[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.