Photos from this month’s retro photo album titled: Chaco and Bandelier, May 23, 2007.
One of the most remarkable aspects of Chaco Culture is the extensive system of finely engineered roads both within the canyon and extending out a considerable distance to the outlying sites throughout the San Juan Basin and beyond. These roads are remarkably straight and carefully constructed.
If you look closely at this photograph, you can see an ancient road marching off far into the distance:
Perhaps the most significant aspect of the Chacoan roads is their straightness. The roads are generally aligned very precisely, continuing for considerable distances with the same alignment without curving or adapting to the landscape as modern roads and trails usually do. When they do change direction, it tends to be with sharp, angled turns rather than gentle curves. When a road comes to a mesa or cliff face, rather than curving or turning it will often go straight up with stairs carved into the rock and continue on top with its original alignment.
It’s worth going to Chaco just to sit on a perch and finding evidence of these lines.
My books Memory Road Trip (e-book or paperback) and Time Traveled (e-book or paperback) are both available! You can also find them at most major international book sites.
Krista Marson 