18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 32 



and inclosing two large courts. There are remains of three circular 

 subterranean kivas in the village. Excavations at the site disclose 

 no traces of Spanish influence. The pottery is more closely related 

 to that of Otowi than it is to that of the present San Ildefonso. 



No. 8. Otowi. — About five miles west of the point where the Rio 

 Grande enters White Rock canyon are the remains of the extensive 

 prehistoric settlement of Otowi. To reach it one ascends the mesa by 

 following up the Alamo canyon from its confluence with the Guages. 

 The top of the mesa is reached at the head of that part of Alamo can- 

 yon known as the Black Gorge. The first canyon entering the Alamo 

 from the north above this point is Otowi canyon. Following this up 

 for about two miles, a point is reached where the long narrow potrero 

 bounding the canyon on the north is entirely cut out for a distance of 

 nearly a mile, thus throwing into one squarish, open park the width of 

 two small canyons and the formerly intervening mesa. From the midst 

 of this little park, roughly a mile square, a view of surpassing beauty 

 is to be had. Half a mile to the south the huge mesa which is 

 terminated by Rincon del Pueblo bounds the valley with a high 

 unbroken line, perhaps 500 feet above the dry arroyo at the bottom. 

 The same distance to the north is the equally high and more abrupt 

 Otowi mesa, and east and west an equal distance and to about an 

 equal height rise the wedge-like terminal buttes which define this 

 great gap in the middle mesa. Toward the four corners one looks 

 into beautifully wooded gorges. The whole area is well forested. 



The parallel canyons running through this glade are prevented from 

 forming a confluence by a high ridge, the remnant of the intervening 

 mesa. Upon the highest point of this ridge is located a large pueblo 

 ruin which formed the nucleus of the Otowi settlement. In every 

 direction are clusters of excavated cliff-dwellings of contemporaneous 

 occupation and on a parallel ridge to the south are the ruins of one 

 pueblo of considerable size and of seven small ones, all antedating the 

 main Otowi settlement. 



Two types of excavated cliff-dwellings are found at Otowi. The 

 first (pi. II, a) is the open-front dwelling, usually, though not always, 

 single-chambered — in most cases a natural cave enlarged and shaped 

 by excavation. 



The second type (pi. ii, h) is wholly artificial, with closed front of 

 the natural rock in situ. Cliff-dwelHngs of this type are usually mul- 

 tiple chambered, with floors below the level of the threshold; they 

 have generally a crude fireplace beside the doorway, but are seldom 

 provided with a smoke vent. The rooms are commonl37- rectangular 

 and well shaped, with floors plastered always, and walls usually so 

 to a height of three or four feet. The front walls are from one to two 

 feet thick. In some cases a little masonry has been used in the form 

 of casing about the doorways. In a number of instances porches 



