15 + 38 points
The Highest Place by Augustus deCorbeau
November 9th, 2008 10:55 PM / Location: 36.036272,-107.9580
Tsin Kletzin, or "charcoal place" is a Great House located at the highest point in Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Perched on top of the South Mesa, it sits 450 feet above the canyon floor at its base, for a total elevation of 6600 feet above sea level.
The path up the south face of the canyon is long and steep, at times going straight up narrow cracks in the rock!
But the view from the top of the south canyon wall is worth it! You can see all of the Great House ruins spread out below, and even the buildings of Pueblo Alto on the far horizon!
Tsin Kletzin has never been excavated, but it has been mapped and surveyed. Here is the main datum point from a survey apparantly conducted in 1988. This was the central "zero" point from which all measurements were based.
And since panoramas are so much fun, here's a 360-degree view from right over the site datum!
Click the picture above, or go to http://www.swfupload.com/files/64251TheHighestPlace.swf to play with the panorama! (You will need Adobe's free Shockwave Flash player, which is available at http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/)
Going even higher than the highest point in Chaco Canyon!
Note: There was a good solid fill of earth behind this wall, which is where I jumped up in the air for this picture. You should never stand or climb on the actual walls themselves, as they are very fragile!
On the way back down, I passed through an area that looked like it had been where stone tools were made. Lots of worn cobbles that would have been used for pounding, and little bits of sharp volcanic glass debitage.
I even found a nearly complete projectile point right beside the trail. It's made from petrified wood, and it looks like it was damaged during construction and discarded without ever being finished.
After posing with it for this photo, I put it back exactly where I found it so that its provenience wasn't destroyed. It was encouraging to know that the people who had come before me on this trail in the past had shared a similar respect for the place and done the same.
The path up the south face of the canyon is long and steep, at times going straight up narrow cracks in the rock!
But the view from the top of the south canyon wall is worth it! You can see all of the Great House ruins spread out below, and even the buildings of Pueblo Alto on the far horizon!
Tsin Kletzin has never been excavated, but it has been mapped and surveyed. Here is the main datum point from a survey apparantly conducted in 1988. This was the central "zero" point from which all measurements were based.
And since panoramas are so much fun, here's a 360-degree view from right over the site datum!
Click the picture above, or go to http://www.swfupload.com/files/64251TheHighestPlace.swf to play with the panorama! (You will need Adobe's free Shockwave Flash player, which is available at http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/)
Going even higher than the highest point in Chaco Canyon!
Note: There was a good solid fill of earth behind this wall, which is where I jumped up in the air for this picture. You should never stand or climb on the actual walls themselves, as they are very fragile!On the way back down, I passed through an area that looked like it had been where stone tools were made. Lots of worn cobbles that would have been used for pounding, and little bits of sharp volcanic glass debitage.
I even found a nearly complete projectile point right beside the trail. It's made from petrified wood, and it looks like it was damaged during construction and discarded without ever being finished.
After posing with it for this photo, I put it back exactly where I found it so that its provenience wasn't destroyed. It was encouraging to know that the people who had come before me on this trail in the past had shared a similar respect for the place and done the same.
10 vote(s)
3
Adam
4Amoeba Man
5[smedly]
1Optical Dave
4Myrna Minx
3rongo rongo
5Secret Agent
5Waldo Cheerio
4Hope Murphy
4Ben Yamiin
Terms
chac0, panorama, artifact, jump3 comment(s)
posted by rongo rongo on November 11th, 2008 8:38 AM
Vote for being higher than the highest place, in an archaeologically responsible manner.
posted by Waldo Cheerio on November 29th, 2008 2:09 AM
You two are amazing.
This task is part of the Chac0 Project.
