Aztec Ruins National Monument Topics of Nov. 19 Talk at Cal Poly

Gary M. Brown of the National Park Service will give a presentation on the Aztec Ruins National Monument from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, in the Pavilion of the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly.

In his talk, titled “The Ancient Great Houses of the Aztec Ruins National Monument: The Impact of Chaco Canyon on the Late Prehistory of Northwestern New Mexico,” Brown will describe the architectural history of the Aztec Ruins National Monument and discuss the role that Chacoan influence and other colonization played in the dynamic cultural history of the Four Corners region. The Four Corners region includes the southwestern corner of Colorado, northwestern corner of New Mexico, northeastern corner of Arizona, and southeastern corner of Utah.

The great houses at the monument were built in the northern hinterland of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, by Chacoan migrants who colonized the area in the second half of the 11th century.

Brown will also talk about how Chacoan colonists used religion and large communal rituals to spread their influence across the region. While farming the fertile river valleys and building humble domestic pueblos, the original inhabitants of the area worked with the Chacoans to build several monumental great houses at Aztec community centers from the late 1000s well into the 1100s.

The public is invited to the free event, sponsored by Cal Poly’s Social Sciences Department and the College of Liberal Arts.