Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 228, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 October 1917 — Smithsonian Excavates Ruins in Mexico [ARTICLE]

Smithsonian Excavates Ruins in Mexico

Washington, D; C.— An expedition organized by the bureau, of American ethnology of the Smithsonian institution and the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation of New York City, under the immediate direction of Mr. F. W. Hodge, ethnologist in charge of tiie bureau mentioned, has just concluded its first season of excavating among the ruins of Hawikuh in western New Mexico. Tills pueblo was one of the famed “Seven Cities of Cihola." which was seen by Marcos de Nlza. a Franciscttn friar, in 1539./ind was the scene of the death of his negro guide and companion. In the following year the pueblq was stormed by Francisco Vasquez Coronado, the celebrated Spanish explorer, who almost lost his life in the attack. The Zuni occupants of Hawikuh fled to their stronghold a few miles away ; the Spanish took possession of their village, which Coronado called Grenada, and while there wrote his report to the viceroy of Mexico, giving an account of his expedition up to that time and sending various products of the country and’-ex-amples of native art. The excavations were commenced at the close of May by Mr. Hodge, assisted by Mr. Alanson Skinner and Mr. E. F. Coffin of the Museum of the American Work was begun in a great refuse heap forming the western slope of the elevation on which Hawikuh is situated. This refuse was found to contain many burials of Zuni dead, of 'which there were three types—remainscremated and deposited in c'.nerery vessels accompanied by feqd anti water vessels; others buried at length, or in abnormal postures without accompaniments; and usually dismembered: others still deposited at length with bead directed eastward and with them numerous vessels of earthenware. great quantities of food, and the personal tools and ornaments of the deceased. Th all. 237 graves were opened during the three months devoted to the work in which quantities of pottery* vessels of various forms and with a great range of decorative painting, were uncovered. Among burials of the third tj’pe mentioned wore several skeletons of of theZtmi Priesthood of the Bow, with their war paraphernalia. including hows and arrows, sacred paint, 'war clubs' and their personal or ceremonial belongings. ; : ' ~~ A Franciscan mission was kuh in 1639 and continued In operation until 1670. when the pueblo was‘ J abandoned on account of Apache depredations; Considering the length of time since the village was forsaken by its inhabitants. the remains were In a remarkably good state of preservation. The deposit of great quantities of food in the graves, especially boiled corn on the cob. had the effect of decaying the hones but of preserving the materials that usually more readily perish, such as baskets, fabrics, and objects of wood, many of which were saved by immediate treatment. Many very beautiful things

found in association with the remains include eight objects of turquoise mosaic, consisting of ornamental hair combs, ear pendants, and hair ornaments, some of which are so well executed as to be among the finest examples of encrusted turquoise ever found in America, and far exceeding the mosaic work of the Hop! Indians in Arizona today. Of the fabrics, various example? wyre recovered, ami indeed in one Instance the clothing of a woman was so well preserved that It was possible to study the character of her dress from neck to feet. The pottery of the Hawikuh people, as mentioned. possesses a wide range of decoration and coloring. Most of the designs are geometric, but numerous highly conventionalized figures of birds, ns well as many lifelike forms of quadrupeds, the eagle, the butterfly, the tadpole, and the corn plant were found. Many of the vessels are decorated with a -distinct glaze, black and green predominating. The vessels consist chiefly of bowls, ranging in size from tiny toy affairs to some as large as 15 inches in diameter; but there are also large and small water Jugs, and black, undecorated cooking pots, duck-shaped vessels, and the like. The finds include, among others, the ceremonial paraphernalia of a medicine man, comprising his medicines: a turkey’s egg containing the hones of the embryo and aceompaniedj byafood bowl; several skeletons of eagles, turkeys, amtdogs that had been ceremonially buried, and deposits of pottery that had been broken in sacrifice and deposited in the cemetery not as burial accompaniments. It was the custom-of—the Zunls of Hawikuh to “kill” all the vessels deposited with their dead by throwing them into the graves, and this was likewise the case with other household utensils, such as metates and manos used in grinding corn. Some of the vessels escaped Injury. while all of the fragments of the broken ones were carefully gathered and will be repaired. The site of Hawikuh covers an area of about 750 by 850 feet, so that only a comparatively small part of-the site was excavated during this jy>ason. The found to attain a depth of 14»4 feet in the western slope, and it will probably -W*"Tof»hd to reach a depth of at least 18 feet before the walls of the summit of theelevaf 1 ona r eren died. An interesting discovery consists-df the remains of many Walls entirely beneath this great deposit of refuse, showing that the site wits occupied In prehistoric times long before Hawikuh Itself was built. ? -7 f