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Title: Archeology of the lower Mimbres valley, New Mexico
Author: Fewkes, Jesse Walter
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Archeology of the lower Mimbres valley, New Mexico" ***
MIMBRES VALLEY, NEW MEXICO ***
SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS
VOLUME 63, NUMBER 10
ARCHEOLOGY OF THE LOWER MIMBRES
VALLEY, NEW MEXICO
(WITH EIGHT PLATES)
BY
J. WALTER FEWKES
[Illustration]
(PUBLICATION 2316)
CITY OF WASHINGTON
PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
1914
The Lord Baltimore Press
BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A.
ARCHEOLOGY OF THE LOWER MIMBRES VALLEY, NEW MEXICO
BY J. WALTER FEWKES
(WITH EIGHT PLATES)
INTRODUCTION
Evidences of the existence of a prehistoric population in the Lower
Mimbres Valley, New Mexico, have been accumulating for many years,
but there is little definite knowledge of its culture and kinship.
It is taken for granted, by some writers, that the ancient people of
this valley lived in habitations resembling the well-known terraced
dwellings called pueblos, many of which are still inhabited along the
Rio Grande; but this theory presupposes that there was a close likeness
in the prehistoric architectural remains of northern and southern New
Mexico. It may be said that while there were many likenesses in their
culture, the prehistoric inhabitants of these two regions possessed
striking differences, notably in their architecture, their mortuary
customs, and the symbolic ornamentation of their pottery.
As the former inhabitants of the Mimbres Valley have left no known
descendants of pure blood, and as there is a scarcity of historical
records, we must rely on a study of archeological remains to extend our
knowledge of the subject. Much data of this kind has already been lost,
for while from time to time numerous instructive relics of this ancient
culture have been found, most of these objects have been treated as
“curios” and given away to be carried out of the country, and thus lost
to science. Some of these relics belong to a type that it is difficult
to duplicate. For instance, it is particularly to be regretted that the
numerous votive offerings to water gods, including fossil bones, found
when the “sacred spring” at Faywood near the Mimbres was cleaned out,
have not been studied and described by some competent archeologist.
The arrowheads, lance-points, and “cloud-blowers” from this spring
are particularly fine examples, the most important objects of the
collection being now in the cabinet of Mrs. A. R. Graham of Chicago.[1]
The valley of the Mimbres has never been regarded as favorable to
archeological studies, but has practically been overlooked, possibly
because of the more attractive fields in the regions to the north and
west, so that only very meager accounts have been published.[2]
The present article, which is a preliminary report on an archeological
excursion into this valley in May and June, 1914, is an effort to
add to existing knowledge of the archeology of the valley. During
this reconnaissance the author obtained by excavation and purchase a
collection of prehistoric objects which have added desirable exhibition
material to the collections in the U. S. National Museum.[3]
HISTORICAL
The recorded history of the inhabitants of the Mimbres is brief. One
of the earliest descriptions of the valley, in English, is found in
Bartlett’s “Personal Narrative,” published in 1854. In his account of
a trip to the copper mines at the present Santa Rita, Bartlett records
seeing a herd of about twenty black-tailed deer, turkeys and other game
birds, antelopes, bears, and fine trout in the streams. He says very
little, however, about antiquities, although he passed through a region
where there are still several mounds indicating ruins. Bartlett writes
(_op. cit._, vol. 1, p. 218):
On April 29, hearing that there were traces of an ancient Indian
settlement about half a mile distant, Dr. Webb went over to examine
it, while we were getting ready to move. He found a good deal of
broken pottery, all of fine texture. Some of it bore traces of
red, black, and brown colors. He also found a stone mortar about
eight inches in diameter. I have since understood that this was the
seat of one of the earliest Spanish missions; but it was abandoned
more than a century ago, and no traces remain but a few heaps of
crumbling adobes, which mark the site of its dwellings.
This ruin was situated near the Rio Grande, twenty-three miles from
Mule Spring, on the road to the Mimbres. Bartlett does not tell us how
he learned that this was an early mission site, but from the pottery it
is evident that it was an “ancient Indian settlement.”
After having examined the configuration of the country through which
Bartlett passed, and having compared it with statements in his
description, the present writer thinks that Bartlett camped on May
1, 1853, near the Oldtown ruin and that the place then bore the name
Pachetehu. This camp was nineteen [eighteen?] miles from Cow Spring and
thirteen miles from the copper mines.
Bartlett records that he found, near his camp, “several old Indian
encampments with their wigwams standing and about them fragments of
pottery.” Although not very definite, these references might apply
either to the Oldtown ruin and some others a few miles up the river, or
to more modern Apache dwellings.
Mr. F. S. Dellenbaugh claims that Coronado, in 1540, passed through the
valley of the Mimbres on his way to Cibola, and that this place was
somewhere in this region, instead of at Zuñi, as taught by Bandelier
and others. The present writer recognizes that the question of the
route of Coronado is one for historical experts to answer, but believes
that new facts regarding the ruins in the Mimbres may have a bearing
upon this question and are desirable. While it can no longer be said
in opposition to Dellenbaugh’s theory that there are no ruins in the
valley between Deming and the Mexican border, we have not yet been able
to discover whether the ruins here described were or were not inhabited
in 1540.
The fragmentary notice of the ruins in the Upper Mimbres and Silver
City region by Bandelier is one of the best thus far published,
although he denies the existence of ruins now known in the great
stretch of desert from Deming to the Mexican boundary. Regarding the
ruins on the Upper Mimbres, Bandelier writes:[4]
Toward this center of drainage the aboriginal villages on the
Rio Mimbres have gravitated as far south nearly as the flow of
water is now permanent. They are very abundant on both sides of
the stream, wherever the high overhanging plateaux have left any
habitable and tillable space; they do not seem to extend east as
far as Cook’s Range, but have penetrated into the Sierra Mimbres
farther north, as far as twenty miles from the river eastward....
The total number of ruins scattered as far north as Hincks’ Ranch
on a stretch of about thirty miles along the Mimbres in the valley
proper, I estimate at about sixty.... I have not seen a village
whose population I should estimate at over one hundred, and the
majority contained ten. They were built of rubble in mud or adobe
mortar, the walls usually thin, with overwings, and a fireplace in
the corner, formed by a recess bulging out of a wall. Toward the
lower end of the permanent water course, the ruins are said to be
somewhat extensive.
Professor U. Francis Duff, in an article on the “Ruins of the Mimbres
Valley,”[5] adds a number of new sites to those mentioned above and
contributes important additions to our knowledge of the prehistoric
culture of the valley.
Dr. Walter Hough, who compiled from Bandelier and Duff, and made use of
unpublished information furnished by Professor De Lashmutt and others,
enumerates twenty-seven ruins in the Silver City and Mimbres region
to which he assigns the numbers 147–174. Many more ruins[6] might
have been included in this list, but it is not the author’s purpose,
at this time, to mention individual pueblo sites but rather to call
attention to the evidences of ruins in the Lower Mimbres Valley as an
introduction to the study of pottery there collected. The ruin from
which the majority of the bowls here considered were obtained does not
appear to have been mentioned by Bandelier, Duff, or Hough.
The last-mentioned author makes the following reference to figures
on the pottery from the Mimbres region: “The decoration is mainly
geometric. From the Mimbres he [Professor De Lashmutt] has seen a
realistic design resembling a grasshopper, and from Fort Bayard another
representing a four-legged creature. Mrs. Owen has a specimen from
Fort Bayard bearing what is described as a ‘fish design.’”[7] Dr. Hough
likewise points out that
pottery from some sites [ruins] is also different from that of
any other [Pueblo] region and is affiliated, in some respects,
with that of the Casas Grandes, in Chihuahua which lies in the low
foot-hills of Sierra Madre. This is especially true in reference to
fragments of yellow ware found here [the Florida Mountains] which
in both form and color of decoration is manifestly like that of
Casas Grandes.[8]
The latest and thus far the most important contribution to our
knowledge of the prehistoric people of the Mimbres we owe to Mr. C.
L. Webster, who has published several articles on the antiquities of
the Upper Mimbres, in “The Archæological Bulletin.” He has made known
several new village sites along the valley and has mentioned, for the
first time, details regarding Mimbres ruins and the objects found in
them. Practically nothing has thus far been recorded on the antiquities
of the region immediately about Deming, nor of those south of that
important railroad center to the Mexican border.
In an article on “Some Burial Customs Practiced by the Ancient People
of the Southwest,”[9] Mr. Webster describes and figures a human burial
on the Lower Mimbres not far from the “Military Post,” situated near
Oldtown. It was found in the plain some distance from any indications
of prehistoric settlement. He says:
An exploration of it [a burial] revealed that originally a circular
excavation, perhaps three feet in diameter and slightly more in
depth, had been made in the ground; and afterwards the body placed
at the bottom of this excavation in a sitting posture with the
knees somewhat drawn up and arms to the side, and then a very large
earthen olla, of a reddish color, was set over it, bottom side up,
thus protecting it from the earth which was afterwards thrown in,
filling up the excavation.
Mr. Webster shows that the Mimbres aborigines did not always bury their
dead in a contracted or seated posture. He speaks also of intramural or
house burials in the valley of Rio Sapillo, a tributary of the Upper
Gila, not far from the source of the Mimbres. In this region he dug
down in one of the central rooms of a ruin about three feet below the
surface, where he says (p. 73):
Near the bottom of this excavation hard red clay was encountered,
which on opening up proved to contain the well-preserved skeleton
of an adult person which had been placed at length on its back
with arms at its side. Over the face of this one [human burial]
had been placed a rather large shallow dish, through the bottom
of which a hole about the size of a five cent piece, or a little
larger, had been carefully drilled. This hole was so located as to
occupy a position between the eyes when placed over the face. This
body was resting on a bed of red clay like that which had covered
it. Near the first body was a second body which had been buried in
exactly the same way, and had a similar perforated dish over its
face. Under this first or upper tier of bodies a second tier of
bodies was discovered which had been buried exactly the same way
as the upper tier—each one resting separate and alone, though near
together, each one tightly enveloped in stiff red clay.
All the vessels placed over the faces showed the action of fire,
and it was plain to be seen they had once been used in cooking....
The method practised here was to first spread down a layer of red
plastic clay, then lay the body upon it, place the perforated dish
over the face and finally plaster all with a covering of the same
clay. This same method was followed in every case observed.
SITES OF RUINS IN THE LOWER MIMBRES VALLEY
The portion of the Sierra Madre plateau called Lower Mimbres, or
Antelope Valley, extends from where the Mimbres sinks below the
surface at Oldtown to Lake Palomas in Mexico, twenty-five miles south
of Deming. According to some writers this region has no prehistoric
ruins, but several of the beautiful specimens described and figured
in the present article came from this valley, and there are doubtless
many others, equally instructive, still awaiting the spade of the
archeologist. The purest form of the Mimbres prehistoric culture is
found in the lower or southern part of this plain, but it extends into
the hills far up the Mimbres almost to its source.
The plateau on which the prehistoric Mimbres culture developed is
geographically well marked, and distinguished from other regions of the
Southwest geographically and biologically, facts reflected in human
culture. The cultural gateway is open to migrations from the south
rather than from the east, north, or west.
The evidences drawn from the poor preservation of the walls of the
ruins, and the paucity of historical references to them, instead of
indicating absence of a prehistoric population suggest the existence
of a very ancient culture that had been replaced by wandering Apache
tribes years before the advent of the Spaniards. Chronologically the
prehistoric people belongs to an older epoch than the Pueblo, and its
culture resembles that which antedated the true Pueblos.[10]
The ruins here considered do not belong to the same type as those of
the Lower Gila and Salt, although they may be contemporaneous with
them, and may have been inhabited at the same time as those on the
Casas Grandes River in northern Chihuahua. Not regarded as belonging to
the same series of ruins as those on the Upper Gila and Salt rivers,
they are not designated numerically with them.
Although the indications of an ancient prehistoric occupancy of the
Mimbres are so numerous, they are so indistinct and have been so
little studied that any attempt here to include all of them would be
premature. Remains of human occupancy occur in the plain about Deming,
and can be traced northward along the river east and west into the
mountains, and south into Mexico.
The author has observed many evidences of former settlements along the
Upper Mimbres which have not yet been recorded. The indications are, as
a rule, inconspicuous, appearing on the surface of the ground in the
form of rows of stones or bases of house walls, fragments of pottery,
and broken stone implements, such as metates and manos. These sites are
commonly called “Indian graves,” skeletons often having been excavated
from the enclosures outlined by former house walls. There are also
evidences of prehistoric ditches at certain points along the Mimbres,
showing that the ancients irrigated their small farms.
No attempt is made here to consider all the ruins of the Mimbres or of
the Antelope plain in the immediate neighborhood of Deming, but only
those that have been visited, mainly ruins from which the objects here
described were obtained.
Although few of the walls of the ancient buildings rise high above
ground, they can be readily traced in several places. From remains that
were examined it appears that the walls were sometimes built of stone
laid in mortar and plastered on the inside, or of adobe strengthened at
the base with stones and supported by logs, a few of which have been
found in place upright. No differentiation of sacred and secular rooms
was noticed, and no room could be identified as belonging to the type
called kiva. The floors of the rooms were made of “caleche,” hardened
by having been tramped down; the fireplace was placed in one corner, on
the floor, and the entrance to the room was probably at one side. To
all intents and purposes these dwellings were probably not unlike those
fragile wattle-walled structures found very generally throughout the
prehistoric Southwest, and supposed to antedate the communal dwellings
or pueblos of northern New Mexico.
The two aboriginal sites in the Mimbres Valley that have yielded the
majority of the specimens here figured and described are the Oldtown
ruin and the Osborn ruin, a small village site twelve miles south
of Deming and four miles west of the Florida Mountains. There are
some differences in general appearance and variations in the minor
archeological objects from these two localities, but it is supposed
that specimens from both indicate a closely related, if not identical,
culture area.
About a year ago Mr. E. D. Osborn, of Deming, who had commenced
excavation in these ruins,[11] obtained from them a considerable
collection of pottery and other objects. His letters on the subject
and his photographs of the pottery, sent to the Bureau of American
Ethnology, first led the author to visit southern New Mexico to
investigate the archeology of the Mimbres.
VILLAGE SITE NEAR OSBORN RANCH[12]
A few extracts from Mr. Osborn’s letters regarding this site form a
fitting introduction to a description of the sites and the objects from
them:
At the present time [December 8, 1913] the nearest permanent water
to this place [site of the cemetery] is either the Palomas Lake
in Mexico, twenty-five miles south, or thirty miles north, where
the Mimbres River sinks into the earth.... This supposed Pueblo
site is situated upon a low sandy ridge which at this point makes
a right-angle bend, one part running south and the other west from
the angle. The top and sides of the ridge, also the “flat” enclosed
between the areas of the ridge, to the extent of about an acre, is
littered all over with fragments, charcoal and debris containing
bones to the depth of from one to three feet. There are also a
great many broken metates and grinding stones.... In digging on top
of this ridge, near the angle, we occasionally found what appeared
to have been adobe wall foundations, but not sufficiently large
to determine the size or shape of any building. In digging on the
ridge a few stone implements were found, including one fine stone
axe, stone paint pots and mortars, and a few arrowheads, also two
bone awls and a few shell beads and bracelets, the last all broken.
The only article of wood was the stump of a large cedar post full
of knots, badly decayed; it had been burned off two or three
inches below the surface of the ground. The cemetery was found on
the inner slope of the angle facing the southwest.... In a large
proportion of cases the body was placed upon its back, feet drawn
up against the body, knees higher than the head; sometimes the head
was face up and sometimes it was pressed forward so the top of the
head was uppermost. In other interments the body was extended its
full length with face up. A large majority of the skulls had a
bowl[13] inverted over them, though I judge twenty per cent were
without any bowl.... In a great many instances after the body had
been placed in the grave with bowl over the head, a little soil was
filled in, and about one foot of adobe mud was added and tramped
down then filled up with soil. This adobe mud is almost like rock,
making it difficult to dig up the bowl without smashing it.... No
article of any kind except the bowl over the head was found in any
grave. In one case a bowl was found with a skull under it and under
that skull was another bowl and another skull.
Few evidences of upright walls of buildings are found at or near
this site. The surface of the ground in places rises into low mounds
devoid of bushes, which grow sparingly in the immediate neighborhood,
but no trees of any considerable size were noticed in the vicinity.
Before work began at this place the only signs of former occupancy
by aborigines, besides walls, were a few broken fragments of ancient
pottery, metates, or a burnt stump protruding here and there from the
ground. None of the house walls projected very high above the surface
of the ground. Excavations in the floors of rooms at this point yielded
so many human skeletons that the place was commonly referred to as
a cemetery, but all indications support the conclusion that it was
probably a village site with intramural interments.
The human burials here found had knees flexed or drawn to the breast
in the “contracted” position, sometimes with the face turned eastward.
The skeletons were sometimes found in shallow graves, but often were
buried deeply below the surface. Almost without exception the crania
had bowls fitted over them like caps. The graves as a rule are limited
to soft ground, the bowls resting on undisturbed sand devoid of human
remains. In some instances there appears to have been a hardened
crust of clay above the remains, possibly all that is left of the
floor of a dwelling. The indications are that here, as elsewhere, the
dead were buried under the floors of dwellings, as is commonly the
case throughout the Mimbres Valley. While there is not enough of the
walls above ground to show the former extent of the dwellings, the
indications are that they were extensive and have been broken down and
washed away.
OLDTOWN RUIN
Near where the Mimbres leaves the hills and, after spreading out, is
lost in the sand, there was formerly a “station,” on the mail route,
called Mimbres, but now known as Oldtown. Since the founding of Deming,
the railroad center, the stage route has been abandoned and Mimbres
(Oldtown) has so declined in population that nothing remains of this
settlement except a ranch-house, a school-house, and a number of
deserted adobe dwellings.
Oldtown lies on the border of what must formerly have been a lake and
later became a morass or cienega, but is now a level plain lined on one
side with trees and covered with grass, affording excellent pasturage.
From this point the water of the Mimbres River is lost, and its bed is
but a dry channel or arroyo which meanders through the plain, filled
with water only part of the year. In the dry months the river sinks
below the surface of the plain near Oldtown reappearing at times where
the subsoil comes to the surface, and at last forms Palomas Lake in
northern Mexico.
In June, when the author visited Oldtown, the dry bed of the Mimbres
throughout its course could be readily traced by a line of green
vegetation along the whole length of the plain from the Oldtown site to
the Florida Mountains.[14]
The locality of emergence of the Mimbres from the hills or where
its waters sink below the surface is characteristic. The place is
surrounded by low hills forming on the south a precipitous cliff,
eighty feet high, which the prehistoric inhabitants chose as a site
of one of their villages; from the character and abundance of pottery
found, there is every reason to suppose this was an important village.
The Oldtown ruin is one of the most extensive seen by the author during
his reconnaissance in the Deming Valley, although not so large as some
of those in the Upper Mimbres, or on Whiskey Creek, near Central.
Although it is quite difficult to determine the details of the general
plan, the outlines of former rectangular rooms are indicated by stone
walls that may be fairly well traced. There seem to have been several
clusters of rooms arranged in rows, separated by square or rectangular
plazas, unconnected, often with circular depressions between them.
There is considerable evidence of “pottery hunting” by amateurs in
the mounds of Oldtown, and it is said that several highly decorated
food bowls adorned with zoic figures have been taken from the rooms.
It appears that the ancient inhabitants here, as elsewhere, practised
house burial and that they deposited their dead in the contracted
position, placing bowls over the crania (fig. 1).[15]
[Illustration: FIG. 1.—Urn burial. (Schematic.)]
The author excavated several buried skeletons from a rectangular area
situated about the middle of the Oldtown ruin, surrounded on three
sides by walls. The majority of the dead were accompanied with shell
beads and a few turquoise ornaments, and on one was found a number of
shell tinklers made of the spires of seashells. One of the skeletons
excavated by Mr. Osborn appeared to have been enclosed in a stone
cist with a flat slab of stone covering the skull. The remains of a
corner post supporting the building stood upright on this slab.[16]
In another case a skull was found broken into fragments by the large
stone that had covered it. Several skeletons had no bowls over the
heads, an exceptional feature in Mimbres burials; and in some instances
the bowl had been placed over the face. In the case of numerous infant
interments the bowl covered the whole skeleton.
RUIN ON BYRON RANCH
This ruin lies not far from the present course of the Mimbres near
the Little Florida Mountains. The place has long been known as an
aboriginal village site and considered one of the most important in
the valley. The remains of buildings cover a considerable area. They
have a rudely quadrangular form, showing here and there depressions and
lines of stones, evidently indicating foundations of rooms, slightly
protruding from the ground. Although this ruin has been extensively
dug over by those in search of relics, no systematic excavations seem
to have been attempted. It is said that valuable specimens have been
obtained here, and fragments of pottery, arrowheads, and broken stone
implements are still picked up on the surface.
The important discovery of burial customs of the ancient Mimbreños was
made by Mr. Duff at this ruin. He excavated below the floor of one of
the rooms and found a human cranium on which was inverted a food bowl
pierced in the middle, the first example of this custom noted in the
Mimbres region.
RUIN NEAR DEMING
About seven miles northwest of Deming, in a field on the north side of
the Southern Pacific Railroad, there is a small tract of land showing
aboriginal artifacts strewn over the surface, affording good evidence
of prehistoric occupation. There are no house walls visible at this
place, and only a few fragments of food bowls, but in the course of an
hour’s search several small mortars (fig. 2), paint grinders and other
objects were procured at this place.[17]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.—Paint mortar. Diam. 2½″.]
PREHISTORIC SITE NEAR BLACK MOUNTAIN
Walls and outlines of rooms indicated by rows of stones mark remains
of a prehistoric settlement at the base of Black Mountain, eight or
nine miles northwest from Deming. Here occur many fragments of pottery,
broken metates, and manos, and other indications of occupation by man.
On top of Black Mountain there are rude cairns or rings of stones
apparently placed there by human hands.
The fragments of pottery taken from the ruin at the base of Black
Mountain are very different from those from Oldtown and other typical
Mimbres ruins. Its color on the outside is red, with a white interior
surface decorated with black geometric designs, the border is flaring
often with exceptional exterior decoration. These bowls have broken
encircling lines—a feature yet to be found in other Mimbres pottery—and
none of the few pieces yet obtained from the ruin near Black Mountain
has animal pictures. The whole appearance of this pottery recalls old
Gila ware and suggests an intrusion from without the Mimbres region,
possibly from the north and west.
The circles of stones on the top of Black Mountain have many points of
resemblance to similar structures on hilltops near Swarts’ Ranch on the
Upper Mimbres, described by Mr. Webster, as follows:[18]
The tops of nearly all the mountains of this valley, and
particularly those here mapped, are occupied by hundreds of rock
mounds, breastworks, pits, etc. The region shown in plate 3, and
which represents an area about one mile in length and three-fourths
mile in width, exhibits 240 of these structures.... These rock
mounds are composed of more or less rounded rocks gathered from
the region, and generally weighing from four to eight pounds each;
although many are smaller: and again others weigh from twenty-five
to fifty pounds or more each. These structures are generally
circular: although at times they are ovate, and again assume an
oblong or linear marginal outline. They vary considerably in size,
although usually being only from three to four feet in diameter:
the linear ones being from six to eight feet or more in length.
Some of the larger circular mounds assume a diameter of seven to
eight feet. The height of these mounds varies considerably; but as
a rule assume a height ranging from one to one and a half feet.
The distance apart of these structures is variable; being as a
general thing from five to fifteen feet; but not infrequently they
are only two to four feet apart: at other times, however, they may
be observed to be from sixty to ninety feet or more distant from
each other.
Mr. Webster discovered on a rocky ridge near Swarts’ ruin, somewhat
higher on the Mimbres than Brockman’s Mill, seven similar earthen
pits of much interest, which remind the author of subterranean or
half-sunken dwellings. They are saucer-shaped or linear depressions,
averaging about two feet in depth; when circular they are from five to
fifteen feet in diameter the linear form in one instance being fifty
feet long. Some of these have elevated margins, others with scarcely
any marginal ridge. The western margin in one instance has a “wall of
rounded stones.”
There are similar saucer-shaped depressions near Brockman’s Mills and
elsewhere in the Mimbres, almost identical with “pit dwellings” found
by Dr. Hough near Los Lentes. These saucer-like depressions, often
supposed to have been the pits from which adobe was dug, were also
places of burial, the dead being presumably interred under or on the
floors; the original excavation being a dwelling that was afterwards
used as a burial place for the dead. Their form suggests the circular
kiva of the Pueblos and has been so interpreted by some persons.
RUINS ON THE MIMBRES RIVER FROM OLDTOWN TO BROCKMAN’S MILLS
On low terraces elevated somewhat above the banks of the river,
between Oldtown and Brockman’s Mills, there are several village sites,
especially on the western side.[19] The most important of these is
situated about four miles north of Oldtown. The ruin at the Allison
Ranch, situated at the Point of Rocks where the cliffs come down to the
river banks, is large and there are many pictographs nearby. The ruins
at Brockman’s Mills on the opposite or eastern side of the river lie
near the ranch-house. Many rooms, some of which seem to have walls well
plastered, can be seen just behind the corral. North of the ruin is a
hill with low lines of walls like trincheras. On some of the stones
composing these walls and on neighboring scattered boulders, there are
well-made pictographs.[20]
PICTOGRAPHS
Pictographs occur at several localities along the Mimbres. As these
have a general likeness to each other and differ from those of other
regions, they are supposed to be characteristic of the prehistoric
people. They are generally pecked on the sides of boulders or on
the face of the cliffs in the neighborhood of prehistoric sites of
dwellings. Although there is only a remote likeness between these
pictographs and figures on pottery, several animal forms are common to
the two.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.—Pictographs.]
The most important group of pictographs (fig. 3) seen by the author
are situated about nine miles from Deming in the western foot-hills of
Cook’s Peak.[21] Some of the pictographs recall decorations on bowls
from Pajarito Park.
Another large collection of Mimbres pictographs, visited by the author,
is found at Rock Canyon, three or four miles above Oldtown, at a point
where the cliffs approach the western bank of the river. On the river
terrace not far above this collection of pictures, also on the right
bank of the river, lies the extensive ruin of a prehistoric settlement,
the walls of which project slightly above the surface. This ruin has
been dug into at several points revealing several fine pieces of
pottery, fragments of metates, and other implements, which are said to
have been found in the rooms. A mile down the valley overlooking the
river there is another cluster of pictures at a ruin called “Indian
graveyard,” probably because human skeletons have been dug out of the
floors of rooms.
MORTARS IN ROCK IN PLACE
One of the characteristic features of the Mimbres ruins, but not
peculiar to them, are mortars or circular depressions worn in the
horizontal surface of rock in place. They are commonly supposed to
have been used as mortars for pounding corn, and vary in size from two
inches to a foot in diameter, being generally a foot deep. We find
them occurring alone or in clusters. Good examples of such depressions
are found near the Byron ruin, in the neighborhood of the ruins along
Whiskey Creek, at Oldtown, and elsewhere. There is a fine cluster of
these mortars nine miles from Deming, near the pictographs in the
Cook’s Range. Similar mortars have been repeatedly described and often
figured. Mr. Webster has given the most complete account of this type
of mortars in a description of the ancient ruins near Cook’s Peak.[22]
On the surface of the southwestern point of a low hill to the north of
an ancient ruin at Cook’s Peak, according to this observer,
occurs a feature which the writer had nowhere else seen, save on
the east side of the same mountain. I refer to the great number
of mortars which occur in this sandstone back a few feet to the
north of the ruins, and which were made and long used by the
ancient pueblo-dwellers. There exists at this one place fifty-three
of these mortars, nearly all of them occurring in an area of
surface not more than seventy-five or eighty feet in diameter....
Nearly all the mortars are circular or sub-circular in outline,
symmetrical and smooth inside, and the upper edge or margin usually
rounded by the pestle. In a few cases, however, these mortars have
an oblong or subovate outline, somewhat like some forms of metates
found among the ruins.
These mortars often contract to a point at the bottom, when
circular in marginal outline, although at times are longer than
broad, as just stated, and in this case have a more flattened
bottom. They vary from two to eleven inches in diameter, the
smallest forms being those apparently only just begun, and are few
in number. The deepest mortar observed was seventeen inches, though
the great majority of them would vary perhaps from four to ten
inches in depth. Often the rock was smooth and polished around the
margin of the mortars, and [their distances apart] vary from a few
inches to several feet from each other.
At times these mortars would be located on the top of a large block
of sandstone which might happen to occupy this area; these boulders
sometimes being four to five feet in diameter and perhaps four feet
in height. It was plain to be seen that this ancient mill-site was
long used by these peculiar people, but just why so many quite
similar mortars should have been made here and used by these people
is a matter of conjecture.
It seems certain that a sufficiently large number of people could
not have been congregated here, under ordinary conditions, to
warrant the forming of so many mortars for the purpose of grinding
food.[23]
The present writer accepts the theory that these rock depressions
were used in pounding corn or other seeds, but their great number in
localities where ruins are insignificant or wanting is suggestive.
We constantly find arable land near them, indicating that communal
grinding may have been practised, and suggesting a large population
living in their immediate neighborhood, which may have left no other
sign of their presence.
MINOR ANTIQUITIES
The artifacts picked up on the surface near ruins or excavated from
village sites resemble so closely those from other regions of the
Southwest that taken alone these do not necessarily indicate special
culture areas. A few of the more common forms from the Mimbres are
here figured for comparison, but, with the exception of the pottery,
there is little individuality shown in the majority of these objects.
Among other objects may be mentioned stone implements, mortars, idols,
bone implements, shell ornaments, and pottery.
STONE IMPLEMENTS
The stone axes are not very different from those of the Rio Grande and
the Gila, but it is to be noticed that they are not so numerous as
in the latter region, and are probably inferior in workmanship, fine
specimens indeed being rare. The majority of the axes (fig. 4) are
single grooved, but a few have two grooves. In Dr. Swope’s collection,
now in the Deming High School, there is a fairly good double-bladed axe.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.—Stone axe. Length 8¾″.]
[Illustration: FIG. 5.—Arrow polisher. Length 3¼″, breadth 2½″.]
Miss Alnutt, of Deming, has a remarkable collection of arrowpoints
gathered from many localities in the valley, and also a few fine
spearpoints, conical pipes, and other objects taken from the sacred
spring at Faywood Hot Spring. A beautiful arrow polisher found near
Deming is shown in figure 5.
The pipes from the Mimbres take the form of tubular cloud-blowers,
specimens of which are shown in figure 6. Apparently these pipes were
sometimes thrown into sacred springs, but others have been picked up on
the surface of village sites or a few feet below the surface.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.—Cloud blowers. Faywood Hot Springs. (Swope
collection.) ½ nat. size.]
Lateral and top views of one of the characteristic forms of small stone
mortars with a handled projection on one side is shown in figure 7.
This specimen is in the Swope collection in the Deming High School.
In the same collection there are also two beautiful tubular pipes, or
cloud-blowers, from the same spring.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.—Handled mortar. (Swope collection.) Length 10¾″.]
The stone mortars from Mimbres ruins vary in size. Many are simply
spherical stones with a depression on one side; others are larger but
still spherical, or ovate; while others have square or rectangular
forms. The most remarkable feature in these is the presence of a handle
on one side, which occasionally is duplicated, and in one instance four
knobs or legs project from the periphery. These projections appear to
characterize the mortars of the Mimbres, although they are not confined
to them, as the form occurs in other regions of New Mexico and in
California. One of the most instructive of these small spherical paint
mortars, now owned by Mr. E. D. Osborn, has ridges cut in high relief
on the outside.
Metates and manos, some broken, others whole, are numerous and can be
picked up on almost every prehistoric site. While some of these metates
are deeply worn, showing long usage, others have margins but slightly
raised above the surface. The majority of metates found on the sites of
habitations have no legs, but a typical Mexican metate with three knobs
in the form of legs was presented to the National Museum by the Rev.
E. S. Morgan, of Deming. Metates are sometimes found in graves with
skeletons, presumably those of women. Several ancient metates are now
in use as household implements in Mexican dwellings.
If the size of the population were to be gauged by the number of
mortars and manos found, certainly the abundance of these implements
would show that many people once inhabited the plain through which
flows the Mimbres River. Narrow, flat stone slabs have an incised
margin on one end. Their use is problematical. The frequency of stone
balls suggests games, but these may have been used as weapons; or
again, they were possibly used in foot races, as by the Hopi of to-day.
COPPER OBJECTS
Native metallic copper was formerly abundant at the Santa Rita mines,
and there is every probability that the material out of which some of
the aboriginal copper bells were made was found here, and that these
mines were the source of float copper found in Arizona ruins. Although
no copper implements were found by the author in the Mimbres ruins, he
has been told that objects of copper apparently made by the aborigines
have been found in some of the graves.[24]
STONE IDOLS
The author saw several stone idols that were reported to have been
obtained from ruins in the Mimbres Valley. These idols represent frogs
(fig. 8), bears, mountain lions, and other quadrupeds, and have much
the same form as those from ancient ruins in Arizona.[25] On the backs
of several of these stone idols are incised figures, like arrowheads
tied to Zuñi fetishes, or possibly rain-cloud figures. In one instance
they were made on an elevated ridge, which unfortunately was broken.
The author has also seen several small amulets, perforated apparently
for suspension. The stone idols here figured (figs. 8, 9, 10) were
presented to the Deming High School by Dr. Swope.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.—Frog fetish. Black Mountain Ruin. (Swope
collection.) Length 3½″.]
[Illustration: FIG. 9.—Fetish. Byron Ranch. (Swope collection.) Length
5¾″.]
[Illustration: FIG. 10.—Fetish. Byron Ranch. (Swope collection.) Length
6¾″.]
SHELL BRACELETS AND CARVED SHELLS
Two or three shell bracelets were excavated from Mimbres ruins, and
there were also found carved shells and tinklers not unlike those of
northern New Mexico ruins. Some of these when excavated were found
near the head and are supposed to have been earrings. Five shell rings
were still on the bones of the forearm of a child when found. One of
the shell bracelets owned by Mr. Osborn was cracked but was pierced on
each side of the break, indicating where it had been mended; another
had figures incised on its surface, and a third had the edges notched,
imparting to it a zigzag shape, like that of a serpent. Many shell
beads, spires of shells used for tinklers, and other shell objects, all
made of genera peculiar to the Pacific Ocean, were found during the
excavations.
POTTERY
FORMS AND COLORS
The comparatively large number of vases, food bowls, and other forms
of decorated smooth ware in collections from the Mimbres is largely
due to their use in mortuary customs, and the fact that almost without
exception they were found placed over the skulls of the dead. Although
the largest number of vessels are food bowls, there are also cups with
twisted handles (fig. 11), bowls (fig. 12), vases, dippers, and other
ceramic forms found in pueblo ruins.[26]
[Illustration: FIG. 11.—Braided handle. ½ nat. size.]
[Illustration: FIG. 12.—Small bowl. Diam. 3½″.]
Coarse, undecorated vessels showing coils, indentations, superficial
protuberances, and other rude decorations like those so well known in
Southwestern ruins, are well represented. Some of these were used as
cooking vessels, as shown by the soot still adhering to their outer
surface. While the majority of bowls were broken in fragments when
found, a few were simply pierced through the bottom; one or two were
unbroken or simply notched at the edge.
The colors of Mimbres ware are uniform and often striking. There are
good specimens of black and white ware; also red, black, and yellow
with brown decorations are numerous. Some of the best pieces are
colored a light orange. Many of the fragments are made of the finest
paste identical in color and finish with ware from Casas Grandes,
Chihuahua, which furnishes the best prehistoric pottery from the
Southwest. No effigy jar, or animal formed vase, however, exists in any
collections from the Mimbres examined by the author.
Ruins in the Lower Mimbres have thus far yielded a larger variety and
a finer type of pottery than ruins on the banks of the river among the
hills, which is in part due to the extent of excavations. The Oldtown
potters developed a kind of pottery with characteristic ornamentation
found both in ruins in the plain to the south and along the narrow
valley of the Mimbres to the north.
The Mimbres pottery, like all other ancient ware from the Southwest,
frequently shows evidences of having been mended. Holes were drilled
near the breaks and fibers formerly united the parts thus holding
the bowl together even though broken. As one goes south, following
the course of the river, the character of the pottery changes very
slightly, but if anything is a little better.
The food bowls generally have a rounded base, but one specimen is flat
on the bottom. The edges of the bowls from the ruin at Black Mountain
are curved outward, an exceptional feature in ancient Pueblo vessels
but common in modern forms.
PICTURES ON MIMBRES POTTERY
The great value of the ceramic collection obtained from the Mimbres
is the large number of figures representing men, animals, and
characteristic geometrical designs, often highly conventionalized,
depicted on their interiors. These figures sometimes cover a greater
part of the inner surface, are often duplicated, and are commonly
surrounded by geometrical designs or simple lines parallel with the
outer rim of the vessel. It is important to notice the graceful way
in which geometrical figures with which the ancient potters decorated
their bowls are made to grade into the bodies of animals, as when
animal figures become highly conventionalized into geometrical designs.
Although these decorations are, as a rule, inferior to those of the
Hopi ruin, Sikyatki, the figures of animals are more numerous, varied,
and realistic.
The ancients represented on their food bowls men engaged in various
occupations, such as hunting or ceremonial dances, and in that way have
bequeathed to us a knowledge of their dress, their way of arranging
their hair, weapons, and other objects adopted on such occasions. They
have figured many animals accompanied by conventional figures which
have an intimate relation to their cults and their social organization.
Although limited in amount and imperfect in its teaching this material
is most instructive.
[Illustration: FIG. 13.—Hunters. Oldtown Ruin. (Osborn collection.)]
GROUP OF HUNTERS
An instructive group of human figures is drawn on a deep red and white
food bowl (fig. 13), which measures ten inches in diameter. It is
evident that this design represents three hunters following the trail
of a horned animal, probably a deer. This trail is represented on the
surface of the bowl by a row of triangles, while the footprints of the
hunters extend along its side. It may be noted that although there are
three hunters, the trails of two only are represented, and that the
hunters are barefoot. They have perhaps lost the trail and are looking
the opposite way, while the animal has turned back on his path. The
footprints of the deer in advance of the hunters are tortuous, showing
want of decision on the part of the animal. The three hunters are
dressed alike, wearing the close-fitting jacket probably made of strips
of skin woven together like that found by Dr. Hough in a sacrificial
cave at the head of the Tulerosa, New Mexico. Each carries a bow and
arrow in his right hand, and in his left a stick which the leader uses
as a cane; the second hunter holds it by one end before him, and the
third raises it aloft. These objects are supposed to represent either
weapons or certain problematic wooden staffs with feathers attached,
like divining rods, by which the hunters are in a magical way directed
in their search. The first hunter “feels” for the lost trail by means
of this rod.
An examination of the pictures of the arrows these hunters carry shows
that each has a triangular appendage at the end representing feathers,
and small objects, also feathers, tied to its very extremity. The hair
of the third hunter appears to be a single coil hanging down the back,
but in the other two it is tied in a cue at the back of the head. The
eyes are drawn like the eyes on Egyptian paintings, that is, the eye as
it appears in a front view is shown on the side of the head. The right
shoulders of all are thrown out of position, in this feature recalling
primitive perspective. The information conveyed by this prehistoric
picture conforms with what is known from historical sources that the
Mimbres Valley formerly abounded in antelopes, and we have here a
representation of an aboriginal hunt.
FIGURE OF A WOMAN
A black and white bowl (pl. 1, fig. 1) is twelve and one-half inches
in diameter and six inches deep. Upon this bowl is drawn a figure of a
human being, probably a woman or a girl, seen from the front. Although
portions of the figure are not very legible, such details as can be
made out show a person wearing a blanket that extends almost to the
knees leaving arms and legs bare, the lower limbs being covered. The
head is square, as if masked, with hair tied at each lower corner.
Although these appendages may be meant to represent ear-pendants, it
is more likely that they are whorls of hair, as is still customary
in Pueblo ceremonies in personations of certain maidens. Across the
forehead are alternating black and white square figures arranged in
two series, recalling corn or rain-cloud symbols. The neck is adorned
by several strands of necklaces, the outermost of which, almost
effaced, suggests rectangular ornaments. The garment worn by the
figure is evidently the ceremonial[27] blanket of a Pueblo woman, for
no man wears this kind of garment. It has a white border and from
its middle there hangs a number of parallel lines representing cords
or a fringe, evidently the ends of a sash by which the blanket was
formerly tied about the waist. It is instructive to notice that we
find similar parallel lines represented in a picture of a girl from
Sikyatki[28] where the blanket has the same rectangular form as in the
prehistoric Mimbres picture. There can be no question that in this
case it represents a garment bound with a girdle, or that the picture
was intended for that of a girl or a woman. We have in this picture
evidence that the same method of arranging the hair was used in the
Mimbres Valley as in northern New Mexico. The leg wrappings suggest
those used by Pueblo women, especially the Hopi, whose leggings are
made of long strips of buckskin attached to the moccasins and wound
around the lower limbs.
PRIEST SMOKING
The third human figure, found on a black and white bowl from a
Mimbres ruin, is duplicated by another of the same general character
depicted on the opposite side of the bowl. These figures (fig. 14) are
evidently naked men with bands of white across the faces. The eyes are
represented in the Egyptian fashion. In one hand each figure holds a
tube, evidently a cloud-blower or a pipe, with feathers attached to
one extremity, and in the other hand each carries a triangular object
resembling a Hopi rattle or tinkler. The posture of these figures
suggest sitting or squatting, but the objects in the extended left hand
would indicate dancing. The figure is identified as a man performing a
ceremonial smoke which accompanies ceremonial rites.
MAN WITH CURVED STICK
One of the most instructive food bowls found at Oldtown, now owned by
Mr. Osborn, has on it a picture of two hunters, one on each side of
an animal (fig. 15). One of these hunters carries in his hand a stick
crooked at the end, its form suggesting a throwing stick.[29] Both
hunters have laid aside their quivers, bows, and arrows, which are
shown behind them. The picture of an animal between them has been so
mutilated by “killing” or breaking the bowl that it is impossible
to identify it. From the end of this crook to the body of the animal
there extend two parallel lines of dots indicating the pathway of a
discharged weapon. Near the body of the animal these rows of dots take
a new direction, as if the weapon had bounded away or changed its
course. The rows of dots are supposed to represent lines of meal by
which Pueblos are accustomed to symbolically indicate trails or “roads.”
[Illustration: FIG. 14.—Priest smoking. Osborn Ruin.]
[Illustration: FIG. 15.—Man with curved stick. Oldtown Ruin. (Osborn
collection.) Diam. 5½″.]
There is, of course, some doubt as to the correct identification of
the crooked staff as a throwing stick, for as yet no throwing stick
has been found in the Mimbres ruins. The resemblance of the crooked
stick to those on certain Hopi altars and its resemblance to emblems
of weapons carried by warrior societies is noteworthy. Crooked sticks
of this character have been found in caves in the region north of the
Mimbres.[30]
We find a survival of a similar crook used as sacred paraphernalia in
several of the Hopi ceremonies, where they play an important rôle.
As the author has pointed out, crooked sticks or gnelas (fig. 16)
identified as ancient weapons surround the sand picture of the Antelope
altar in the Snake Dance at Walpi, and in Snake altars of other Hopi
pueblos, but it is in the Winter Solstice Ceremony, or the Soyaluña,
at the East Mesa of the Hopi, that we find special prominence given to
this warrior emblem. During this elaborate festival every Walpi and
Sitcomovi kiva regards one of these gnelas as especially efficacious
for the warriors, and it is installed in a prominent place on the kiva
floor, as indicated in the author’s account of that ceremony.[31]
The following explanation of these crooks was given him by the priests:
These crooks or gnelas have been called warrior prayer sticks, and
are symbols of ancient weapons. In many folk tales it is stated
that warriors overcame their foes by the use of gnelas which would
indicate that they had something to do with ancient war implements.
Their association with arrows on the Antelope altars adds weight to
this conclusion.
The picture from Oldtown ruin of the hunter who has laid aside the
quiver, bow, and arrow, and is using a similar gnela,[32] corroborates
this interpretation.
Not all crooked sticks used by the Hopi are prayer sticks, or weapons,
for sometimes in Hopi ceremonials a number of small shells are tied to
the extremity of a crooked stick forming a kind of rattle. In the Flute
Ceremony a crooked stick is said to be used to draw down the clouds
when the rain they contain is much desired.
Figure 16 is a representation of one of the crooks which was specially
made for use in the Soyaluña at Walpi, in 1900. Similar crooks were
set upright in a low mound of sand on the floors of all the kivas.
Extending from the base of the crook to the ladder there was sprinkled
a line of meal called the road (of blessings), over which was stretched
a feathered string attached to the end of the crook. Midway in the
length of the crook was attached a packet of prayer meal wrapped in
cornhusk and a feather of the hawk, a bird dear to warriors, and other
objects, which indicated a prayer offering. At the termination of
ceremonies in which these crooks are made and blessed as prayer emblems
by the Hopi they are deposited in shrines as recorded.
[Illustration: FIG. 16.—Hopi curved stick. Length 8″.]
The crook (gnela) is used as a prayer emblem of warriors because it has
the form of an ancient weapon, and while it assumes modifications in
different Hopi ceremonies it apparently has one and the same intent,
as in Soyaluña. This crook is sometimes interpreted as symbolically
representing an old man with head bent over by age, but this
interpretation is probably secondary to that suggested above, as so
often happens in the interpretations given by primitive priests.
The true interpretation of the crooked prayer stick was pointed out by
the author in his article on “Minor Hopi Festivals,”[33] as follows:
This crook is believed by the author to be a diminutive
representation of an implement akin to a throwing stick, the object
of which is to increase the velocity of a shaft thrown in the air.
Its prototype is repeatedly used in Hopi rites, and it occurs among
Hopi paraphernalia always apparently with the same or nearly the
same meaning.
[Illustration: FIG. 17.—Human figure running. Oldtown Ruin. (Osborn
collection.) Diam. 7½″.]
In figure 17 is represented a person running with outstretched banded
arms, holding in the left hand a bow, and in the other a straight
stick. The head is circular with cross lines, a round, dotted eye, and
two triangular ears. Another representation shows a human figure with
a bow and arrow before the hands, accompanied by three animals, the
middle one being a bird and the two lateral, quadrupeds.
By far the most unusual group of human forms consists of two figures,
one male, the other female, depicted on another bowl. The action in
which these two are engaged is evident. The female figure has dependent
breasts and wears a girdle. One hand is raised and brought to the face
and the other carries a triangular object. The female figure has three
parallel marks on the cheek, like the Hopi war-god. Behind the woman
are several curved lines depicting unidentified objects.
The figure shown on one bowl (fig. 18) has several marked features, but
the author is unable to suggest any theory of identification. It seems
to be a seated figure with a human head, arms, and legs, the toes and
fingers being like hands and feet. The forearm is drawn on the shoulder
in the same way as in the one of the hunters (fig. 13). The eye, nose,
and mouth are also human, but the body is more like that of an animal.
The appendages back of the head are similar to those interpreted as
feathers on the heads of certain animal designs.
[Illustration: FIG. 18.—Unidentified animal and bowl of unusual form.
Oldtown Ruin. (Osborn collection.)]
On the theory that this is a seated human figure it is interesting
to speculate on the meaning of the curved object represented on the
surface of the bowl, extending from one hand to the foot. This object
has the general form of a rabbit stick or boomerang, still used by the
Hopi in rabbit hunting.[34]
The well-drawn figure painted on a bowl (pl. 1, fig. 2) from Oldtown
ruin represents a man with knees extended and arms raised as if
dancing. This picture has characteristic markings on the face, but
otherwise is not distinctive.
QUADRUPEDS
_Wolf._—Although there are not sufficiently characteristic features
represented in the next figure (pl. 2, fig. 1)[35] to identify it
satisfactorily, the form of the head, tail, mouth, and ears suggests
a wolf.[36] The square design[37] covering one side of the body seems
to the author not to belong to the animal itself, for an Indian who
could represent an animal as faithfully as those here pictured would
not place on it such markings unless for a purpose. It resembles the
small blankets sometimes worn by pet dogs or horses among white people,
which is a lame explanation, as dog and horse blankets were unknown
among Indians. The only theory the author has formed regarding this
geometrical figure is that it is a variant of the Sikyatki habit of
accompanying a figure of an animal with a representation of his shrine.
This bowl is of black and white ware and is eleven inches in diameter
by five and one-half inches deep.
[Illustration: FIG. 19.—Antelope. (Osborn collection.) Diam. 10″.]
_Antelope._—There are two[38] figures of an animal with branching
horns,[39] supposed to be an antelope, an animal formerly common in
Mimbres Valley. In one of these (fig. 19) the head is held downward
as if the animal were feeding; in the other (fig. 20) the neck is
extended. A pair of markings on the neck are identical with those on
pictures of the antelope still painted on modern pottery made by the
Zuñi. A band, resembling a checkerboard, is drawn across the body of
one; on the other are parallel lines.
[Illustration: FIG. 20.—Antelope. Osborn Ruin. Diam. 10″.]
Another figure referred to as an antelope appears to represent a young
fawn, since, while it has all the characteristics of this animal, the
horns are wanting. This specimen (fig. 21) was found at Oldtown. The
rectangular shape so often given to the bodies of animals drawn on
Mimbres pottery is well shown in this specimen.
[Illustration: FIG. 21.—Fawn. Oldtown Ruin.]
[Illustration: FIG. 22.—Rabbit. Oldtown Ruin. Diam. 7½″.]
_Mountain Sheep._—It is evident from the form of the unbranched horns,
the slender legs, and the head, that either a mountain sheep or
mountain goat was intended to be represented in plate 2, figure 2. The
markings on the body are symbolic, suggesting lightning, and it may
be added that the Hopi depict the lightning on the artificial horns
mounted on caps and worn by them in presentations of dances in which
they personate mountain sheep.
_Rabbit or Hare._—The pictured representation (fig. 31) of a quadruped
whose hindlegs are larger than the forelegs and whose long backward
extending ears are prominent features, probably represents a rabbit or
a hare. The eyes recall figures of birds depicted on bowls from the
Little Colorado ruins in Arizona, where eyes are depicted on one side
of the head in violation of a law of perspective in which only one eye
can appear on a lateral view. The figure appears to have a tuft of
grass in the mouth. The geometric markings on the body are different
from those of any known species of rabbit and belong to the category of
symbolic designs.
[Illustration: FIG. 23.—Mountain lion or wild cat. (Osborn collection.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 25.—Bird E. Osborn Ruin. (Osborn collection.)]
The author excavated at Oldtown a food bowl, the figure on which was
undoubtedly intended for a rabbit (fig. 22). The head, ears, body,
legs, and tail are well made, leaving no question of the intention of
the artist; but if there were any doubt of the identification it is
dispelled by the representation of the mouth, on which the sensitive
hairs or bristles are represented.
_Mountain Lion._—One of the Oldtown bowls is decorated with a
representation of the wild cat or mountain lion, and is a fair example
of archaic design (fig. 23). The feature that distinguished this
quadruped is the position of the tail which, like those of Pueblo
pictures of mountain lions or cats, is bent forward over the back.
Both head and body are rectangular and the legs are short and stumpy
with sharp curved claws. The ears, mouth, and teeth have characteristic
features of carnivora and the tail is banded, especially near the end.
The geometric design on the side of the body consists of an angular,
S-shaped design with two equal armed stars, the latter associated with
the mountain lion in Pueblo symbolism. The single figure drawn on this
bowl occupied the middle of the interior, but in the next bowl this
figure is duplicated.
The two figures on another bowl also represent some cat, or mountain
lion, but the geometric figure on its body differs so much from the
first specimen that it may belong to a different genus. The geometrical
designs occur on both the anterior and posterior extremities of the
rectangular body and consist of triangular figures with parallel lines
and terraces recalling rain-clouds. This bowl is owned by Mr. E. D.
Osborn, and was found at Oldtown. The decorations on the two quadrants
alternating with the animal figures are bands from which other markings
radiate to the side of the bowl.
_Badger._—The quadruped drawn on the inside of a bowl found at Oldtown,
and now owned by Mr. E. D. Osborn, has some resemblances to a badger,
especially in the head, ears, teeth, and tail. The geometrical design
on the body of this animal consists of an unequal sided rectangle
enclosing four triangles with angles so approximated as to form an
enclosed rectangle. The head has two bands extending longitudinally,
apparently conventionalized markings characteristic of this animal, as
they do not occur on deer, wildcats, or mountain sheep.
_Birds._—As has been pointed out in the author’s identifications[40]
of designs on Sikyatki pottery, those representing birds are among the
most abundant. The same holds also in the pottery from the Mimbres,
where several figures identified as birds occur on food bowls. Two of
these are duplicated on the same vessel, practically the same figure
being repeated on opposite sides. In the latter case each member of the
pair faces in an opposite direction or is represented as if moving with
the middle of the bowl on the left.[41]
The various birds differ considerably in their forms, organs,
attitudes, and appendages. Two of the pictures seem to represent the
same bird, but the others belong to different genera. There are one
or two figures in which feathers can be distinguished, but as a rule
they are fewer in number and the feathers less conventionalized than in
Sikyatki pottery.
Pending the difficulty in identifying the various designs representing
birds, they are designated by letters A, B, C, D, etc.
_Bird A._—The figure shown in plate 3, figure 1, is represented by two
designs, practically the same, repeated so far as appendages go, but
quite different in the ornamentation of their bodies. One of these has
the same geometrical figure on its body as on one of the quadruped
pictures, the second has a different design. Both birds have wings
outspread as if in flight, in which the feathers are well drawn in
detail, especially the wing on the side turned toward the observer.
That on the opposite side is simply uniformly black. The feathers of
its companion on the other side of the bowl are indicated by parallel
lines. The tail is long and forked at the extremity, suggesting a
hawk, and is decorated for two-thirds of its length with cross-hatched
and parallel lines. A triangular appendage arises from the under side
of the tail at the point where the line decoration ends, forming an
appendage which is likewise represented in the companion picture.
_Bird B._—Bird B (pl. 3, fig. 2) is painted on the interior of a food
bowl of black and white ware, ten inches in diameter by five inches
deep. Its body is oval, the head erect and undecorated, and the tail
twisted from a horizontal into a vertical plane as is customary in
representation of lateral views of birds from Pueblo ruins. The
geometric figure on the body is unfortunately somewhat obscured by the
plaster used in mending, but several parallel bars that may represent
feathers of the wings show through it, and a number of other designs or
parallel lines are apparent. An appendage of triangular form hangs from
the lower margin of the body and indicates the position of one leg; the
other leg is missing.
_Bird C._—Bird C, shown in plate 4, figure 1, occurs on a black and
white bowl that measures ten inches in diameter, five and one-half
inches in depth. The figure occupies the circular zone in the middle
of the bowl and is enclosed by parallel lines which surround the bowl
near the rim. The top of the head, which is globular, is white in
color, the beak projecting and the eyes comparatively large. The body
is likewise globular and is covered by a square geometrical design the
details of which are considerably obscured by the hole in the middle
of the jar. A number of parallel lines of unequal length, turned
downward, hang from the rear of the body and form the tail. The long
legs suggest a wading bird, and the widely extended claws point to the
same identification.
_Bird D._—One of the most instructive figures of birds occurs on a
bowl from Oldtown ruin. This bowl (fig. 24) is now owned by Mr. E. D.
Osborn, by whom it was found. The bird depicted on it is seen from the
back; its wings are drooping, and parallel lines indicate feathers. The
legs, drawn backward, terminate in three toes, and the tail, slightly
bent to one side, is composed of several feathers.
[Illustration: FIG. 24.—Bird D. (Osborn collection.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 29.—Unidentified animal. Oldtown Ruin. (Osborn
collection.)]
The head is globular with two eyes on the back and a short pointed
beak. As in all other zoic figures the geometric figures on the back
of the body are the most characteristic. The middle of the body is
occupied by an oval design through which may be seen the perforation
with which the bowl was killed. At one end there is a triangular design
with cross lines which extend partly over the oval figure where, except
at one point, they are obscure.
Four quadrilateral designs are distributed at intervals around the
oval figure. Each of these has sides of about equal length and a dot
medially placed in a smaller figure contained in a larger.
_Bird E._—The bird shown in figure 25 (p. 35) from the Osborn ruin has
a body form not unlike that of plate 4, figure 1, but the geometric
design on the body, although rectangular, has incurved sides and is
covered with cross lines suggesting a net. Its neck is girt by four
rings, head small, without feathers, eye minute, bill comparatively
long and pointed recalling that of a snipe which is also suggested by
long legs and in a measure by the form of the tail.
This bird is undoubtedly aquatic, as indicated by the figure of a fish
which it appears to be on the point of capturing or devouring.
_Bird F._—The bird shown in plate 4, figure 2, is different from any
of the above and is distinguished readily by the four curved lines
on the head suggesting the quail. The pointed tail is marked above
and below with dentations, formed by a series of rectangular figures
which diminish in size from body attachment to tip. The body itself is
marked posteriorly with parallel lines, rectangular and curved figures
suggesting wings.
[Illustration: FIG. 26.—Bird G. Oldtown Ruin. (Osborn collection.)
Diam. 10″.]
The bowl (fig. 26) has three animals figured upon it forming a
graceful combination. The most striking represents a long-billed bird
with one wing notched on the inner margin. The tail of this bird is
differently drawn from any of the other birds in the collection and has
representations of six feathers. In front of this bird, with the point
of the snout at the tip of the bill of the bird, is a lizard-shaped
head covered with scales and two round eyes. The other remarkable
figure also has extended forelegs, but the body is so broken that
identification is quite impossible. Like the figure of the lizard, it
also has a lozenge head and two eyes. The geometrical designs on the
body are characteristic.
ANIMALS NOT IDENTIFIED
_Unidentified Animal._—It is difficult to tell exactly what animal
was intended to be represented by that shown in plate 5, figure 2.
Its head and mouth are not those of any of the horned animals already
considered, although it has some anatomical features recalling a
mountain sheep. The extension back of the body has a remote likeness
to a fish, but may be a bird or simply a conventional design. The
geometrical figure covering the side of the body bears some likeness
to one depicted on a bird, as shown in plate 3, figure 1. The same
geometrical figure sometimes also occurs separated from any animal form
in Sikyatki pottery.[42]
The bowl is ten inches in diameter, five inches in depth, and the
figures are painted red on a white ground.
_Unidentified Animal._—One of the most remarkable of many figures on
bowls from Oldtown in the collection of Mr. E. D. Osborn is shown
in figures 27, 29 (p. 38). Three colors enter into the decoration
of this bowl, black, white, and brown, and there are two types of
ornamentation, one zoic, the other geometric. The bowl itself was much
broken when found, but not so mutilated as to hide the main designs.
The zoic figures represent animals with square bodies, four legs, ears,
head, and tail like a young antelope. There is no design on the side
of the body, but in its place four broad parallel bands extend from
the belly across the bowl. Each group of parallel lines changes its
direction, widening in their course or near the ends where they enlarge
for the accompanying figure. The markings on the necks of these figures
suggest those on fawns.
The elaborate geometric figure composed of a scroll and comma-like dot
and eye is a highly conventionalized symbol, possibly of some animal,
as a bird’s head, common on Casas Grandes pottery.
There is a bowl on exhibition in the Chamber of Commerce at Deming
with a picture of a quadruped resembling a deer, but the base is so
fractured in killing that it is difficult to determine the shape of the
body or its decoration.
_Unidentified Animal._—One of the most instructive figures of the
collection appears in duplicate on a large food bowl (pl. 5, fig. 1).
This vessel is black and white in color and measures fifteen inches
in diameter by six inches deep. The two designs occur on the two
sides of the interior of the bowl, the middle of which is left without
decoration.
The body of this creature is elongated and tapers backward, being
continued into a tail like that of the lizard. The head is long and the
snout pointed. Only two legs are represented, and these are situated
far back on the body near the point of the origin of the tail from the
body. A lozenge-shaped symbol forms the geometrical design on the side.
[Illustration: FIG. 27.—Unidentified animal. Oldtown Ruin. (Osborn
collection.)]
The presence of only two legs in this figure would seem to indicate
that a bird was intended, but no bird has a tail like this figure; and
the prehistoric potters of the Mimbres certainly knew how to draw a
bird much better than this would imply. The exceptional features of
this drawing, doubtless intentional, belong neither to flesh, fish, nor
fowl, rendering its identification doubtful.
GRASSHOPPER[43]
A figure on a bowl here represented (pl. 6, fig. 1) is painted in
“black or brown on a background of bluish wash over a yellow color.”
This bowl is eleven inches in diameter, five inches in depth. The
figure is a remarkable one, having features of several animals, but
none of these are more pronounced than its insectiform characters,
among which may be mentioned the antennæ, three legs on one side
(evidently three pairs of legs, for that in the back is simply
introduced in violation of perspective), and an extended segmented
abdomen attached to the thorax and terminating in a recurved tip. The
character of the appendages to the thorax, or the wings, leaves no
doubt that a flying animal was intended, and the legs and head being
like an orthopterous insect, it may be provisionally identified as a
“grasshopper.”[44]
While the general form of head, thorax, and body appear from an
inspection of the figure, it may be well to call attention to certain
special features that illustrate primitive methods of drawing. The
most striking of these is seen in the abnormal position of the leg
which arises from the thorax on the back in the rear of the so-called
wings. This abnormal position was introduced by the artist to show
the existence and form of the legs on the right side; the appendage
corresponds with one of the three on the left side, which have the
proper position but are much smaller. A similar delineation of organs
out of place not seen or turned away from the observer was common among
the prehistoric artists of the Pueblo region and is paralleled by the
representation of two eyes on one side of the head already mentioned.
The two “wings,” each ending in white circles with dots or crosses, are
supposed, on the theory that this is a grasshopper, to represent wing
covers or elytra, which of course the prehistoric people of the Mimbres
did not differentiate from folded wings. It is possible that wing cover
and wing may be represented on one side and that corresponding organs
on the right side of the body are omitted. The thorax is covered with
regularly arranged rows of dots formed by parallel lines crossing at an
angle, forming purely arbitrary decoration representing the geometric
designs on the bodies of other animals.
FROGS AND BIRDS
One of the few bowls obtained on which animals of two species were
depicted on the same vessel was excavated by the author at Oldtown.
This remarkably fine specimen (pl. 7, fig. 1) has figures of two birds
and two frogs[45] drawn in opposite quadrants, being unique in this
particular. The two birds and frogs are not very unlike those already
described but have certain characteristic features, especially in the
geometric designs on their bodies.
The bowl is warped into an irregular shape and made of thin ware,
probably distorted in firing. It was found under the floor of one of
the central rooms in the Oldtown ruin, almost completely covering the
skeleton of a baby.
On another bowl (pl. 6, fig. 2) there is depicted a frog very like that
last mentioned. The frog being an amphibian was undoubtedly greatly
reverenced by the ancient people of the Mimbres Valley.
HORNED SNAKE
The serpent with a horn on the head is pretty generally regarded as a
supernatural being, and its pictures and effigies occur on modern Hopi,
Zuñi, and other Pueblo paraphernalia. It is an ancient conception, for
it is figured on prehistoric pottery from all parts of the Pueblo area,
having been found as far south as Casas Grandes in Chihuahua. It is to
be expected that a people like the ancient Mimbreños who adorned their
pottery with so many well drawn zoic figures would have included the
horned serpent, provided this reptile was a member of their pantheon.
The nearest approach to a figure of such a monster is found on a large
pottery fragment found by Mr. Osborn twelve miles south of Deming.
This fragment covered the cranium of a skeleton and was perforated or
“killed” like a whole bowl.
A very large number of pictures of the horned snake from localities all
over the Southwest might be mentioned, but a few examples are adequate
to show how widespread the conception was in ancient times. They occur
among the Tewa, Keres, Zuñi, Hopi and other Pueblos and vary greatly in
details, but in all instances preserve the essential symbolic feature—a
horn on the head and a serpentine body.
The horned serpent is known to the Hopi as the plumed serpent, and
when represented by them has a bundle of hawk feathers as well as a
horn attached to the head. Effigies of this being, also with horn and
feathers, are used in several ceremonies, as the Winter Solstice,[46]
and a dramatic festival[47] which occurs yearly in March. Wooden
representations of the same horned snake are carried as insignia by a
warrior society called the Kwakwantu,[48] in the New Fire Ceremony. The
priests of the Tewan pueblo, Hano, among the Hopi also have effigies
of the horned snake, the worship of which their ancestors brought to
Arizona from New Mexico. These effigies are yearly made of clay and
form conspicuous objects on the December altars of that pueblo.
[Illustration: FIG. 28.—Serpent. Osborn Ruin. (Osborn collection. E. D.
O. Jr. del.)]
The head shown in figure 28 has a horn curving forward almost identical
with that on the head of a horned serpent on a bowl from Casas Grandes
in the Heye collection. Its gracefully sinuous body is decorated
with alternating geometric figures, curves and straight lines.[49]
Accompanying the figure of a serpent is a well-drawn picture of a
turtle which is decorated on the carapace with a rectangular area on
which is painted a geometric figure recalling that on bodies of birds
and some other animals.
FISHES
One of the bowls (fig. 30) from the Oldtown ruin has two fishes
depicted on opposite sides of the inner surface. These fishes resemble
trout and are of different colors, black and reddish brown figures
painted on a white ground. They are represented as hanging from two
parallel lines surrounding the rim of the bowl. These fishes are so
well drawn that there is no doubt what animal was intended to be here
represented. On the interior of another bowl excavated by the author
at Oldtown there is a picture of a fish which recalls the two just
mentioned.[50] It may be mentioned that fishes are not represented
in the beautiful specimens of pottery from Sikyatki,[51] possibly
for the simple reason that there are no streams containing fish in
the neighborhood of Hopi ruins. In the Mimbres, however, fish are
still found and were no doubt formerly abundant and well known to the
prehistoric inhabitants,[52] being looked upon by them as water symbols
in much the same way as the frog is at present regarded by Zuñi and
Hopi.
[Illustration: FIG. 30.—Fish. Oldtown Ruin. Diam. 9″.]
Another fish figured on a bowl from Oldtown, is unfortunately broken
near the tail. The accompanying decoration has apparently another
figure behind this fish, but its complete form is obscured by the
perforation made in killing the vessel.
The most problematical of all the life figures on the Mimbres pottery
is shown in plate 7, figure 2. This figure occurs on a black and white
food bowl, eleven inches in diameter, four and one-half inches in
depth. In support of the theory that the two figures here depicted
represent fishes, we have the pointed head without neck, the operculum
as a white crescentic design, two fins (pectoral, ventral, and anal),
the median (adipose?) dorsal fin unpaired, and a long tail bifurcated
at the extremity. The resemblance of these figures to the undoubted
fishes on bowls previously mentioned is conclusive evidence that they
represent the same animal.
GEOMETRICAL FIGURES
The geometrical designs on Mimbres pottery are rectangular, curved, and
spiral, the first form being the most common. These units are arranged
in twos or fours, and although they consist often of zigzag or stepped
figures, the triangle and rectangle predominate. The geometrical
designs are rarely colored, but commonly filled in with hachures
and parallel lines. There are seldom decorations on the outside of
the Mimbres bowls, in which respect they differ from ancient Hopi
(Sikyatki) vessels elsewhere figured.[53] Conversely, that part of the
interior of the bowl which surrounds the central design, oftentimes
elaborately ornamented in Mimbres pottery, is very simply decorated in
Sikyatki pottery. Encircling lines on Mimbres pottery are continuous,
whereas at Sikyatki they are broken at one or more points by intervals
known as the “life gateways” or “lines of life.”[54] The geometrical
figures on the inside of every bowl sometimes surround a central region
on which no figures of animals or human beings are drawn, but which is
perforated.
The more strikingly characteristic forms of geometrical figures are
shown in designs on plate 8. Certain of the geometrical figures drawn
on the sides of animals as on the wolf (pl. 2, fig. 1), the antelope
(figs. 19 and 20), the mountain sheep (pl. 2, fig. 2), the unidentified
animal and bird (figs. 18 and 25), the reptile (fig. 28), also appear
without the animals and probably have the same significance[55] in both
instances.
[Illustration: FIG. 31.—Rabbit and geometrical designs.]
No geometrical figures were identified as representing sun, moon,
earth, or rain-clouds. A few crosses, circles, triangles, and
irregular quadrilateral designs combined with zigzag stepped figures
and interlocked spirals and highly interesting swastikas (fig. 31)
form the majority of the designs.[56] Several geometric designs, as
those on the bodies of figures 25 and 26, appear on Sikyatki pottery
(see 17th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., plate 121); others resemble
Pueblo symbols of wide distribution, but the majority are unique. The
geometric designs on the bodies of life-figures vary with the animal
depicted, but the same genus of animals does not always have the
geometric figure, although almost identical designs occur on the bodies
of different genera. It is recognized that a comparison of designs on
Southwestern pottery shows a general uniformity in geometrical pattern
which renders it very difficult to distinguish different local areas
of development, and may be the result of more extensive interchange of
ideas and a greater uniformity of cultural conditions. The pottery of
the Mimbres shares with the rest of the Southwest several well-known
geometrical designs which no doubt date back to an earlier epoch than
the evolution of animal figures, but it also has several decorations
of geometrical patterns (fig. 32) that are peculiar to it and which,
taken with the characteristic zoic figures, serve to differentiate it
from other local areas. Mimbres pottery as pointed out by others has
a general likeness to that from Casas Grandes Valley in Chihuahua,
a resemblance which no doubt increases as we follow the river to
Lakes Palomas and Guzman.[57] The resemblance is not close enough to
indicate identity, but we have enough material to support the belief
that the archeological area in which it occurs is Mexican, unlike that
of any other ceramic area in Arizona or New Mexico. Here a specialized
symbolism has been developed which is different from that of the Rio
Grande, or the Upper Gila-Salt area, and that characteristic of the
great Lower Gila in which lie the compounds like Casa Grande. The
Mimbres Valley archeologically is the northern extension of a culture
area which reached its highest development on Casas Grandes River.
[Illustration: FIG. 32.—Geometrical figure. (Osborn collection.)]
CONCLUSIONS
Geographically the Mimbres Valley is the northern extension of the
drainage area of the large interior plateau, the lowest level of which
is occupied by Palomas, Guzman, and other so-called lakes. The Casas
Grandes, Mimbres, and other rivers contribute their scanty waters to
these lakes, which have no outlets into the sea. As a rule the thirsty
sands along the course of the river drink up the surplus waters of
the Mimbres or cause them to sink beneath the surface, to reappear
when the configuration of lower clay or rock formations forces them
from subterranean courses. Considering the similarity in climatic and
geographical conditions in the northern and southern ends of this
plateau, we would expect to find cultural likenesses in the prehistoric
inhabitants of the Mimbres and Casas Grandes valleys, but such is not
the case. The absence of relief decoration combined with painting, so
common in the pottery from the Casas Grandes region, separates the
Mimbres ware from that found far to the south.[58]
There are evidences that the course of the Mimbres River through
Antelope Plain has from time to time changed considerably, and although
a section of its bed now lies east of the Florida Mountains, the river
probably formerly made its way to the west of the same in its course to
Mexico. Modifications or changes in the bed of this river have had in
the past much to do with the shifting of population and obliteration
of prehistoric sites, either by washing them away entirely or burying
them out of sight or deeply below the surface. This concealment of
evidences of prehistoric occupancy has also been aided by frequent
sandstorms, when considerable quantities of soil have been transported
from place to place and deposited on walls or covered implements lying
on the surface of the ground. It is also possible that there has been
a slow change of climate, causing a desiccation which may have been so
widespread that the inhabitants of the plain were driven up river into
the hills where water was more abundant, but it is well to remember
that abandoned settlements or ruins exist on the banks of the Mimbres
where there is still abundant water, as well as in the plain which is
dry.
The depth of the present water level, as shown by drilling for wells,
varies in different places in the valley, but in the neighborhood of
the hills there are many springs. The configuration of the surface
of the hard clay strata lying beneath the soil here and there often
forces the water to rise to the surface, and ruins occur at points
where at present there are no signs of surface water, although at the
time they were inhabited there may have been more water.[59] Whether or
not this water was brought to certain ruins by a system of artificial
irrigation, the canals of which have been obliterated, we cannot say,
but there is only scanty evidence that the climate here, as elsewhere,
has radically changed since man occupied the valley.[60]
Although there is a remote likeness between the terraced house or
pueblo community of northern New Mexico[61] and the prehistoric houses
of the Lower Mimbres, its closest resemblance is to an antecedent type,
for it is possible that the terraced pueblo culture in the Rio Grande
Valley was preceded by another. This earlier type of habitation of
the Mimbres Valley was like the fragile-walled house of the natives
inhabiting a large part of Arizona and New Mexico before the Puebloan,
and we have evidence that this older style of building was scattered
over the present Pueblo area. There is no evidence of a terraced
dwelling or pueblo more than one story high in the Mimbres or the
inland basin in which it lies. In other words the ruins of the Mimbres
may be regarded as older than true pueblo ruins, resembling an earlier
type of dwelling that antedated, in the Rio Grande Valley, the terraced
houses.
The author does not find any architectural features in the remains
of the prehistoric habitations of the Mimbres Valley suggesting
Casa Grande compounds, or those massive buildings with encircling
walls which are characteristic of the plains of the Gila. Although
the walls of the Casas Grandes, in Chihuahua, are constructed in
the same way and out of material like those of Casa Grande on the
Gila, the architectural feature, an encircling wall of the latter,
has not yet been recognized on the Sierra Madre plateau.[62] Objects
found in the Gila ruins are somewhat different in form from those of
Chihuahua, while pottery from the Gila Valley ruins and that from the
inland plateau in northern Chihuahua is markedly different, with very
divergent symbolism. Not only do forms of stone implements of a shape
unknown in southern Arizona occur in southern New Mexico, but also
the methods of disposal of the dead differed among the two people.
The latter practised inhumation only, the other both cremation and
inhumation. The aborigines of the Mimbres Valley placed a bowl over
the head or face of the dead, a practice which, so far as known, does
not appear to have been so commonly in vogue in inhumation of the
prehistoric people of the Lower Gila plains.
The conventional geometric symbols on prehistoric Mimbres pottery are
readily distinguished from those on ware from Tulerosa, a tributary
of the San Francisco. The most significant feature of the Mimbres
pottery is that fifty per cent of the figures on it represent men or
animals, while out of a hundred bowls from the Gila not more than two
or three are ornamented with zoic designs. As we know comparatively
nothing of the pottery of the sources of the Upper Gila and that part
of its course which lies between the Tulerosa and the Mimbres, we can
at present venture very little information on ceramic relations, but
similarities or mixtures would naturally be expected, due to contact or
overlapping, the type of the one valley overlaying that of the other or
mingling with it.
The sources of the Upper Salt, the largest tributary of the Gila, lie
far from the Mimbres, and close relationship in the pottery of the
ancient people inhabiting its banks is not found or expected. It is
not known whether the pottery from the Upper Salt and that from the
Upper Gila is similar, for our museums have no extensive collections
from the latter region from which to make comparisons and draw
conclusions. We know practically nothing of the prehistoric culture of
the Upper Gila.
The aborigines of the Mimbres, like those of some of the former
dwellers in Pajarito Park in New Mexico, practised a modified form of
urn burial, but the latter rarely decorated their pottery with figures
of animals. As compared with known Pueblo ceramics, the Mimbres pottery
appears to be more closely allied to ancient Keresan than to old Tewan.
Judging from what remains, the houses architecturally had little in
common with true pueblos.[63] There are no evidences of circular
subterranean kivas with pilasters, ventilators, deflectors, and niches,
as in northern New Mexico, although there is a fairly large proportion
of subterranean rooms or pit dwellings which may have been their
prototypes. Architecturally the prehistoric habitations of the Mimbres
Valley represent an old house form widely distributed in the Pueblo
region or that antedating the pueblo or terraced-house type before the
kiva had developed.
There are not sufficient data at hand to determine satisfactorily the
kinship of the prehistoric inhabitants of Mimbres Valley, but as far as
may be judged by pottery symbols it may be supposed that their culture
resembled that of other sedentary people of New Mexico and Arizona in
early times, as well as that of peoples of Chihuahua. It appears to the
author that there are so many cultural similarities among the sedentary
people which inhabited the Sierra Madre plateau, of which the Antelope
Plain of Mimbres Valley is only a northern extension, that we may
regard their culture as closely related. A specialized high development
of this inland culture took place along the Casas Grandes River,
culminating in Chihuahua. The Mimbres Valley was inhabited by people
somewhat less developed in culture.
Although the ancients of the Mimbres were related on the one side to
the Pueblos of New Mexico and on the other to more southern people,
that relationship existed between the ancestors of the same rather than
with modern Pueblos, and reached back to a time before the terraced
communal house type originated. This type of house arose in northern
New Mexico and spreading from this center extended down the San Juan
as far as the Hopi, while modifications are also found in certain
ruins on the Gila and Little Colorado, which, like Zuñi, it profoundly
influenced, but its influence never reached as far as the Lower Mimbres.
A comparison of the limited archeological material from the Mimbres
with that from other localities in the Southwest suggests a provisional
hypothesis that the prehistoric culture of this valley was not modified
by terraced architecture nor greatly affected by that of the Lower Gila
type, both of which evolved independently and locally, but belonged to
an older type with which it had much in common.
[Illustration: PL. 1
FIG. 1.—WOMAN DANCER. BLACK AND WHITE WARE. 12 BY 6 INCHES. OSBORN
RUIN.
FIG. 2.—DANCING FIGURE. RED DECORATION. DIAMETER 5 INCHES. OSBORN
RUIN.]
[Illustration: PL. 2
FIG. 1. TWO WOLVES. BLACK AND WHITE WARE. 11 BY 5½ INCHES. OSBORN
RUIN.
FIG. 2. MOUNTAIN SHEEP. BLACK AND WHITE WARE. 11 BY 5½ INCHES.
OSBORN RUIN.]
[Illustration: PL. 3
FIG. 1.—BIRD A. RED AND WHITE WARE. 9 BY 4 INCHES. OSBORN RUIN.
FIG. 2.—BIRD B. BLACK AND WHITE WARE. 10 BY 5 INCHES. OSBORN RUIN.]
[Illustration: PL. 4
FIG. 1. BIRD C. BLACK AND WHITE WARE. 10 BY 5½ INCHES. OSBORN RUIN.
FIG. 2. BIRD F. RED AND WHITE WARE. DIAMETER 8 INCHES. OSBORN
RUIN.]
[Illustration: PL. 5
FIG. 1.—PROBLEMATICAL ANIMAL. BLACK AND WHITE WARE. 15 BY 6 INCHES.
OSBORN RUIN.
FIG. 2—PROBLEMATICAL ANIMAL. RED DECORATION. OSBORN RUIN.]
[Illustration: PL. 6
FIG. 1.—GRASSHOPPER. RED FIGURE. DIAMETER 5 INCHES. OSBORN RUIN.
FIG. 2.—FROG. DIAMETER 10 INCHES. OSBORN RUIN.]
[Illustration: PL. 7
FIG. 1. FROGS AND BIRDS. BLACK AND WHITE WARE. DIAMETER ABOUT 12
INCHES. OLDTOWN RUIN.
FIG. 2. FISHES. BLACK AND WHITE WARE. 11 BY 4½ INCHES.]
[Illustration: PL. 8
GEOMETRICAL DESIGNS. DIAMETER ⅐ NATURAL SIZE]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In a letter to Professor W. H. Holmes, published in his paper,
“Flint Implements and Fossil Remains from a Sulphur Spring at Afton,
Indian Territory,” Mr. A. R. Graham gives an instructive account of
cleaning out the Faywood Hot Springs where he found the following
relics: (1) parts of skulls and bones of several human beings; (2)
over fifty spearheads and arrowheads of every shape and style of
workmanship, the spearheads being valuable for their size and symmetry;
(3) nine large warclubs made of stone; (4) a large variety of teeth
of animals as well as large bones of extinct animals; (5) the most
interesting relics are ten stone pipes from four to seven inches in
length; (6) flint hatchet and a stone hammer, together with stones worn
flat from use; beads made of vegetable seed and bird bones; part of two
Indian bows with which was found a quiver in which was quite a bunch
of long, coarse black hair that was soon lost after being dried.—Amer.
Anthrop., n. s., vol. 4, pp. 126, 127.
[2] The Santa Rita mines early attracted the conquistadors looking
for gold, and were worked in ancient times by the Spaniards, the ores
obtained finding an outlet along a road down the valley to the city of
Chihuahua. The prehistoric people also mined native Mimbres copper,
and probably obtained from these mines and from those in Cook’s Range,
the native copper from which were made the hawk-bells sometimes found
in Arizona and New Mexico. From these localities also were derived
fragments of float copper often found in Southwestern ruins and
commonly ascribed to localities in Mexico. From here came also a form
of primitive stone mauls used in early days of the working of the mines.
[3] The National Museum had nothing from the Lower Mimbres before this
addition, although it has a few specimens, without zoic designs, from
Fort Bayard, in the Upper Mimbres. The latter are figured by Dr. Hough,
Bull. 87, U. S. National Museum.
[4] Archæological Institute of America, American Series, vol. 4, Final
Report, Part 2, pp. 356, 357.
[5] American Antiquarian, vol. 24, p. 397, 1902.
[6] Bandelier (_op. cit._, p. 357) speaks of sixty ruins in a small
section thirty miles along the river.
[7] Bull. 35, Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 83. See also an article subsequently
published on the Culture of the Ancient Pueblos of the Upper Gila River
Region, Bull. 87, 1913, U. S. National Museum, in which several bowls
with geometrical designs from Fort Bayard are figured.
[8] Bandelier found that Mimbres pottery resembles that of several
regions, including Casas Grandes.
[9] The Archæological Bulletin, vol. 3, No. 3, p. 70.
[10] During the author’s stay in Deming he was much indebted to Dr. S.
D. Swope for many kindnesses, among which was an opportunity to study
his valuable collection, now in the high school of that city. He was
also greatly aided by Mr. E. D. Osborn and several other citizens, and
takes this opportunity to thank all who rendered assistance in his
studies. The photographs reproduced in the present paper were made by
Mr. Osborn.
[11] Specimens were also found by Mr. Osborn at the Byron Ranch ruin,
at the Black Mountain site, and elsewhere.
[12] This is the ruin called Osborn ruin in subsequent descriptions.
[13] On some of the skulls excavated at Sikyatki, Arizona, in 1895,
the author found concave disks of kaolin perforated in the center.
One of these disks is represented in Fig. 356, p. 729, 17th Ann. Rep.
Bur. Amer. Ethnol. In an article on “Urn Burial in the United States”
(Amer. Anthrop., vol. 6, No. 5), Mr. Clarence B. Moore, quoting his
own observations and those of many others, records burials in which
an inverted mortar, bowl, basket, or other object was placed over the
skull of the dead, and shows the wide distribution of the custom.
[14] A beautiful view of the valley can be obtained from the top
of Black Mountain, above the small ruin at its base, that will be
mentioned presently.
[15] The drawings of pottery designs in this article were made by Mrs.
M. W. Gill; the stone and other objects were drawn by Mr. R. Weber.
[16] A significant feature in the Mimbres form of “urn burial” is the
invariable puncturing of the bowl inverted over the head. The ancient
Peruvians in some instances appear to have “killed” their mortuary
bowls, and life figures depicted on Peruvian pottery are sometimes
arranged in pairs as in the Mimbres.
[17] Although not placed in the proper locality on his map, this ruin
seems to be one of the “pueblos” (Nos. 162–164) mentioned by Dr. Hough.
[18] Archæological and Ethnological Researches in Southwestern New
Mexico, Part 2, Ruin, Ancient Work Shop, Rock Mounds, etc., at Swarts’
Ranch. (The Archæological Bulletin, vol. 4, No. 1, p. 14, 1913.)
[19] For a description of ruins at Swarts’ and Brockman’s Mills see C.
L. Webster, Archæological and Ethnological Researches in Southwestern
New Mexico. (The Archæological Bulletin, vol. 3, No. 4.)
[20] It is said that a Spanish bell in the Chamber of Commerce at
Deming, was dug up on this ranch near the ruin. This bell might
indicate an old mission at this place.
[21] The author visited these rocks in company with Dr. Swope, who has
known of them for many years.
[22] Archæological and Ethnological Researches in Southwestern New
Mexico, Part 4. (The Archæological Bulletin, vol. 5, No. 2, p. 21.)
[23] Mr. Webster describes “ancient pueblos” on the western side of
this group of mountains as well as on the eastern slope of Cook’s
Range. Certain cave lodges, or walled caves, in a wild canyon on the
east side of Cook’s Peak are supposed by him to be the recent work of
Apaches.
[24] Elaborate metal objects of early historical times have been found
at various places in the Mimbres. The best of these is a fragment of an
elaborately decorated stirrup, now owned by Mr. Pryor of the Nan Ranch.
A copper church bell was found near his house, and other metal objects
belonging to the historic epoch are reported from various ruins in the
valley.
[25] Similar stone idols from the San Pedro Valley and other
localities, in Arizona and New Mexico, have mortar-like depressions on
their backs.
[26] One of the exceptional forms of pottery has a flat rectangular
base, the four sides being formed by bending up segments of a circular
disk (fig. 18).
[27] Called also a “wedding blanket” since it is presented to a girl on
marriage by her husband’s family.
[28] 17th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., pl. 129, fig. _a_.
[29] The hand of the hunter pictured on a bowl already described (fig.
13), also carried a curved stick.
[30] Bull. 87, U. S. National Museum.
[31] The Winter Solstice Ceremony at Walpi. Amer. Anthrop., 1st ser.,
vol. 11, Nos. 3, 4, pp. 65–87, 101–115.
[32] An ancient crook found in a cave near Silver City is figured by
Dr. Hough. Bull. 87, U. S. National Museum.
[33] Amer. Anthrop., n. s., vol. 4, p. 502.
[34] Rabbits are abundant in the Mimbres Valley and several well-drawn
pictures of this animal are found on the pottery.
[35] This picture resembles that of a wolf depicted on the east wall of
the warrior chamber at Walpi. See Amer. Anthrop., n. s., vol. 4, pl. 22.
[36] Pictures of the mountain lion by Pueblo artists, at least among
the Hopi, have the tail turned over the back. The animal on the Mimbres
bowl having no horns is not a horned deer or antelope.
[37] The decoration of the bodies of animals with rectangular figures
is a common feature in Mimbres pottery, as will be seen in pictures of
birds soon to be considered.
[38] In addition to the figure with the hunters which is probably a
deer, as it has not the antelope marks on the neck.
[39] These horns are represented on a plane at right angles to that in
which they naturally lie.
[40] 17th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., p. 682.
[41] This is known as the sinistral circuit and is regarded as
beneficial in Hopi ceremonials.
[42] 17th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., pls. 121_a_, 138_c_. There are
one or two examples of Sikyatki pottery where a geometrical design is
attached to an animal figure which leads to the belief that possibly
the figure attached to the rear of the above may not represent a
part of another animal but rather a geometrical design of unknown
significance, in this particular recalling old time Hopi ware.
[43] This figure may also be identified as a locust.
[44] Possibly depicted on a food bowl because grasshoppers were eaten
by the prehistoric people of the Mimbres.
[45] A picture of a horned toad on a food bowl was recorded from Cook’s
Peak by Professor Webster, and there is a picture of what appears to be
the same reptile in Mr. Osborn’s collection. It is of course sometimes
difficult to positively distinguish representations of frogs, toads,
lizards, and Gila monsters, but the anatomical features are often well
indicated.
[46] The Winter Solstice Ceremony. Amer. Anthrop., 1st ser., vol. II,
Nos. 3, 4, pp. 65–87, 101–115.
[47] A Theatrical Performance at Walpi. Proc. Washington Acad. Sci.,
vol. 2, pp. 605–629. Native pictures of the Hopi horned snake may be
found, pl. 26, 21st Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol.
[48] The horned serpent cult at Walpi is said to have been introduced
from the south.
[49] Of all the designs representing the horned snake known to the
author this picture from the Mimbres resembles most closely the
pictures of this being on pottery from Casas Grandes. It has, however,
the single horn found on the clay image in the Hano altar of the Winter
Solstice Ceremony, although quite unlike figures on pottery from the
Pajarito region. The bodily decorations in the Mimbres bowl are unlike
those of the Hopi horned snake.
[50] The Mimbres formerly had many more fishes than at present, and
Bartlett records that his men often brought in fine trout for his camp.
These, with turkeys, quail, deer and antelopes, led him to say that his
“fare might be called sumptuous in some respects” (_op. cit._, p. 236).
[51] Fishes are sometimes represented on Keresan pottery.
[52] As elsewhere mentioned in this paper, one of the bird figures
(fig. 25) has a fish in its mouth.
[53] 17th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., Part 2, figs. 277–355.
[54] Ceremonially, every piece of pottery is supposed by the Hopi
to be a living being, and when placed in the grave of the owner, it
was broken or killed to let the spirit escape to join the spirit of
the dead in its future home. There is no evidence that the Sikyatki
mortuary pottery was purposely broken when deposited in the grave, and
probably no need of perforating it to allow free exit of the spirit,
for the broken encircling line, “life gateway,” absent in Mimbres
pottery, but almost universally present in ancient Hopi pottery,
answered the same purpose, in their conception.
[55] Following Hopi analogies, where these geometrical figures
frequently occur with animals they may have the same symbolic meaning
as when alone, and represent shrines or prayer-offering houses.
[56] Unfortunately there are few decorated vases represented in the
collection, but exploration in the field may later bring many of these
to light.
[57] The author brought to Washington fragments of a food bowl from the
ruin near Byron Ranch, identical with Casas Grandes ware.
[58] We must look to renewed explorations to shed light on this and
many other questions which the paucity of material is yet insufficient
to answer.
[59] In dry seasons the river flows under the superficial soil at a
varying depth, but in floods it follows the surface bed.
[60] As the author has pointed out in several articles, the abandonment
of Southwestern ruins is due to a variety of causes, chief of which
are changes of climate. It is often due to other more local causes, as
attacks by hostiles, salinity of soil, poor site for defence, presence
of wizards, contagious diseases, etc.
[61] The designation “pueblo ruins” sometimes applied to any cluster of
ancient house walls in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, should
be restricted to a well-defined architectural type which originated and
reached its highest development in a small area in New Mexico. It was
eventually carried by colonists in all directions from the center of
origin, becoming intrusive as far west as the Hopi, Zuñi, and Little
Colorado. The boundaries of this type never extended into Mexico in
prehistoric times. The ruins along the Mimbres are not community houses
of terraced character and should not be called pueblo ruins.
[62] This statement is made with reservation, as the true architectural
form of the Casas Grandes of Chihuahua is not yet known. The published
plans show no encircling wall like that of Casa Grande on the Gila;
probably the Casas Grandes of Chihuahua belong to a highly specialized
type different from others.
[63] While neither the terraced nor the “compound” type of architecture
has been seen in the Mimbres for the reason that both were specialized
in their distinct geographical areas, the fragile-walled, jacal type
of habitation is identical in form, though not in time, in all three
localities.
Transcriber’s Notes:
- Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
- Blank pages have been removed.
- Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
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