abandoned the Chacoan world congregated along the upper Rio Grande, eventually founding towns still home to their descendants, the Pueblo peoples famous for their apartment-like villages, geometrically painted pottery, and turquoise jewelry. Why did Chaco collapse in what sounds like a fit of pique?

Most of the people who abandoned the Chacoan world congregated along the upper Rio Grande, eventually founding towns still home to their descendants, the Pueblo peoples famous for their apartment-like villages, geometrically painted pottery, and turquoise jewelry. Why did Chaco collapse in what sounds like a fit of pique?

Most of the people who abandoned the Chacoan world congregated along the upper Rio Grande, eventually founding towns still home to their descendants, the Pueblo peoples famous for their apartment-like villages, geometrically painted pottery, and turquoise jewelry. Why did Chaco collapse in what sounds like a fit of pique?

The evidence, and ultimately the response of the Pueblos afterwards, points to a crisis we should recognize. Down there in Pueblo Benito, a single room out of 650 rooms yielded the remains of 14 people whose funerary items indicated they represented Chaco's religious and political elites.

The evidence, and ultimately the response of the Pueblos afterwards, points to a crisis we should recognize. Down there in Pueblo Benito, a single room out of 650 rooms yielded the remains of 14 people whose funerary items indicated they represented Chaco's religious and political elites.

The evidence, and ultimately the response of the Pueblos afterwards, points to a crisis we should recognize. Down there in Pueblo Benito, a single room out of 650 rooms yielded the remains of 14 people whose funerary items indicated they represented Chaco's religious and political elites.

In the room were flutes, ceremonial staffs, thousands of pieces of turquoise jewelry, conch shell trumpets from America's west coast, the remains of macaw parrots from the tropics. The oldest burial dated to 800 AD and the last from Chaco's abandonment, so those 14 span the entire life of the city.

In the room were flutes, ceremonial staffs, thousands of pieces of turquoise jewelry, conch shell trumpets from America's west coast, the remains of macaw parrots from the tropics. The oldest burial dated to 800 AD and the last from Chaco's abandonment, so those 14 span the entire life of the city.

In the room were flutes, ceremonial staffs, thousands of pieces of turquoise jewelry, conch shell trumpets from America's west coast, the remains of macaw parrots from the tropics. The oldest burial dated to 800 AD and the last from Chaco's abandonment, so those 14 span the entire life of the city.

And not just that, the genetics of nine of the 14 showed them to be descended from the same matrilineal line from a woman who evidently had been there at Chaco's founding. Disparities in wealth and quality of life, along with the resentments they produce, are familiar to modern Americans.

And not just that, the genetics of nine of the 14 showed them to be descended from the same matrilineal line from a woman who evidently had been there at Chaco's founding. Disparities in wealth and quality of life, along with the resentments they produce, are familiar to modern Americans.

And not just that, the genetics of nine of the 14 showed them to be descended from the same matrilineal line from a woman who evidently had been there at Chaco's founding. Disparities in wealth and quality of life, along with the resentments they produce, are familiar to modern Americans.

Isotope comparisons of the bones of the priestly class in Chaco's great houses with those of farmers from the villages indicates that the elites consumed far more protein from the meat of deer and pronghorns. They were better fed, grew almost two inches taller, suffered less from disease, had three times the survival rate for children under five, and lived longer.

Isotope comparisons of the bones of the priestly class in Chaco's great houses with those of farmers from the villages indicates that the elites consumed far more protein from the meat of deer and pronghorns. They were better fed, grew almost two inches taller, suffered less from disease, had three times the survival rate for children under five, and lived longer.

Isotope comparisons of the bones of the priestly class in Chaco's great houses with those of farmers from the villages indicates that the elites consumed far more protein from the meat of deer and pronghorns. They were better fed, grew almost two inches taller, suffered less from disease, had three times the survival rate for children under five, and lived longer.

They were also conspicuous consumers of high-status goods, from beautiful pots to copper bells, from turquoise jewelry to parrots. In the late 1800s, an early archaeologist working in Chaco shipped more than 70,000 high-status items just from Pueblo Benito to the American Museum of Natural History.

They were also conspicuous consumers of high-status goods, from beautiful pots to copper bells, from turquoise jewelry to parrots. In the late 1800s, an early archaeologist working in Chaco shipped more than 70,000 high-status items just from Pueblo Benito to the American Museum of Natural History.

They were also conspicuous consumers of high-status goods, from beautiful pots to copper bells, from turquoise jewelry to parrots. In the late 1800s, an early archaeologist working in Chaco shipped more than 70,000 high-status items just from Pueblo Benito to the American Museum of Natural History.

The farming class suffered this gap between rich and poor as long as the elites delivered on their promise to make it rain. But when drought came and the priests were powerless to stop it, the lower classes attacked and killed many in the upper class. They also embraced a new belief, the Kachina religion.

The farming class suffered this gap between rich and poor as long as the elites delivered on their promise to make it rain. But when drought came and the priests were powerless to stop it, the lower classes attacked and killed many in the upper class. They also embraced a new belief, the Kachina religion.