Comments for Gambler's House

Comment on Room 33 by Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 20 May 2013 02:31:02 +0000

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2993351/
IMO what would be yet more interesting is Y-chromosome typing of the two prestige burials.
Best Of Fortune,
Carl

Comment on Room 33 by teofilo

teofilo — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:30:54 +0000

As far as I know there has been no DNA testing on any of the remains from Room 33. At least one burial from a different room in the same part of Pueblo Bonito has been tested and determined to belong to a mitochondrial haplogroup that is common in the Southwest.

Comment on Why Don’t Navajos Eat Fish? by teofilo

teofilo — Sun, 19 May 2013 21:28:01 +0000

That's a common interpretation, but it's wrong. I discuss it a bit in this post, although actually my etymology there is not quite right either. At that time I wasn't totally sure what ta' meant in this context (though I knew it didn't mean "three"), so I said it was some sort of verbal form, but I've since learned that it simply means "between." Tóta' therefore means "between the waters," i.e., the Animas and the San Juan.

Comment on Why Don’t Navajos Eat Fish? by dodger

dodger — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:07:17 +0000

The word “Totah” in Navajo means “three rivers’ not ‘in between waters’ such stated in the article. The first wording means water, or river in this case, and the second means the number three.

Comment on Room 33 by Arron

Arron — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:47:37 +0000

Has any DNA testing been done on the each of the 14 bodies. Particularly 13 &14?

Comment on About Those Toltecs by teofilo

teofilo — Thu, 09 May 2013 00:44:53 +0000

Thanks, Steve. That book has been on my list of things to read for a while now, and I should probably just go ahead and read it soon to get a better basic understanding of this period.

Comment on About Those Toltecs by stevelekson

stevelekson — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:17:09 +0000

Excellent book on this topic: “The Postclassic Mesoamerican World” edited by Michael Smith and Frances Berdan (University of Utah Press, 2003). It covers of all of Mesoamerica from 850 on. Ten years old, but written by scholars who are interested in trade, interaction, world-systems etc., so it provides great context for thinking about Chaco’s world.

Comment on Why Don’t Navajos Eat Fish? by Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:42:33 +0000

auesome

Comment on About Those Toltecs by teofilo

teofilo — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 20:48:09 +0000

Thanks! The colonnade really is fascinating. When I used to do tours of Chetro Ketl I would make it the big finale.

Comment on About Those Toltecs by Marc Severson

Marc Severson — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:33:21 +0000

There is so much we do not know that it overshadows what we do. Recognizing the differences between causation, correlation and coincidence has fueled some archaeological careers for decades. In my limited experience I find the colonnade of Chettro Ketl to be significant and indicative of at least some diffusion of architectural ideas. Of course, it only lasted for a period of time and was later remodeled to become enclosed rooms like the rest of the great house so maybe the idea lasted only as long as the memory of the one who first saw it. When that vision dissolved there was nothing to maintain the idea any longer which suggests that unlike our modern architectural theory, the colonnade’s creator was more concerned with form than function. Great post.