Chaco Culture - Chaco Wash

This view in morning light shows the broad floodplain of Gallo Wash, a tributary of Chaco Wash. The valley of Chaco Wash was occupied by an ancient Puebloan community. The community existed beginning about A.D. 850 and lasted until about A.D. 1250. At its time of maximum occupation, as many as 2,000 to 6,000 people may have lived in the valley (Benson, 2004). The Chacoans subsisted off of farming and trade, and the canyon community served as the cultural, economic, political, and religious center of the Chacoan Puebloan culture that extended throughout the Four Corners region (UNESCO World Heritage Convention [2011, 1987 designation];Strutin and Huey, 1994; Stuart, 2000).