chaco canyon in new mexico It is home to some of the most impressive pre-Columbian architecture in the Western Hemisphere. that broad road, A circular ceremonial place called kivasand A sprawling complex called the Great House Given the tools anthropologists think were used to create them, they remain an engineering spectacle for modern society. It’s also home to a giant mystery. Large timbers used as supporting beams throughout the complex.
The ancestral Pueblo people who called Chaco Canyon home 1,000 years ago used more than 200,000 trees to build their buildings. However, the climate around Chaco Canyon was dry and dry, and there were not many high-quality, practical trees. In fact, in 2001, Tree-ring expert at the University of Arizona Using chemical analysis, we identified that the wood was sourced from mountain ranges up to 46 miles away. But the discovery left them with even more questions.
Since then, experts have explored different hauling methods to explain how the inhabitants of Chaco Canyon carried the timber without the aid of beasts of burden like horses and wheels.Now, a new study published on February 22nd archaeological journal Give a reasonable explanation. The Puebloans used a simple cloth looped around their heads.
What is Tampline straps attached at both ends For equipment bags like baskets and backpacks. However, the ancient log bearer would have placed it on his head, just behind his hairline, rather than carrying it over his shoulder. The carrier then leaned forward to distribute the weight of the cargo over the neck and spine. Anthropologists know that pre-Columbian cultures in America used tumplines woven from plant fibers to transport heavy loads, but until recently, Chaco tested this method on his canyon timber. I never did.
So to three physiologists at the University of Colorado Boulder, I decided to test it locally myselfFor 70 days they were trained to properly wear and use tumplines to move increasingly heavy material. By the end of the regimen, they were able to carry 66 pounds in an hour without any pain. The timber in Chaco Canyon was too large to be carried vertically, so two authors attached tumplines to each end of his 132-pound ponderosa his pine log, parallel to the ground, which he carried 15.5 miles. It took him over 9 hours and 44 minutes (with multiple breaks of course).
The authors reported only a 10% reduction in average walking speed when carrying logs, and overall the method was surprisingly easy to learn. Although there is no clear evidence that tumplines were used to transport the huge logs used in construction by the Chacos, the feasibility of their approach required less work than any other proposed tactic. increase.
What next for researchers? Using only the tumpline and its head, it moves material along the entire distance from its wood source in the mountains of New Mexico to Chacohis Canyon.
