JEANCON ] EXCAVATIONS IN THE CHAMA VALLEY 3 
an excellent representation of a conch shell, which is now in the 
possession of Mr. Cordova, one of the present generation of the family. 
I have also been told of the finding of silver beads, large quantities 
of turquoise, and some Spanish made articles. However, we found 
nothing made of metal of any kind, nothing indicating Spanish in- 
fluence, and only two turquoise beads. If any such finds have been 
made I have not seen any of the articles alleged to have been found in 
the ruin, nor have I been able to corroborate any of the stories. The 
usual stories of the finding of pots of gold and silver were too absurd 
to receive any consideration. 
While the Tewa have a name for the ruin and also for the Chama 
River, which they call P’op’ing (Red Water), on account of its color, 
there seems to be a dearth of legendary information concerning Po- 
shu. Both San Juan and Santa Clara claim the ruin as the site of a 
former occupation by their ancestors, but no details could be obtained 
other than the above general statement. 
From evidences found it would seem that the pueblo was aban- 
doned hastily, but whether the inhabitants were driven out by sud- 
den attack of enemies, panic, or some other cause, could not be 
determined from our excavations. My reason for thinking that they 
left hastily is this: Almost no large pieces of pottery, broken or 
whole, remain in the houses. Scattered over the plazas and out- 
side of the walls are thousands of sherds of large pottery vessels. In 
the rooms the only whole large pieces were buried under the floors. 
A few large bowls, in fragments, were also found in the rooms, but 
fully 95 per cent of the large pieces were outside of the walls. Only 
one exception to this was found; this was in room 23, location 3, in 
the east row of plaza No. 1, and will be dealt with under the head of 
pottery. In contrast to this wide scattering of the large pieces, 
small vases, bowls, and dishes, which could have been easily trans- 
ported, and many small ceremonial stone and shell objects, as well 
as bone artifacts of no great weight, were found in large numbers. 
I can see no good reason why these were left behind, unless the peo- 
ple departed in haste and did not have time to gather them up. 
The ruin was visited in the early seventies by Dr. H. C. Yarrow 
and later by Mr. Adolph Bandelier. The latter did a little excavat- 
ing at the site and the articles taken out are in the possession of 
Mr. Sam Eldot, of San Juan, New Mexico. The description of the 
site given by Dr. Yarrow is very short and deals mainly with the 
finding and uncovering of the burials. It will be given in part under 
that head. Bandelier’s description is as follows: 
Three miles below (southeast) Abiquiu, at a place called ‘‘La Puenta’’ (the 
Bridge), on a bluff close to the river on the south bank, stands a ruin which Dr. 
Yarrow, of Washington, examined about 16 years ago, and of which he has given 
descriptions and a ground plan * * * . The height on which the ruin stands 
