Archeaologists have uncovered a mysterious ancient society in New Mexico that was ruled by a matriarchal lineage dynasty for more than 300 years. Researchers were able to uncover artifacts and fossilized evidence, including DNA from an ancient Chacoan society.

This society led by powerful women was found in the Chaco Canyon in the northwestern region of New Mexico and is known as Pueblo Bonito. Pueblo Bonito is considered to be one of the largest and one of the most studied ancient lineages in Chaco Canyon. However, it is still a mystery to archaeologists how these great houses function in society.

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Other researchers suggest that Pueblo Bonito was an egalitarian society with no leader. Some scientists also argue that the this great house was a crucial part of a state level civilization that works through hierarchy.

New evidence that was uncovered on the site were human remains and artifacts inside a burial crypt which is also the only burial chamber detected within a pueblo village or great house that consists of 650 rooms. According to anthropologist Adam Watson from the American Museum of Natural History, it has been established in past studies that there are venerated individuals since they received some very exceptional treatment even in the afterlife.

Despite this, most local Chacoans are buried outside the settlement and were never gifted with high amounts of exotic goods. This ancient crypt was first uncovered in the 1890s however, analysis of fossilized human evidence have been incomplete.

Within the chamber, there are 14 burials where the latest DNA analysis revealed that these individuals all possess the exact genome sequence inherited from their mother. The first burial is a man in his early 40s that was killed via a blunt force trauma on his skull. He was also buried with 11,000 turquoise beads, 3,300 shell beads and abalone shells including a conch shell trumpet.

This particular burial was also the most extravagant one uncovered by any archaeologist in the southwest region of the United States. Now, researchers suggest that this man's successors were members from a ruling maternal lineage.

According to Douglas J. Kennett from the Pennsylvania State University, these DNA sequences from the nuclear genome along with radiocarbon dating data identified a mother and daughter pair and a grandmother and grandson relationship.

According to Steve Plog from the University of Virginia, this discovery marks the first time that one kinship family ruled Pueblo Bonito for more than 300 years and this is the best evidence yet of a social hierarchy in the ancient southwest. This new study is published in the journal Nature Communications.