A Tale of Two Pilgrimage Centers: Chaco and Nasca
John Kantner, Associate Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, University of North Florida
An AIA–New York Society / Brush National Lecture
Refreshments at 6:00 PM / Lecture at 6:30 PM
Goldman Library, The Dalton School, 108 E. 89th Street
(Photo ID is required for entry)
One thousand years ago, a monumental religious center emerged in Chaco Canyon that soon grew to dominate the cultural landscape of the northern American Southwest. A millennium earlier, in the Nasca region on the south coast of Peru, another stunning ceremonial center developed with remarkable similarities to Chaco. In both cases, most scholars believe that pilgrims traveled from many miles around to experience the majesty of these extraordinary desert centers, and many of the ceremonial activities they engaged in were quite similar despite their development in quite different times and places. In this multimedia presentation, archaeologist John Kantner compares the evolution of Chaco and Nasca as a way to understand how and why influential ceremonial centers emerged in the ancient human past.
