Archaeological Survey Data

Two major archaeological surveys have taken place in Chaco Canyon over the last 50 years: the Chaco Project Archaeological Survey done the early 1970s, and the Additional Lands Archaeological Survey (ALS) conducted in the 1980s. These two surveys inventoried cultural resources within the national park and areas subsequently added to the park (“Chaco Additions”). The data generated by these surveys will be useful to researchers interested in regional and temporal demographic questions pertaining to the area immediately surrounding Chaco Canyon proper. Given that these surveys were performed at different times, by different people, with different research objectives, the two data sets (Chaco Project and Additional Lands) differ in various ways. In order to preserve the resolution of each data set, the observations from the two surveys were entered in two separate CRA database tables. Every effort has been made to preserve both the original paper forms (see links below to access PDFs of all original site forms), and to transcribe data verbatim as they were recorded by field analysts. Certain fields have been normalized to facilitate user searches. In all such cases, the normalized fields are listed with a “CRA” qualifier.

Please note that the Chaco Project Archaeological survey data are now available for query and download, but only a few portions of the Additional Lands survey data are currently available via the CRA (details below).

Chaco Project Archaeological Survey (1971-1975):

The Chaco Project Archaeological Survey was an intensive study designed to inventory the cultural resources contained within what was then called the Chaco Canyon National Monument. This survey project was one of a number of studies conducted by the Chaco Center, a joint venture between the U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Park Service and the University of New Mexico. The first Chaco Center survey was designed and directed by W. James Judge and used a sampling technique to identify cultural resources within selected areas of the monument (1971). In 1972, Alden C. Hayes directed a subsequent “blanket” survey of all 32 square miles of the monument and its six detached areas. By 1975, 43 square miles had been included in the full-coverage survey.

In partnership with the Chaco Culture National Historical Park Archive and Museum Collection, the Chaco Research Archive has digitized significant portions of data created by the Chaco Project Archaeological Survey. All original site survey forms were keyboarded (verbatim) and those data are available in the Chaco Project Site Survey Form table. Users also have the ability to view the original survey forms which are available in the CRA Documentary Accessions table. Records for field specimens recovered during survey were also keyboarded and are available through the CRA Artifact table. Lastly, Peter J. McKenna conducted ceramic analyses for the survey collections. Those data are available in the Chaco Project Survey Ceramics table.

In addition to making the original data accessible and searchable, the CRA team has also normalized particular data fields in order to facilitate research queries. For instance, the Chaco Project survey teams were given a controlled vocabulary of site types they could use to define sites. As is common in hand written formats, these site types tended to vary in actual usage. The site type “Sweat Lodge”, for instance, had numerous permutations on the site survey forms including Sweat Lodge, sweatlodge, Sweatbath, Sweat bath, Sweat House, and sweathouse. To group these permutations under a single heading (as was originally intended by Hayes), the CRA team introduced a normalized site type field as well as site size, site area, min/max number of rooms, min/max number of kivas, min/max number of great kivas, and time period fields. All such fields are clearly designated with a “CRA” prefix in the Chaco Project site survey form data table. For more information on how these fields were normalized, please see the User Guide.

Chaco Project Archaeological Survey Search Options:

Click on one of the options below to list, download, or query specific Chaco Project Archaeological Survey data sets.

Additional Lands Archaeological Survey (1983-1984):

For management and research purposes, a second full-coverage survey (1983-1984) was conducted in the Chaco Culture National Historical Park to inventory cultural resources on new lands added to the park in 1980. The areas surveyed included new lands around Kin Bineola, Kin Klizhin, Chacra Mesa, Upper Kin Klizhin, and the South Addition. Under the direction of Robert Powers, the goal was also to cover any areas previously not surveyed within the 17,000 acres of the park boundaries. Approximately 956 archaeological sites were documented as part of this project.

In partnership with the Chaco Culture National Historical Park Archive and Museum Collection, the Chaco Research Archive has digitized significant portions of data created by the Additional Lands Archaeological Survey (ALS). All original Additional Lands site survey forms were keyboarded (verbatim) and those data are available in the Additional Lands Site Survey Form table. Users also have the ability to view the original survey forms, which are available in the CRA Documentary Accessions table. Barbara Mills conducted ceramic analyses for the Additional Lands project. The data from her analysis constitutes the Additional Lands Ceramic table in the CRA database. Catherine M. Cameron analyzed the lithic assemblage. Those data are available in the Additional Lands Lithic table. Records for field specimens recovered during survey were also keyboarded and are available through the CRA Artifact table.