Function of Chaco-Era Great Houses

Chacoan great houses have been a focus of research in the Southwest for well over a century. While models to explain these structures have ranged from great houses as residences to great houses as administrative centers, it is argued here that the evidence points to a ritual role for these structures. This evidence includes an analysis of avifauna from Chacoan sites. The analysis indicates that Chacoan great houses have a larger, more diverse assemblage of ritual avifauna than is found at nearby small house sites. It follows that more ceremonies using bird feathers took places at these structures. Further, there is considerable diversity in architecture and associated material culture among the great houses, both within Chaco Canyon and at the myriad outlying great houses across and beyond the San Juan Basin. In the absence of a centralized Chaco system, peer polity interaction is proposed as the mechanism whereby Chacoan ritual beliefs and practices spread throughout the region.