EASTER ISLAND AND PUEBLO BONITO EASTER ISLAND Island History Lost continent Aliens Archaeology suggests Polynesian ancestry Lush palm forests used to exist o Population exceeded island carrying capacity o Some say metaphor for ecological disaster Competition led to warfare o Possibility cannibalism Moai toppled over Moai 887 inventoried thus far o Not just heads have torsos and some are kneeling Made from volcanic stone o Chisles o Stone wetted before carving o Teams of 5 6 constructed these figures 1 year to complete at quarry Final modifications at resting place o Thought to represent lineage leaders o Moving the monoliths With sleds Rolling with ropes Moai walking to final resting place PUEBLO BONITO Chaco Canyon Chaco Canyon San Juan Basin New Mexico San Juan Basin New Mexico Regional Settlement Network Great Houses o Large multistoried structures Occupation began 12 000 13 000 ya Environment Pueblo Bonito Little rainfall vegetation surface water and animals o Arid climate Chaco Canyon residents built dams and canals o Control runoff water from summer rains Largest Great House in Chaco Canyon 650 rooms o Many are Kivas Subterranean circular chambers Ritual significance Semicircle around central plaza area Occupation o Construction began 1 200 ya Built up over 200 300 years o Abandoned 750 ya Function o Could have held 1 200 people o BUT Few hearths middens domestic activity Coupled with large numbers of kivas Largely used as ceremonial center Population about 100 people at one time o Berms Large mounds of cultural debris Common at this time Plastered at Puebla Bonito Platform for ceremonies Elite residence and ceremonial center Later shift primarily ceremonial use Elites o Size suggests some form of political leadership o Room 33 Human buried with exotic materials 50 000 pieces of turquoise beads o Room 38 pendants 14 macaw skeletons jet beads pendants o Differences in wealth o Trade networks Chacoan Network Pueblo Bonito was part of larger regional network o Chacoan Network Roads within and beyond Canyon o 200 miles of roads radiating from the Canyon o connect Great Houses o Connect to Four Corners region Trade o Jet turcoise macaws o Pottery and maize not local o Why trade What made Chaco run Cycles of ceremonial feasting Rise of Chaco environment Chacoan Network developed as buffer against uncertain o Response to threat of agricultural failure stimulated Chaco occupation o If linked to exchange network groups have access to food if crops fail Alternative view o Great houses built during times of heavy rainfall Surplus of food controlled by elites Agricultural surplus stimulated Chaco occupation Pueblo Bonito jet turquoise expression of control over resources Fall of Chaco Abandonment coincides with severe drought 750 ya o Chaco never regained central control