EXPLORATIONS IN NEW MEXICO 



471 



Another grave had been cut down 

 into the natural soil below the refuse. 

 The body was lying flat upon its back, 

 and the pit had been roofed over with 

 cedar logs which were weighted down 

 with stones. Two bone awls and an 

 arrowpoint were by the right hand, 

 while around the head were grouped a 

 pitcher, a bowl, and two ladles. On the 

 extreme outskirts of the mound lay a 

 skeleton with knees drawn close up 

 against the chest, and arms flexed with 

 hands at the shoulders. Although the 

 skeleton lay near the surface, and was 

 covered with large stones and gravel, 

 this person must have been well thought 

 of, for in front of the face reposed a 

 bowl, a pitcher, a ladle, and two cook- 

 ing pots. Curiously enough the three 

 graves in this mound represent the typ- 

 ical positions of burial — on the back 

 with knees elevated, on the back with 

 legs extended, and on the side with 

 arms and legs flexed. 



Fragments of pottery from the three 

 buildings clearly revealed the type of 

 ware and ornamentation characteristic 

 of each period of occupation, and from 

 them it was possible to establish the 

 relative age of many of the graves. Only 

 one was found which belonged to the 

 people of the pit houses, and but three 

 which dated from the time of the sand- 

 stone structure, while about thirty be- 

 longed to the period of the cobblestone 

 dwelling. The remainder of the bodies 

 were buried without pottery, and noth- 

 ing could be told concerning their an- 

 tiquity, since there was no discoverable 

 correlation between the positions of 

 burial and the age of the graves. 



To summarize the facts gathered 

 from the La Plata excavations: three 

 times the site was inhabited by groups 

 of people each of which had attained 

 higher architectural ability and me- 

 chanical skill than had the group pre- 



ceding. Centuries must be taken as 

 units to measure the time which elapsed 

 between the periods of occupation, and 

 other centuries must be added to allow 

 for the great accumulation of refuse 

 accompanying the different types of 

 buildings. And from a comparison of 

 pottery types, it is proved that even the 

 sandstone structure had fallen into 

 decay before America was discovered by 

 Europeans. Then one may risk the 

 statement that at least fifteen hun- 

 dred years have passed since the people 

 of the pit houses migrated into the La 

 Plata Valley. 



The dwellers in the pit houses made 

 relatively little pottery, and rarely or- 

 namented it with painted designs, but 

 the people of the middle period made 

 great quantities of excellent ware which 

 exhibits a profusion of shapes. Of 

 these the most typical are drinking ves- 

 sels with globular bases and restricted 

 necks, and ladles in the form of one 

 half of a gourd which has been split 

 longitudinally through the center. 

 Curvilinear geometric patterns applied 

 in black and red-brown pigment are the 

 characteristic ornamentations. 



During the third period the pottery 

 w^as very little better than that of the 

 second, but it presents several features 

 which give it individuality. The half- 

 gourd .ladles are supplanted by ladles 

 with tubular handles, and the pitchers 

 with globular bottoms are replaced by 

 the flat-bottomed mugs common among 

 the pottery from the Mesa Verde 



Such points make possible a histori- 

 cal reconstruction of the parallel devel- 

 opment of architectural and ceramic 

 types. By a close study of the evolu- 

 tion and distribution of these types it 

 will be possible eventually to map the 

 routes of Pueblo migration, and prob- 

 ably to tell whence the ancestors of the 

 Pueblos came into the Southwest. 



