Oxidizing Atmosphere—Pottery is said to have been fired in anoxidizing atmospherewhen air is permitted to circulate around it during the firing process. This leads to an excess of oxygen in the atmosphere and produces pottery in shades of red, brown, or yellow.
Paddle-and-Anvil—A pottery-finishing technique in which coil impressions are obliterated by striking the exterior of the vessel with a paddle while holding a round or mushroom-shaped object, known as an anvil, within the vessel to receive the force of the blow.
Periphery—In archaeological usage, a marginal area, a region lying immediately beyond the boundaries of a specific area.
Pilaster—A square column forming part of a wall.
Phase—This term is used in different ways by different archaeologists. For the purposes of this book, it may be defined as an interval ofcultureoccurring in a specific area at a specific time and associated with a particular culture. It may also be defined as a group of sites with similar determinants.
Polychrome Pottery—Pottery bearing three or more colors.
Plaza—A public square.
Projectile Point—An arrow point, spear point, or dart point.
Reducing Atmosphere—Pottery is said to have been fired in areducing atmospherewhen air is not allowed to circulate around it during the firing process. This results in a reduction of the oxygen content of the atmosphere and produces pottery in shades of white and gray.
Sherd—A fragment of a broken, pottery vessel.
Sipapu—A hole commonly found in the floors of kivas which is symbolic of the mythological place from which, according to creation myths, the first people emerged from the underworld.
Slip—A coating of very fine clay applied to a vessel before firing to give a smooth finish.
Spall—A chip or flake removed from a larger piece of stone.
Stockade—An enclosure made with posts and stakes.
Stratification—The characteristic of being in layers or strata and the processes by which such material is deposited. A single layer is called aStratum, more than one,Strata. When undisturbed the lowest stratum is the oldest since it was laid down first.
Trait—Any single element ofculture.
Temper—Non-plastic material added to clay from which pottery is made to prevent cracking.
Twilling—A system of weaving in which the woof thread is carried over one and under two or more warp threads, producing diagonal lines or ribs on the surface of the fabric or basket.
Twining—A system of weaving in which splints or threads are intertwined around a foundation of radiating rods or threads.
Tuff—Solidified volcanic ash.
Typology—The study of any system of arrangement according to type.
byERIK K. REEDRegional ArchaeologistNational Park Service
After reading about the prehistoric inhabitants of the Southwest many people feel that they would like to visit the places where they lived, examine examples of their ancient arts and crafts, and see their present-day descendants. No description can produce the feeling that one experiences when viewing the imposing ruins found in our National Monuments and Parks. Even a short time spent looking at pottery and other artifacts in a museum will give a far better idea of their appearance than will photographs, drawings, or the most detailed descriptions. A visit to a modern pueblo makes it possible to visualize something of the life of bygone centuries and to think of the ancient inhabitants of the area as living, breathing people rather than as lifeless specimens. The following lists have been prepared in an effort to help those who wish to visit the Southwest and to learn about its people through their own experience.
Great cliff-dwellings and open pueblos of the Classic period. Pit-house, mesa-top villages and cave remains of earlier periods, Modified Basketmaker and Developmental Pueblo. One of the major foci of the Anasazicultureof 300-1300 A. D., and the most accessible and best-exhibited, interpreted by caravan-tours and an outstanding museum. Paved entrance-road from Highway U. S.-160 between Mancos and Cortez, Colorado. Lodge with adequate accommodations open May-October.
The greatest concentration of open pueblo ruins in a valley floor, another of the major foci of prehistoric Anasazi civilization. The famoushuge buildings, Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo del Arroyo, etc.; a restored GreatKiva, an excavated Modified-Basketmaker village; and innumerable small pueblo sites. Undeveloped museum. Very restricted accommodations. In the middle of northwestern New Mexico, 64 miles north of Thoreau (which is on Highway U. S.-66) and 64 miles south of Aztec, New Mexico (on U. S.-550); 25 miles from nearest paved road (State 55, Cuba to Bloomfield).
An excavated great pueblo of the Classic period, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, built between 1100 and 1125 A. D., with a completely restored GreatKiva; additional unexcavated pueblo ruins. Lying between Chaco Canyon and the Mesa Verde, these pueblos on the Animas River partake of both phases of Anasaziculture. A small museum adjoining the main ruin. Located close to Highway U. S.-550 and the town of Aztec, New Mexico.
Striking cliff-dwellings and very early remains. In a spectacular setting of great red-rock canyons occupied by picturesque Navajo Indians. Tree-ring dates from one of the major sites, Mummy Cave, range from 348 A. D.—the earliest date in the San Juan drainage—to 1284 A. D., the next-to-last. No museum. The monument and canyon area extends east of Chinle, Arizona, in the Navajo Indian Reservation. Chinle is 100 miles from Gallup, New Mexico, or seventy-five miles (unpaved) from Chambers, Arizona (which is west of Gallup on Highway U. S.-66). Not accessible in bad weather. An excellent lodge (Thunderbird Ranch, Chinle, Arizona), but rather restricted facilities.
Betatakin and Keetseel, great cliff-pueblos of the thirteenth century, picturesquely situated in huge caves in the red sandstone walls of the Tsegi Canyons, west of Kayenta, Arizona, in the Navajo Indian Reservation. No museum. No tourist accommodations. (As in all the other national monuments listed, however, a custodian on duty the year around, resident at headquarters above Betatakin.) Another 100 miles, of rather bad road, from Chinle to Betatakin; or 135 miles from Flagstaff—sixty miles north on paved Highway U. S.-89, about the same distance on fairly good unsurfaced reservation road, and the last dozen miles a quite rough trail. Not accessible in winter or in rainy weather.
A large pueblo of the period 1000-1400, largely excavated and partially restored by the Arizona State Museum, in the Apache Indian Reservation near Fort Apache, Arizona, twenty miles east of Highway U. S.-60. No accommodations.
Unusual cliff-ruins and open sites in beautiful Frijoles Canyon, in the Pajarito Plateau, west of Santa Fe and south of Los Alamos, New Mexico, seventeen miles from paved highway. Museum. Small lodge open May-October.
Large partially-restored pueblo and small cliff-ruins, in the Pajarito Plateau, north of Los Alamos, on the Santa Clara Indian Reservation, fifteen miles from Espanola, New Mexico.
Two extensive adobe pueblos, Kuaua and Puaray, the former partially restored. Museum. Across the Rio Grande from Bernalillo, New Mexico, just off paved Highway State 44.
Ruins of the great pueblo, finally abandoned in 1838, and of the partially-restored Spanish mission of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Close to Highway U. S.-85, about twenty-five miles southeast of Santa Fe, near modern town of Pecos, New Mexico.
Ruins of the pueblo and mission of Humanas, abandoned about 1675. No museum; no accommodations. By a poor road twenty-five miles south of Mountainair, New Mexico, which is on Highway U. S.-60.
Sister missions to Humanas, with extensive unexcavated pueblo ruins. No museums. Close to U. S.-60 and Mountainair, New Mexico.
Two fourteenth century cliff-dwellings high in a small canyon overlooking Roosevelt Lake and the Tonto Basin. These well-preserved ruins have yielded fine and unusual archaeological material: the striking Saladopolychrome pottery, a variety of expertly-made cotton textiles, even a lot of lima beans. Very small museum exhibit. No accommodations at the monument. Located near Roosevelt, Arizona, and the Apache Trail (State Highway 88).
A unique great adobe structure, sole survivor of the large pueblo-like towers and compounds built by the Salado in the Gila Basin in the fourteenth century. The site includes several adobe compounds as well as the Casa Grande itself, and also earlierHohokamremains—unexcavated ball-courts and pit-houses. Small museum. On State Highway 87 close to Coolidge, Arizona.
Acomplexmound, partially excavated, of the late period in the Phoenix area. On E. Washington Avenue, Phoenix.
Large and small pueblos of 1100-1300 and earlier pit-houses; several Anasazi sites as well as Sinagua—the frontier between these two cultures was not the Little Colorado, but lay some distance west into the Wupatki area, and varied from time to time. Still other cultural influences are observed. One unique feature is a masonry-walled ball-court beside Wupatki Pueblo and near the monument headquarters, fifteen miles east of U. S.-89 and forty-five miles from Flagstaff, Arizona. No museum. No accommodations at the monument.
Very small cliff-dwellings in sandstone ledges of a narrow chasm twelve miles east of Flagstaff, not far from Highway 66. No exhibits installed in Museum. No accommodations at the monument.
An excavated and partially restored hilltop pueblo, which reached its maximum in the fourteenth century. Comparatively large museumhousing extensive collection close to Clarkdale, Arizona, and readily accessible from U. S.-89.
A five-story cliff-dwelling of the same period as Tuzigoot pueblo, near Camp Verde, Arizona, and readily accessible from Highway U. S.-89. Small museum. No accommodations at the monument. Also included in this monument is Montezuma Well, nine miles northeast, with small cliff-dwellings in a limestone sinkhole containing a “bottomless” lake. Highly unusual archaeological features at Montezuma Well are cist-graves undercut in soft limestone, and travertine-encrusted prehistoric irrigation ditches.
ORAIBI on the third or northwesternmost Hopi mesa, materially unchanged for over 600 years, and in a general sense, the other older HOPI INDIAN pueblos—WALPI on First Mesa, SHONGOPOVI and MISHONGNOVI on the middle mesa—which have shifted their locations during the historic period from valley floors to mesa tops. The villages of Hano (Tewa) and Sichomovi on First Mesa, and probably also Shipaulovi on Second Mesa, are eighteenth century foundations. Hotevilla, Bakavi and New Orabi (Kikhochomovi) date from the break-up of Oraibi only about fifty years ago. Toreva and Polacca are purely modern towns. Good dirt roads to the Hopi country from Gallup, Winslow, and Flagstaff. No tourist accommodations.
ZUNI PUEBLO, the one surviving, or reestablished, town of the six early-historic “cities of Cibola.” Fair road, forty miles south from Gallup, New Mexico. Very limited tourist accommodations.
ACOMA on its great mesa, one of the most picturesque of all, little changed since the seventeenth century when the large mission church was built. Fair road, thirteen miles south of U. S.-66, about sixty miles west of Albuquerque.
ISLETA, on Highway U. S.-85 about ten miles south of Albuquerque.
The five Keres pueblos southwest of Santa Fe—SANTO DOMINGO, SAN FELIPE, and COCHITI along the Rio Grande north of Bernalillo, west of U. S.-85; ZIA and SANTA ANA on the Jemez River, northwest of Bernalillo and across the stream from State-44.