Discoveries at the Aztec Ruin 



Bv E A II L H. :\1 () K 11 I S 



Illustrations from specimens in tlie American JIuseum 



TO reconstruct tlie life and cus- 

 toms of a people from the 

 products of its material achieve- 

 ments is one of the tasks confronting 

 the student who undertakes the sys- 

 tematic exploration of a prehistoric 

 village or city. Dithcult, even hopeless, 

 such a task might seem to one 

 who views the crumbling mass 

 of earth and stone to which 

 the elements have reduced the 

 ancient Pueblo community vil- 

 lage at Aztec, Xew Mexico. 

 But slowly from the wreck of 

 dwellings, of ceremonial and 

 burial chambers, the spade 

 brings forth examples of ab- 

 original handiwork. These 

 are veritable bits of mosaic 

 which careful skill may rear- 

 range to yield a vivid ijicture 

 of this town before the vicissi- 

 tudes of time dispersed its 

 builders, and made their 

 hearths the homes of prairie 

 dogs and owls. Since "the 

 picture" can not be drawn un- 

 til after the work of several 

 years, all that will l)e at- 

 tempted at tliis time is a de- 

 scription of some of tlie 

 specimens found during tlie 

 summer of 191 G. and the con- 

 ditions under which tlioy were 

 discovered. 



Pottery vessels are perhaps 

 the most striking feature of 

 the collection g-ained from a 



preliminary excavation of the Aztec 

 ruin. Because of the absence of 

 metal and the limited use to which 

 basketry can be put, vessels of clay 

 served these people in a multitude of 

 needs. There are many shapes among 

 the vessels found, each suited to a par- 



rhot(>:irui>h by Earl H. Morris 

 The Pueblos often used abandoned portions of tlieir 

 dwellings as repositories for discarded material. This 

 room on the second floor of the north wing of the Aztec 

 ruin proved to be a treasure house for the archwologist. 

 The deposit, which covered the floor to a considerable depth, 

 was filled with sandals, cloth, matting, baskets, cords, and 

 fiber, seeds, bones of animals, broken pottery, arrow points, 

 turquoise, and beads. Throughout the centuries no moisture 

 penetrated the refuse, so even the most perishable articles 

 were perfectly preserved. In fact, some of the dried corn 

 leaves were as green as if taken from a last-season's shock 



I Tliis nrti.-le follows tin/ article l.y Mr. N. ('. N't-lson in the Febniary .JorRN.^L. describing The excavation of 

 the Aztec ruin. The excavation and reparation will be continued by the American Museum of 

 Natural History through a i)eriod of sevei-al years, and make the largest piece of 

 work of the kind ever undertaken in the United States 



169 



