The site of Old Shuñopovi (plate CV) at the advent of the first
Spaniards, and for a century or more afterward, was at the foot of the
mesa on which the present village stands. The site of the old pueblo
is easily detected by the foundations of the ancient houses and their
overturned walls, surrounded by mounds of soil filled with fragments
of the finest pottery.
The old village was situated on a ridge of foothills east of the
present town and near the spring, which is still used. On the highest
point of the ridge there rise to a considerable height the massive
walls of the old Spanish mission church, forming an inclosure, now
used as a sheep corral. The cemeteries are near by, close to the outer
walls, and among a clump of peach trees about half a mile east of the
old houses. The pottery,[38] as shown by the fragments, is of the
finest old Tusayan ware, cream and red being the predominating colors,
while fragments of coiled and black-and-white ware are likewise
common.