ARCHEOLOGY OF THE LOWER MIMBRES VALLEY, 



NEW MEXICO 



By J. WALTER FEWKES 



(With Eight Plates) 



Introduction 



Evidences of the existence of a prehistoric population in the Lower 

 Mimbres Valley, New Mexico, have been accumulating for many 

 years, but there is little definite knowledge of its culture and kinship. 

 It is taken for granted, by some writers, that the ancient people of this 

 valley lived in habitations resembling the well-known terraced dwell- 

 ings called pueblos, many of which are still inhabited along the 

 Rio Grande ; but this theory presupposes that there was a close like- 

 ness in the prehistoric architectural remains of northern and southern 

 New Mexico. It may be said that while there were many likenesses 

 in their culture, the prehistoric inhabitants of these two regions pos- 

 sessed striking dififerences, notably in their architecture, their mortu- 

 ary customs, and the symbolic ornamentation of their pottery. 



As the former inhabitants of the Mimbres Valley have left no 

 known descendants of pure blood, and as there is a scarcity of his- 

 torical records, we must rely on a study of archeological remains to 

 extend our knowledge of the subject. Much data of this kind has 

 already been lost, for while from time to time numerous instructive 

 relics of this ancient culture have been found, most of these objects 

 have been treated as " curios " and given away to be carried out of 

 the country, and thus lost to science. Some of these relics belong to 

 a type that it is difficult to duplicate. For instance, it is particularly 

 to be regretted that the numerous votive offerings to water gods, 

 including fossil bones, found when the " sacred spring " at Faywood 

 near the Mimbres was cleaned out, have not been studied and 

 described by some competent archeologist. The arrowheads, lance- 

 points, and " cloud-blowers " from this spring are particularly fine 

 examples, the most important objects of the collection being now in 

 the cabinet of Mrs. A. R. Graham of Chicago.^ 



^ In a letter to Professor W. H. Holmes, published in his paper, " Flint 

 Implements and Fossil Remains from a Sulphur Spring at Afton, Indian Terri- 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 63, No. 10 



