{"id":44015,"date":"2021-10-29T14:04:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T20:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/study-details-environmental-impacts-of-early-chaco-residents\/"},"modified":"2021-10-29T20:04:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T20:04:00","slug":"study-details-environmental-impacts-of-early-chaco-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/study-details-environmental-impacts-of-early-chaco-residents\/","title":{"rendered":"Study details environmental impacts of early Chaco residents"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"This
This August 2015 image provided by the University of Cincinnati shows one of the massive stone structures at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico. Researchers from the university have published a study detailing the environmental impacts of Chaco's early residents. (Vernon Scarborough\/University of Cincinnati via AP)<\/span>Vernon Scarborough<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ALBUQUERQUE \u2013 Researchers at the University of Cincinnati say they have more evidence that Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico was more than just an ancient gathering spot for Indigenous ceremonies and rituals.<\/p>\n

The researchers analyzed pollen content and the chemical composition of soils to help document environmental impacts of the early residents who called the area home, which is now a national park and UNESCO World Heritage site.<\/p>\n

Their findings<\/a>, published this week in the journal PLOS ONE<\/em>, focus on changes resulting from tree harvesting that sustained daily life at Chaco.<\/p>\n

The researchers reported a gradual degradation of the surrounding woodlands beginning around 600 B.C., much earlier than previously thought.<\/p>\n

While some of the mysteries surrounding Chaco are still debated in academic circles, there\u2019s agreement that the massive stone buildings, ceremonial structures called kivas and other features that dot the landscape offered a religious or ritualistic experience for the ancestors of today\u2019s Native American pueblos. Many of Chaco\u2019s structures are aligned with celestial events, such as the summer solstice.<\/p>\n

\"In
In this August 2015 image provided by the University of Cincinnati, geography graduate Jon-Paul McCool, now a faculty member at Valparaiso University, takes soil samples from an excavation site at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico. A team of researchers has published a study detailing the environmental impacts of Chaco's early residents. (Nicholas Dunning\/University of Cincinnati via AP)<\/span>Nicholas Dunning<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

David Lentz, a biology professor and lead author of the study, said many researchers have the idea that Chaco was too arid to sustain day-to-day living and that the infrastructure built over many centuries at Chaco was used only as a periodic ceremonial center and storage facility.<\/p>\n

Lentz said that explanation is too simplistic and that his team turned up evidence to support human management of the area\u2019s environment to support daily life.<\/p>\n

Amid the shift from people hunting and gathering to undertaking agriculture, the researchers noted measurable changes \u2013 such as juniper trees decimated for building needs, food resources and firewood for cooking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very arid area,\u201d he said. \u201cIn arid woodlands, the trees are essential for holding the soil in place. When the puebloan inhabitants removed those woodlands, the result was eventually severe erosion and the deterioration of croplands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul Reed, a preservation archaeologist with Southwest Archaeology, was not involved in the study and said the new research confirms what he has believed for years \u2013 that Chaco and some of its surrounding sites were residential and ritual centers. He estimates that Chaco had thousands of full-time residents.<\/p>\n

Another Chaco scholar, Gwinn Vivian, came to the same conclusion while studying Chaco\u2019s agricultural capacity decades ago.<\/p>\n

Reed said the latest study provides helpful data on the nature and extent of Chaco\u2019s agricultural processes and other uses of the natural environment by the people who lived there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a strong counterpoint to the mistaken idea that corn and other crops could not be grown in the quantities necessary to sustain a large, residential population in Chaco Canyon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Scientists in recent years also have uncovered previously indiscernible sections of roads that connect sites throughout northwestern New Mexico to the heart of Chaco.<\/p>\n

Earlier excavations also turned up everything from copper bells to marine shells and the skeletons of scarlet macaws, suggesting the inhabitants were trading with communities to the south either by making long treks or passing goods from village to village.<\/p>\n

Many researchers have documented the shift of people moving away from Chaco because of various factors, including a changing climate in the late 11th century.<\/p>\n

The study by the University of Cincinnati team noted that the landscape modifications by Chaco residents triggered serious environmental ramifications.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the cost of major reduction of tree density in the local woodlands, their activities ultimately contributed to a destabilizing environmental impact prior to their final exodus,\u201d Lentz said.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

August 2015 image provided by the University of Cincinnati shows one of the massive stone structures at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico. Researchers from the university have published a study detailing the environmental impacts of Chaco's early residents. (Vernon Scarborough\/University of Cincinnati via AP)Vernon Scarborough ALBUQUERQUE \u2013 Researchers at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[815],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-44015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-associated-press-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44015"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=44015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}