At the Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Navajo people dwell within sight of prehistoric cliff- dwellings. Now, an expedition team explores the beautiful rock formations and surrounding area, and learns more about the Navajo culture and the pre-historic settlements of people that lived long before them. The Canyon de Chelly footage was captured during one of the expeditions to the Southwest that was supported by the National Geographic Society and led by Neil Judd in an effort to both excavate and date the early settlements found in the region. The studies were conducted in association with another grant given by the Society to Dr. Andrew E. Douglass to refine the study of tree rings later termed by Douglass as dendrochronology.
Using dendrochronology, as with Pueblo Bonito, Dr. Andrew E. Douglass was able to date the prehistoric ruins in Canyon de Chelly. The cliff dwellings seen in the film were estimated to have been build and occupied around the year 1060 by dating ancient house timbers found there.
According to Douglass: “In favorable regions, rings in trees may be identified, each one in its appropriate year, and traced back until we get to the utmost reach of living trees, and then beams from ancient ruins and buried logs carry the story back for many more centuries.”
“By the end of the season, the expedition has traveled 5,200 miles by car through the desert Southwest and obtained 89 beam sections and borings. Jean Allard Jeancon, chief of the Beam Expedition, writes to Judd that they have usually met with a cordial reception from the various pueblos. They have worked hard to respect the Indians' beliefs. After extracting a wood boring at the Walpi site, they plug the hole with bits of turquoise and recite some Tewa prayers to protect their hosts from evil influences.” (https://sites.google.com/a/ngs.org/timeline/timeline/1910_1929/1920-1929/1923-wooden-beams-and-tree-rings?pli=1)
What was discovered by the tree rings was not just the age of these dwellings, but the climate changes that probably drove people out of theses locations once the resources of the land were depleted. Of particular importance, was the recording of rainfall and drought. Douglass refers to the tree rings as the diary of the trees - recording age, environment, and telling their story.
For the study, living trees were matched with dead building timbers.
“With careful archaeological study we shall perhaps be able to trace the movements of clans and test tribal traditions which have so often be quoted as the early history of these people. In the combination of climatic conditions with tribal activities we have a rich field for studying the influence of climate on human history.”
Canyon de Chelly was later declared a National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in 1931, and it is located within the Navajo Nation Reservation.
Douglass, Andrew Ellicott. “The Secret of the Southwest Solved by Talkative Tree Rings.” National Geographic Magazine. December 1929, pp. 739 and 770.
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Banner Photo Credit: Renan Ozturk
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