Blanding in San Juan County, Utah — The American Mountains (Southwest)

Explore the Edge Of the Cedars Chacoan Great House Site

Photographed by James Hulse, March 28, 2025

1. Explore the Edge Of the Cedars Chacoan Great House Site Marker

Inscription. The Edge of the Cedars Pueblo actually consists of two villages, one dating to the late 800s and early 900s, the other to the late 1000s and mid-1100s.

The late village includes a "Chacoan" great house and great kiva. The powerful society that emerged in Chaco Canyon, about 140 miles to the southeast, influenced locals to construct large multistory buildings (great houses) and huge, subterranean round rooms (great kivas) in their own communities. People across the Mesa Verde region built dozens of great house sites in the late 1000s.

Below The Dips and Hills
The mounds of rubble and earth before you are the tumbled-down remains of several pueblos. The depressions on the ground surface indicate kivas now filled with earth.

Signs along the path describe what archaeological studies have uncovered about Ancestral Pueblo culture.

Captions
(Photo #1) How many mounds of old pueblos and depressions of buried kivas can you see around the site?
(Photo #2) West Kiva
(Photo #3) Great House
(Photo #4) Sun Marker
(Photo #5) Museum

Erected by Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology

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• Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Parks & Recreational Areas • Settlements & Settlers.

Location. 37° 37.882′ N, 109° 29.412′ W. Marker is in Blanding, Utah, in San Juan County. It is at the intersection of West 400 North and 600 W on West 400 North. The marker is located on the grounds of the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 650 W 400 N, Blanding UT 84511, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Canyon Country.

It is also in the American Mountain West,

in Colorado Plateau,

and at the Four Corners.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: A Great House and a Great Kiva (within shouting distance of this marker); Leaving the Pieces In Place (within shouting distance of this marker); Living in the Earth: A Look Inside a Kiva (within shouting distance of this marker); Drought, Frost, and Migration in the 1200s (within shouting distance of this marker); Exposure and Safe Keeping (within shouting distance of this marker); Trade with Far Off Places (within shouting distance of this marker); Can a Sliver of Light Have Meaning? (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); C.C.C. (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Blanding.

Photographed by James Hulse, March 28, 2025

2. Explore the Edge Of the Cedars Chacoan Great House Site Marker

The Great House and Great Kiva image. Click for full size.

Photographed by James Hulse, March 28, 2025

3. The Great House and Great Kiva

Credits. This page was last revised on April 18, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 16, 2025, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 90 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 18, 2025, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.