An Archeological Assessment of Canyon de Chelly National Monument

Summary

This overview describes the natural environment of Canyon de Chelly

National Monument and summarizes the ways in which it has been used by successive populations. A discussion of the ways in which past

environmental conditions may have differed from those of the present

and the implications of such differences for the inhabitants of the

monument is included. A cultural sequence extending from a Basketmaker

II occupation at about AD 300 to the modern Navajo occupation is described; the possibility of earlier occupations is examined. PaleoIndian,

Archaic, Anasazi, Hopi and Navajo cultures are discussed.

The history of archeological research in the monument and its results

are also discussed, with a project-by-project summary of archeological

research included as an appendix. The archeological potential of the

monument has not been exhausted and this overview recommends directions for future research. There is a particular need for explanations of

events described in the culture history; hypotheses relating population

trends, environmental conditions, settlement pattern and subsistence are

offered.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• WACC documents 1970-1979   •
• Arizona   •
• Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 300 to 1800

Spatial Coverage

File Information