A thousand years ago, America's Anasazi Indians built massive buildings in the desert of New Mexico. To roof and floor them, the builders needed more than 200 000 trees, but the source of the wood is a mystery. An archaeologist is now trying to track down the forests plundered by the Anasazi, by analysing trace chemicals in the ancient timbers.
The 'Great Houses' of Chaco Canyon have perplexed archaeologists for a century. The largest, Pueblo Bonito, had more than 600 rooms, enough to house many more people than a preColumbian desert society could support. Archaeologists have speculated that the Great Houses were some kind of cultural centres - perhaps used to store corn or for religious ceremonies.
The Great Houses were built of sandstone and roofed with wood, mostly from ponderosa pines and Douglas firs, which do not grow in the canyon today. Also, a significant portion of the wood ...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.