morris] RUINS ON THE MESAS 195 
One grave contained two skeletons interred at different levels. The 
first (pl. 61, a) lay upon its left side with the head to the west. Near 
the skull were three pottery vessels and a worked stone, presumably 
a pottery smoother, and by the feet were two more vessels. When 
the skull was raised, it was found to be resting upon the knees @f 
another body lying at right angles to the first, with the head to the 
south. By the skull were three bowls, a lamp (?%), and a vase. 
Not one of the 11 skulls from these two series of graves was flat- 
tened at the back. Most of these crania were so badly decomposed 
that they fell to pieces when moved, but three were recovered entire. 
One appears in plate 70, e. In an examination of more than 200 skulls 
taken from graves in the valleys of the La Plata, the Animas, and the 
San Juan Rivers, I have seen no others which fail to show pro- 
nounced flattening in the occipital region. 
Upon the first bench above the river begin the cobblestone ruins so 
numerous farther down the valley. These are, in general, mounds 
in the form of a semicircle with a kiva between the horns of the half 
moon, and a burial mound south or southeast of the building. The 
shape and construction of these buildings, as well as the pottery 
strewn over them, suggest that they represent a culture differing in 
many particulars from that characterized by the ruins in the upper 
valley and on the mesas to the west. 
ARTIFACTS 
POTTERY 
STRUCTURE 
Structurally the pottery from the mesas is inferior to that from 
the cliffs. In general the paste consists of a fine-grained matrix, 
through which are scattered many dark-colored granules. This indi- 
cates an imperfect reduction of the clay or an admixture of a sec- 
ondary material, possibly crushed potsherds. The color and compo- 
sition of some of the paste suggest a volcanic rock such as I have 
not found on the Mesa Verde. 
The hardness varies greatly. Some vessels are quite friable, while 
the finer ones are not easily scratched and emit a clear, bell-like tone 
when struck. I have not been able to demonstrate the presence of 
a superficial slip on a single specimen. While the surfaces of several 
are of surprising whiteness, this seems to have resulted from the 
polishing which brought to the surface the lighter-colored, finer- 
grained portion of the paste. 
Although it is probable that all the pottery was constructed by the 
application of successive coils of clay, from the standpoint of sur- 
face treatment it may be divided into four classes—(1) smooth 
ware, (2) smooth ware the examples of which have banded necks. 
