NO. 2280. 



A PIT HOUSE VILLAGE IN NEW MEXICO-HOUGH. 



413 



Cemetery of infants. — Southeast of and near pit No. 1 Avas a ceme- 

 tery in Avhich infants alone were buried. There were hearths of burnt 

 cla}' in this cemeter}^ like those in the ruin at Stevens Cienaga.^ 

 Four or five burials were encountered, and these were accompanied 

 w^ith pottery of small size but interesting in form and decoration. 

 With the body of a child of about 5 years had been placed a flint 

 scraper and some bones of deer. On the border of the cemetery there 

 were taken out, at a depth of about 5 feet, hearthstones with charcoal 

 lying upon them and mealing stones. Many large bones of animals 

 cracked to obtain the 

 marrow were found in 

 the debris. Some of the 

 bones are burnt. 



Pit No. 3. — A section 

 of this pit was opened 

 and the wall was seen 



Fig. 4.— Plan and elevation of meaung house. 



to be well defined. On the floor lay a met ate and a wedge-shape stone 

 of equal dimensions, probably a rest for inclining the metate. Here 

 were a number of hammer stones, potterj- fragments, bones, etc. 



Pit No. J^. — This pit was completely opened out. (PI. 32.) It is 12 

 feet in diameter. As noted in other pits, there was a deep hole sunk 

 in the floor on the west. There was a metate in place, and in the 

 course of the excavation mealing stones, whetstones, and fragments 

 of decorated pottery were removed. 



Mealing house No. 2. — Adjoining pit No. 4 a cooking or mealing 

 house was excavated. It yielded a globose vessel of thin gray pot- 



__ ^ tery tolerably 



'' "" IT^ ' 1 ~~~^ ^ ''^r£. •—- '~ well decorated 



and furnished 

 with pierced lugs 

 (see fig. 38) and 

 many fragments 

 of large coarse, 

 black pottery ves- 

 sels. There were 



found many stones and hammers and animal bones. Some pieces of 

 infants' skulls were seen, but not as formal burials. 



Pit No. 5. — Eight feet northwest of pits Nos. 1 and 2 a pit 42 

 inches deep was opened. From the evidence of the action of fire this 

 pit was called the fire pit. A great fireplace was set against the 

 west wall and flanked on either side with a rounded jamb of burnt 

 clay. (Fig. 5.) The west wall was deeply burnt between the jambs, 

 and on the hearth, which was level with the floor, lay much ashes. 



^^^ 





Fig. 5.— Fireplace with clay jambs. 



» Bulletin 35, Bureau of American Ethnology, 1907, p. 63. 



