TPO 05 As early as the twelfth century A D the settlements of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico in the American Southwest were notable for their quot great houses quot massive stone buildings that contain hundreds of rooms and often stand three or four stor

Both the reading and the listening passage talk about how the Chaco Canyon; a great house was used. While the article states three theories that explain how the buildings were used, the professor disputes the claims made in the article. His position is that they are not convincing.

First of all, the author of the reading passage claims that the Chaco great house was used for residential only because there are identical buildings in Taos, New Mexico, where lots of people still live there. However, the professor argues that the outside of the great house is similar to the native American style, but the inside of it is completely different. In addition, he points out that there are only ten fire families but more than hundreds of rooms indicating the building was not used for residential purposes.

Second, according to an article, then there are a lot of spaces used to store the food supply like maize and grains. In contrast, the professor asserts that the excavation discovered no big container suitable to use food storage. Moreover, no traces of food like maize is spilled on the floor.

Third, the author contends that the buildings were used for the ceremonial center because lots of broken pots were found on the mound that might be left by people living in that buildings. Nevertheless, the professor's stance is that only construction materials like stones and sand. Furthermore, the broken pots and plates might be the kinds of stuff left by a construction worker after taking a meal.