Scientists Find Genetic Evidence of Matrilineal Dynasty at Chaco Canyon

[Judi Lynn]

Kate Horowitz




IMAGE CREDIT:
DOUGLAS KENNETT, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY


Archaeologists in New Mexico say the remains of nine high-status individuals suggest a prehistoric society dependent on matrilineal relationships. They published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

New Mexico’s famed Chaco Canyon was once home to a complex, thriving society. From the 9th to the mid-12th centuries, thousands of people lived and worked in immense, ingeniously designed earthen buildings called great houses.

Sections of some of these great houses still stand in the canyon today. The largest is Pueblo Bonito, which contains some 650 rooms used for a wide variety of purposes. Room 33 was a burial chamber. Based on the beautiful objects found in the room with the bodies, it seems to have served as the final resting place for some very important people.

“It has been clear for some time that these were venerated individuals, based on the exceptional treatment they received in the afterlife. Most Chacoans were buried outside of the settlement and never with such high quantities of exotic goods,” co-author Adam Watson of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) said in a statement.

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http://mentalfloss.com/article/92462/scientists-find-genetic-evidence-matrilineal-dynasty-chaco-canyon