THe ARTIFICIAL LEG SITES 
The three excavated Artificial Leg Sites are also lo- 
cated near the river about 12 miles north of Boca Negra 
Cave and just to the west of Sandoval (Corrales), New 
Mexico (Frisbie, 1967). The initial settlement of Site I 
occurred during the same drought period around A.D. 
550 when Maiz de Ocho was introduced into the already 
established culture of Boca Negra Cave. The settlers at 
Artificial Leg also appear to have migrated from their 
original home on the mesa (BR-45) to these sites near 
the river in order to have moist soil necessary for the 
growth of their maize. 
The shelters at these Middle Rio Grande Valley sites 
were pithouses. Their structure coincides more closely 
with that of the Mogollon custom in the South than with 
that of the Anasazi of the North. They were nearly cir- 
cular in outline with either a flattened or concave east 
side. The roofs were usually supported by four posts. 
Floor features consisted of a centrally located, circular, 
collared hearth, deflectors, ash pit, ladder holes, and an 
easterly oriented ventilator shaft. Other floor features 
included depressions and storage pits, many widened at 
their bases. 
At Artificial Leg, each site consisted of a group of at 
least four such pithouses. One of these structures was 
larger than the others, being 26 feet in diameter rather 
than the approximately 16 feet commonly found. This 
larger pithouse, more properly termed ‘‘kiva,’” served 
ceremonial purposes, as indicated by its s¢tpapu or ‘‘open- 
ing to the underworld,” by its foot drums and by its 
location apart from the other pithouses. The develop- 
ment of these ceremonial structures again reflects Mo- 
gollon customs. 
The appearance of the new productive races of maize, 
[ 318 | 
