Chaco Sites
Wijiji
Site Description:
Wijiji, perhaps an approximation of the Navajo term for “black greasewood,” is a small, unexcavated, C-shaped great house. It is the easternmost great house in the main section of Chaco Culture National Historical Park, lying 5.7 miles (9.1 km) southeast of Pueblo Bonito along one the park trails.
The structure includes approximately 100 ground-floor rooms; two symmetrically-placed kivas occur within the northern roomblock and the eastern and western wings of the great house form a pattern of symmetrical reflection. The roomblocks frame an open plaza and rooms stood at least three-stories high along the rear (northern) wall and two-stories in most other portions of the great house. No great kiva occurs at Wijiji nor is there an enclosing wall defining the plaza as is found at many of the larger great houses.
A single tree-ring date places the construction of the site at A.D. 1110 or soon after.
An alternative site designation is 29SJ577.
Excavation History
- Unexcavated
Size and Dates
- Approximately 100 ground floor rooms, several upper-story rooms, and 2 kivas.
- Built approximately A.D. 1110
