The Archaeology of the Bonito Paleochannel Cycle at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico: Implications for Communal and Household Level Investment in Water Management

This study examines the archaeological record for water management in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, in relation to the Bonito Paleochannel cycle, ca. AD 1075-1150. We present evidence for a canal system at Pueblo Bonito that was destroyed by the entrenchment of the paleochannel. This canal system is associated with the peak of great house construction. Other water control features throughout the canyon were small and date to the period of paleochannel aggradation or afterward. We suggest that while the Pueblo Bonito canals represent some degree of corporate group investment, small features were managed at the household level. The limited archaeological evidence for formal water control infrastructure can be explained at least in part by the physical geography of Chaco Canyon, which we view as essentially a regional-scale water harvesting structure. Este estudio examina el registro arqueologico para el manejo del agua en el Canon del Chaco, Nuevo Mexico, en relacion con el ciclo del Paleocanal Bonito, ca. 1075 a 1150 d.C. Presentamos evidencia de un sistema de canales en Pueblo Bonito que fue destruido por el atrincheramiento del paleocanal. Este sistema de canales esta asociado con el apogeo de la construccion de grandes casas. Otras caracteristicas de control del agua a lo largo del canon eran pequenas y datan del periodo de agradacion del paleocanal o posterior. Sugerimos que si bien los canales de Pueblo Bonito representan cierto grado de inversion de grupos corporativos, pequenas caracteristicas fueron administradas a nivel de los hogares. La limitada evidencia arqueologica de una infraestructura formal de control del agua puede explicarse, al menos en parte, por la geografia fisica del Canon del Chaco, que consideramos esencialmente como una estructura de captacion de agua a escala regional.