University of Virginia Library

Modern Period 1920—

The School of American Research inaugurated what might be
called the Modern Period (with a lesser stress on the acquisition of
museum specimens, and a greater attention to architectural features
and excavation methods) in the Chaco Canyon, with its excavation at
Chetro Ketl, May to October of 1920. This excavation was continued

in the summer of 1921, but further work was discontinued (at the
recommendation of Wesley Bradfield) during the activity of the National
Geographic Society at Pueblo Bonito.[35]

In 1920, Neil M. Judd (now Curator of Anthropology, National
Museum) visited the Chaco Canyon for the Smithsonian Institution and
the National Geographic Society, and a burial mound one hundred
yards east of Casa Rinconada was trenched. In the following year the
First National Geographic Society Expedition to Pueblo Bonito commenced
excavation at Pueblo Bonito. These excavations were carried
on for seven years, 1921 to 1927, under the direction of Neil M. Judd.
Most of the pueblo was excavated, including the cleaning out of the
rooms which had been filled in after excavation by the Hyde Expedition.
A number of small sites near Pueblo Bonito were excavated also; several
test pits were sunk in the vicinity; a topographic survey of the
main ruin area was completed in 1922; a pit house one mile east of
Pueblo Bonito, on the north bank of the arroyo, was excavated in
1922; Pueblo del Arroyo was excavated under the direction of Karl
Ruppert, beginning in 1923; and trenches were run through dump
heaps at Pueblo Alto and Peñasco Blanco in 1926 by Frank H. H.
Roberts, Jr. During much of this time, Roberts had served as "potsherd
expert" for the expedition, and upon this work was based his
doctoral dissertation at Harvard University. Beginning in 1922, Dr.
A. E. Douglass visited the Chaco Canyon from time to time, in connection
with dendrochronologic studies, which culminated in dating and
correlating chronologically Pueblo Bonito, Aztec, and numerous other
ruins of the Pueblo area. For this chronologic work, Jeançon and
Ricketson visited the Chaco in 1923 (on the First Beam Expedition)
and obtained numerous wood specimens. Various brief progress reports,
and short papers on various phases of investigation in the Chaco
Canyon during the activity of the National Geographic Society expeditions
have appeared, but no summary or final report has been published
as yet.[36]

Growing out of his work in some pit houses and small house structures
for the National Geographic Society in 1926, Roberts excavated
a Basket Maker III site on the Chacra mesa in 1927 for the Smithsonian
Institution. The report on this excavation constitutes the only complete
report on a major excavation in the Chaco area to date.[37]

In the summer of 1929, the School of American Research (in cooperation
with the University of New Mexico) renewed excavations in
the Chaco Canyon under the general direction of Dr. E. L. Hewett. The

season of 1929 saw work resumed in the eastern sector of Chetro Ketl,
with a concentration on the East Tower, the Great Sanctuary, and the
eastern refuse mound. The Great Sanctuary was cleaned out 1929 to
1931. Stratigraphic work on the large dump progressed for several
years under Miss Anna Shepard (San Diego Museum; now at the
Laboratory of Anthropology) and Miss Florence Hawley (from the
University of Arizona; now on the University of New Mexico staff),
and provided material (in conjunction with tree-ring and masonry
studies) for Hawley's doctoral dissertation at the University of
Chicago. Aerial views of the Chaco Canyon were taken in 1929 by
Carlos Vierra, of Santa Fe. Also in 1929, Dr. John P. Harrington (of
the Smithsonian Institution) carried out linguistic studies in the area.
Working with Dr. Harrington was Miss Sara Goddard, whose studies
in the Zuñi language are represented in a master's dissertation of
1930 at the University of New Mexico. In 1930, a test trench was run
at Casa Rinconada, preparatory to excavation and restoration which
have continued from 1931 to the present time under the supervision of
Gordon Vivian. Also, in 1930, Richard Vann made paleontologic
studies in the canyon for his master's dissertation in geology at the
University of New Mexico.

During 1933, 1934, and 1935, one of the Talus units back of Chetro
Ketl was excavated by Paul Walter, Jr., and Margaret Woods (of
Bryn Mawr and Radcliffe colleges). In 1933, Hurst Julian (one time
custodian of the monument) and Mrs. Dorothy Keur (of Hunter College)
cleaned out a number of cliff cavities and cists in the north wall
of the canyon, between Yellow House and Casa Chiquita. Also, in 1933,
Dr. J. Keur (Long Island University) commenced a study of the
Threatening Rock back of Pueblo Bonito in order to determine the
amount of annual shift. Paul Reiter (now Curator of Archaeology of
the Museum of New Mexico) assisted with much of the Chetro Ketl
excavation from 1929 to 1933. In 1933, he presented a master's dissertation
to the University of New Mexico, which stressed architectural
elements in Chetro Ketl. In the same year, Mrs. Winifred
Reiter submitted a master's dissertation concerning personal adornment
of the ancient Pueblo Indians, which was based on a study of
material from Cheto Ketl and the general San Juan area.

Besides the usual work on Chetro Ketl (under Dr. E. L. Hewett,
Mr. William Postlethwaite, of Colorado College, Dr. Reginald Fisher,
J. M. Miller, and Miss Janet Woods, of Bryn Mawr College), in 1934,
work on Yellow House was commenced by Edwin Ferdon, small house
sites No. 8, No. 21, and No. 26 were partially excavated by Charles
Hutchinson, Marion Hollenbach, and Bertha Dutton, and an archaeologic
survey of the Chaco Canyon area was completed by Dr. Reginald
Fisher. This archaeologic survey, the maps of which will be published

in the near future, will constitute the Upper San Juan Sub-Quadrangle
A: Ancient Chaco Province, Vol. 1, No. 2, in the University of New
Mexico Survey Series. Excavation at Site No. 26 (a small house on
the south side of the arroyo, upstream from Casa Rinconada) was continued
into November of 1936 by Miss Bertha Dutton; and the preliminary
report on this site (termed Łeyit Kin) constituted her master's
dissertation submitted in 1937 to the University of New Mexico. In
1934, Miss Alice Leinau presented a master's dissertation to the University
upon the sanctuaries of Chetro Ketl. Based upon erosion control
experiments made to safeguard Yellow House in 1934, William Chauvenet
submitted a master's dissertation to the University of New Mexico
in 1935.

The field session of 1935, under the direction of Fisher and Brand,
did not excavate in Chetro Ketl, but work on the talus unit was continued
by Margaret Woods; a large isolated kiva (Kin Nasbas) near
Una Vida was excavated by Dorothy Luhrs; a survey of possible prehistoric
irrigation ditches was made by John Corbett (Princeton University);
a comparative study of Chaco Canyon kivas was carried out
by Stanley Milford; and a study of Navajo ethnobotany, based on Chaco
Canyon plants, was made by Francis Elmore, which served as a master's
dissertation in botany at the University of Southern California.
In June and July of 1936, various research projects were carried out in
the Chaco area under the direction of Fisher. These included the excavation
of several pit houses near Rinconada by J. Maloney (Stanford
University).

During the period of University of New Mexico co-operation with
the School of American Research (1929-1936) in the Chaco Canyon
Advanced Field Session, University credit was given to advanced and
graduate students from New Mexico and other institutions of higher
learning. To date, no complete report has been published on any School
of American Research excavation in the Chaco Canyon, although various
phases of excavation and research have been reported upon in a
number of dissertations, School of American Research Annual Reports,
articles in El Palacio, and Southwestern Monuments, and in two books
by Dr. Hewett.[38] Many students not mentioned above also turned in
term and report papers which are filed at Santa Fe along with the
bulk of recovered artifacts.