Pueblo Bonito (Pueblo Bonito, literally "beautiful village") is the largest of the "palaces" of Indian anasazi culture in the Chaco Canyon National Park, north of New Mexico. It was inhabited in the IX-XII centuries A.D.
In January 1941, a part of the canyon known as the "threatening rock", Threatening Rock, in Navajo tse biyaa anii'ahi, collapsed, destroying the western wall of the building and damaging some rooms. Pueblo-Bonito's builders probably knew about this threat. Despite this, they decided to build their settlement under a cracked rock with a height of more than 30,000 tons and weight of more than 30,000 meters, compensating for the instability of the rock by strengthening its foundation.
In 2009, according to press reports, traces of cocoa were found in Pueblo Bonito, the first evidence that cocoa, originally from Mexico, was known in ancient times in the future US. Earlier here were found cylindrical ceramic vessels, common in Mesoamerica, but rare here.
U.S. Army Lieutenant James Simpson and his guide from San Pueblo named Carravajal discovered Pueblo Bonito during the 1849 military expedition. They examined eight large ruins in Chaco Canyon, among which was Pueblo Bonito (the name "beautiful settlement" was given to the ruins of Carravajal). At the end of the expedition, Simpson published the first description of Chaco Canyon in his military report, and the drawings were made by the artist R. H. Kern.
The first excavations were carried out in 1896-1900 with the support of the American Museum of Natural History.
Pueblo Bonito is divided into two parts by a flat wall that runs from north to south through the central square. On each side is a "big nod", which creates a symmetrical layout similar to the other similar ruins in Chaco Canyon. In addition to the Big Kiwas, more than thirty small nods or ceremonial structures have been discovered. The interior living quarters were quite spacious compared to other anasazi culture dwellings.
Pueblo Bonito occupies an area of about 8,000 square meters and consists of about 650 rooms (according to some estimates, their number reaches 800). In some parts of the settlement, the buildings consist of 4-5 floors. Later on, some of the rooms on the lower floors were filled with construction rubbish to hold the weight of the upper floors. Some walls reached a thickness of 1 m, which was necessary to ensure the strength of the massive structure.
Archaeologists' estimates of the population vary. At the beginning of the 20th century, the buildings were considered to be small towns, and it was believed that each room was inhabited by people. From that point of view, Pueblo Bonito could have been inhabited by several thousand inhabitants during its heyday. A later analysis reduced the possible number of inhabitants to less than 800, mainly due to the small number of usable stoves (hearths) found in the ruins. According to another analysis based on architecture, the estimated number of inhabitants was even smaller, and at the height of its peak were only 12 families or about 70 people, who inhabited the lowest, basement level, near the central square. From these rooms, passageways led to the farther back rooms of the buildings. The family could inhabit 3-4 rooms, while others were used for storage purposes. A similar structure of dwellings is also characteristic of modern pueblo, for example, in Taos-Pueblo. Room blocks usually had no other entrances than from the central courtyard.
Perhaps Pueblo Bonito was neither a town nor a village. Although its size could accommodate many people, the environment could not feed so many people. Pueblo Bonito's excavations did not reveal any significant debris that could be indicative of the population. There was a consensus that Pueblo Bonito could be a ritual center. This is evidenced not only by the presence of nods but also by the design of the settlement and its comparison with other Chaco Canyon villages.
According to the excavations, the anasazi culture had a good understanding of solar and lunar cycles, which are reflected both in the petroglyphs on the adjacent rocks and in the architecture itself.
The study of the heap of rubbish showed that during the period when Pueblo Bonito was built, trees, particularly American pine trees, were abundant in the Chaco Canyon and surrounding areas. The presence of these trees can be judged by the fact that they were used to supporting the buildings.
Scientists believe that during the existence of Pueblo Bonito, the surrounding area has been almost completely cleared of trees that were used for wood for buildings and heating. This, along with the later drought, led to a dramatic reduction in the amount of water in the valley, resulting in poor soil fertility. This explains why Pueblo Bonito was inhabited for only 300 years and is a good example of how deforestation could have affected the environment. Anasazi, who could no longer grow crops to feed themselves, had to migrate.