At a Glance
In honor of Native American Heritage Month, join archeologist and Chacoan society expert, Rob Weiner, on a journey a thousand years back in time to New Mexico’s once-thriving Chaco Canyon civilization. The people of Chaco constructed monumental stone buildings to align with the cycles of the cosmos, exquisitely crafted turquoise jewelry, and traded macaw birds and cacao with Mesoamerican cultures far to the south. Despite over a century of research, archaeologists still struggle in their quest to answer basic questions about the region and the canyon’s former inhabitants. In this lecture, Rob will introduce you to Chacoan society and discuss recent findings that reveal an untold story of power, religion and politics in pre-contact North America. Drawing from his own recent fieldwork, the oral traditions of descendant tribes and insights from new scientific techniques such as LiDAR and ancient DNA, Rob will offers the latest insights into this fascinating chapter of Native American history.