National Geographic Special Collections: Archives & Film Preservation Blog

Pueblo Bonito (1922)

During the period of 1920 to 1927, the National Geographic Society and Smithsonian co-sponsored various expeditions to Chaco Canyon, let by Dr. Neil M. Judd.  The purpose of the expeditions was the archaeological excavation of Pueblo Bonito, the most important ruin in the Chaco Canyon National Monument.

Pueblo Bonito was a Pre-Columbian village in northwestern New Mexico.  It consisted of a colossal apartment complex that covered a little more than three acres and is thought to have sheltered between 1,200 and 1,500 individuals.

“Ancient Bonitians were agriculturists by choice —permanent habitations were erected only by sedentary, agriculturally inclined peoples” (328-329). They were a close knit community with a strong cooperative spirit.  Judd came to this conclusion partially from finding fragments of animal skeletons distributed amongst neighboring dwellings.  Also, gardens seemed to be community property, and the harvests were shared through the village (329).

The biggest question was trying to accurately date Pueblo Bonito and when and why it’s inhabitants abandoned the settlement.  

“Archeologists studying the pottery and other cultural remains, geologists examining the valley deposits and eroded cliffs, dendrologists peering into the life-long secrets of dead and dying trees, have each, working independently along definite lines of inquiry, estimated the abandonment of Pueblo Bonito as about 1,000 years ago [as of 1923]” (101).

The science of dendrochronology (using tree rings to date things) (new at the time) was used to ultimately determine the relative age of the settlement.  It was constructed in stages between AD 850 to AD 1150.

Judd, Neil M. “The Pueblo Bonito Expedition of the National Geographic Society.” National Geographic Magazine.  March 1922, pp. 328-329.

Judd, Neil M. “Pueblo Bonito, the Ancient.” National Geographic Magazine.  July 1923, p. 101.

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