RECENTLY DATED PUEBLO RUINS IN ARIZONA 



By EMIL W. HAURY and LYNDON L. HARGRAVE 



(With 27 Plates) 



FOREWORD 



In 1 92 1 the National Geographic Society began excavation and 

 study of Pueblo Bonito, a prehistoric ruin in Chaco Canyon, north- 

 western New Mexico. It was the privilege of the undersigned to 

 direct these archeological investigations from their inception to the 

 conclusion of actual field-work in the autumn of 1927. 



Pueblo Bonito is unquestionably the finest extant example of that 

 phase of southwestern history known to archeologists as Pueblo III — - 

 the period during which small, isolated villages were drawn together 

 into large, complex communities. After a time these communities 

 began to disintegrate ; to separate into lesser groups that spread far 

 and wide in search of more fertile fields and' freedom from the attacks 

 of nomadic enemies. Then came, in 1540, Coronado and his fellow 

 adventurers to initiate the Spanish conquest of the Southwest; to 

 bring about still further disintegration of the peaceful Pueblo tribes 

 and their unique social organization. This Spanish-dominated phase 

 of Pueblo history, from 1540 to the present, is commonly designated 

 Pueblo V. 



In undertaking exploration of Pueblo Bonito, one of our prime 

 desiderata was the determination of a method whereby this famous 

 ruin could be correlated accurately with the recorded history of the 

 Southwest. To be sure, the relative age of the ruin had previously 

 been ascertained through stratigraphic methods and the study of 

 pottery types. It was known to be older than certain ruins ; younger 

 than others. Our hope, notwithstanding, was to discover an absolute 

 date — the very year, if possible, during which its prehistoric walls 

 were building. 



This desire was finally realized by a novel but altogether convinc- 

 ing method. As I have explained in a short paper published in 

 " Explorations and Field-Work of the Smithsonian Institution in 

 1929" (Dating our prehistoric Pueblo ruins, pp. 167-176, Washing- 

 ton, 1930), Dr. A. E. Douglass, Director of Steward Observatory, 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 82, No. 11 



