The reading passage and the lecture are both about what Chaco houses were used for in

the past. The passage suggests three possible theories, and the lecturer casts doubt on every

three of them by giving some logical reasons.

First, the article suggests that Chaco houses were used for people to live in. The lecturer

casts doubt on this by giving this reason because those houses were substantial; they needed

much more fireplaces than they had to be suitable for people to live in.

Second, the article says that the Chaco houses may have been used for storing the main

crops of that time, grain maize. The size of those great houses made them suitable for this

purpose. On the contrary, the lecturer contradicts this thought. The lecturer hints that maize and

its containers have not been found in those houses. So this theory also goes under question.

Finally, the passage says the third theory; People used the great houses to have

ceremonies there. It says it’s because of the pots found near one of such houses. The lecturer

casts doubts on this theory too. It says there were materials other than broken pots that

definitely had nothing to do with ceremonies, such as construction materials. Moreover,

regardless of those other materials, broken pots found don’t necessarily relate to ceremonies.

They may be leftovers from the meals of construction workers.