An Archeological Assessment of Canyon de Chelly National Monument

This overview describes the natural environment of Canyon de Chelly
National Monument and summarizes the ways in which it has been used by successive populations. A discussion of the ways in which past
environmental conditions may have differed from those of the present
and the implications of such differences for the inhabitants of the
monument is included. A cultural sequence extending from a Basketmaker
II occupation at about AD 300 to the modern Navajo occupation is described; the possibility of earlier occupations is examined. PaleoIndian,
Archaic, Anasazi, Hopi and Navajo cultures are discussed.
The history of archeological research in the monument and its results
are also discussed, with a project-by-project summary of archeological
research included as an appendix. The archeological potential of the
monument has not been exhausted and this overview recommends directions for future research. There is a particular need for explanations of
events described in the culture history; hypotheses relating population
trends, environmental conditions, settlement pattern and subsistence are
offered.