RUINS OF PREHISTORIC NEW MEXICO 



81 



the ruins, so that although the culti- 

 vated fields can no longer be dis- 

 cerned, we may be reasonably certain 

 that the inhabitants subsisted main- 

 ly by the cultivation of the soil. 



Incidental to the expedition's 

 main work in the Galisteo region, 

 two weeks were given to the excava- 

 tion of the historically famous ruin of 

 Kotyiti on Potrero Viejo, a few miles 

 west of the Rio Grande in the latitude 

 of Santa Fe. Potrero Viejo is a high, 

 steep-sided mesa spur, a strong nat- 

 ural fortress. It shows signs of hav- 

 ing been occupied once in very ancient 

 times, but Kotyiti itself was a village 

 or temporary refuge built shortly 

 after the Indian rebellion of 16S0 to 

 be destroyed by the reconquering 

 Spaniards in 1693. Its excavation 

 was undertaken partly to verify 

 Spanish documentary history and 

 partly also because it was possible to 

 get here a glimpse of the conditions 

 of pueblo life at a given 

 and known instant of 

 time. The entire ruin 

 was cleared. It con- 

 tained one hundred and 

 thirty-six rather large 

 living rooms and two 

 estufas. The chief thing 

 of interest learned from 

 the excavation here was 

 the fact that the Indians 

 in the absence of the 

 Spaniards made a fair 

 success of smelting cop- 

 per ore. This art was of 

 course not of native origin 

 but had been acquired in 

 connection with Spanish 

 mining operations. 



Doorway connecting interior roonis at 

 Pueblo San Cristobal. This is the form of 

 door in general use in all the pueblos of the 

 region 



Illustration of the masonry at Pueblo Kotyiti. The 

 larger blocks of stone were roughly dressed with stone 

 tools and laid in mortar, after which the wall was chinked 

 with small angular fragments, plastered and often white- 

 washed 



