Lobo Mesa Archaeological Project

Community Analysis

An intensive field investigation of a single Chaco-era community has dominated much of the past several years of LMAP research. With four years of generous funding from the National Science Foundation, extensive archaeological survey and excavation are allowing the LMAP project to reconstruct the evolution of this community, known as "Blue J" after the bluish limestone used to construct a building that was originally thought to be a Chacoan great house. The research so far has uncovered a large and wealthy village that at its height consisted of almost 50 households. Turquoise, marine shell, jet, azurite, malachite, and other exotic materials attest to the success of Blue J's inhabitants. Oddly, however, what was originally thought to be a great house turned out to be a normal residential structure, making Blue J the only community for miles around without Chacoan architectural influence.

A recent assessment of the horticultural potential of the Blue J landscape was completed by Georgia State University graduate student Erin Hudson (now at UNM). Combining both geomorphological, geochemical, and Geographic Information System analyses, this work suggests that Blue J was in a favorable setting for successful farming. A major spring in the center of the community also must have played an important role in Blue J's apparent success. The contrast of the wealth of Blue J compared with its lack of obvious Chacoan influence is providing insight into the process by which Puebloan communities participated in or resisted Chaco Canyon.