Tsin Kletsin

      On South Mesa at the opposite side of Chaco Canyon are the unexcavated remains of the Tsin Kletsin great house. It is located 8 km from the canyon floor, and was built in a relatively short period of time, from AD 1110-1115 (Bradford 1981; Mayer 1971; Lekson 1986:231-238). There is estimated to be a total of 55 ground floor rooms, with a total of 89 rooms including a second story (Van Dyke 2008:195). Visibility must have been an important factor in construction of this great house, since the line-of-sight connections are numerous. From Tsin Kletsin, one can see the Bonito-phase sites of Pueblo Alto, New Alto, Kin Klizhin, Bis sa ani, a site belonging to the Kin Bineola community (29SJ1578), as well as the South and West Mesas, where Hayes and Windes (1975) identified the line-of-sight network within the canyon (Van Dyke 2008:199). Visible landmarks include Huerfano Mountain, the La Plata and Chuska Mountains.

      Tsin Kletsin shares the line-of-sight connection of Pueblo Alto and New Alto with Site 1572, located on the South Mesa across the canyon. It also shares a line-of-sight connection with Kin Klizhin, one of the two tower kivas in the region. Therefore, Tsin Kletsin is a waypoint between these great houses. In addition, these connections involve Tsin Kletsin in the Hayes and Windes shrine network, thus expanding this network outside the canyon.