Over the last 7 years, the Chaco Digital Initiative team tackled this monumental task in phases. First, we designed an inventory database to track where relevant information sources were located (institutions, collections, boxes, folders, etc.). Next we visited each institution and combed through all the major collections identifying, entering, and acquiring those information sources. Once those m
aterials were digitized, we indexed them for data processing to track which accessions pertained to which rooms at which sites. With the information sources in hand, we needed to design an analytical database that would allow us to enter and extract relevant pieces of data (features, burials, levels, tree-ring dates, etc.). After another year of additional design work, the CDI/IATH team had a database flexible enough to capture information from the diverse excavations that generated those data. With the database created, so began the arduous task of processing the data room by room. To date, the Chaco Research Archive team has processed over 15,000 images, created an architectural stabilization database of another 10,000 images, entered over 40,000 specimens, and processed nearly 500 rooms from three different sites. We hope by making these legacy data available to a wider body of scholars that this resource will facilitate our ability to answer new questions as research evolves and promote understanding of the full complexity of Chacoan society.
