A New Box for Chaco

Compares the Inka Empire with the famous, but enigmatic, “Chaco Phenomenon” in the San Juan Basin of the Four Corners region of the American southwest. Separated by thousands of miles and hundreds of years, there is no suggestion of “diffusion” between the two cultures.

The similarities of their respective architectural and cultural footprints are nevertheless striking, despite massive desparities of scale, and suggest that the Inka example may provide useful clues as to the elusive workings of the Chacoan system.