Legendary 'Tree of Life' in New Mexico's Ancient Past Might Not Be What We Thought

[Judi Lynn]

Legendary 'Tree of Life' in New Mexico's Ancient Past Might Not Be What We Thought
PETER DOCKRILL 18 MARCH 2020

For hundreds of years, it lay undisturbed. Then, almost a century ago, archaeologists discovered it: a single pine tree, buried amidst the grandest of all the great houses of Chaco culture.

Pueblo Bonito (Beautiful Town), in New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, has long been considered the cultural hub of the Ancestral Puebloans who dwelled here for centuries, founding the site over 1,000 years ago, before abandoning it about 1126 CE.

When they departed, the villagers left behind a wondrous legacy of massive structures that once stood up to five storeys high, filled with hundreds of rooms, and cultural artefacts, including pottery, musical instruments, and tools for use in ancient rituals.

They also left something else behind: the lone log of a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), measuring 6 metres (20 ft) long, which archaeologists couldn't make sense of when they stumbled upon it during a dig in 1924.



A modern reconstruction of what Pueblo Bonito might have looked like. (National Park Service)

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/legendary-tree-of-life-in-new-mexico-s-ancient-past-might-not-be-what-we-thought