Puebloans in Treeless Chaco Canyon Hauled 240,000 Trees over 75 KM for House Construction

Analysis of tree-ring patterns shows the prehistoric Pueblo Indians who built the multi-story great houses in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, at one time hauled huge wooden beams a good distance from one valley for their construction and then suddenly switched to another valley’s trees. Archaeologists doing the research said both mountain ranges are about 75 kilometers (46 miles) from Chaco Canyon, which was virtually treeless.

The researchers said over the years there has been intense debate over the source of the trees used as beams in the wood-and-stone structures as there were seven nearby mountain ranges from which the trees could have originated. Some of the structures have hundreds of rooms and stand five stories high. They are among the largest buildings dating to before 1492 in North America.