ARCH^OLOGICAL FIELD WORK IN ARIZONA IN 1897. 619 



the existence of human faces, with organs in relief, found on the upper 

 or smaller of the two globular parts of which it is composed. 



My attention was called soon after my arrival in Solomonville to a 

 small head made of clay, which reminded me of certain similar objects 

 from Old Mexico. As in all excavations on the Little Colorado I had 

 never found more than the rudest imitation of a human head in clay, I 

 was startled by the discovery of objects of this kind so well made and 

 so Mexican in appearance. A report of a similar head on a dipper 

 handle from the Beebe Euin, near Saiford, was confirmatory of my 

 suspicions, but latf^r, in the excavations at Buena Vista, a well-made 

 figure of a human face and head was taken from a small mound of 

 ashes and other debris. 



The stone implements from the ruins in Pueblo Viejo were particu- 

 larly fine, and include all the more common kinds. In fact, almost 

 every stone found in Epley's ruin bore traces of having been worked, 

 chipped, or in some other way pecked or dressed into an implement. 

 There were many metates, mostly made of a volcanic rock, the grinding 

 surface of which was so worn down that the sides stood 4 or 5 inches 

 in relief. A most exceptional form of metate was made of lava and 

 had three stumpy legs. This is a well-known Mexican form, which has 

 never been found in northern Arizona. 



Several worn quartz crystals, which had evidently been prized by 

 their owners, were found in the rooms which were excavated. It is 

 supposed that they were used in the ancient ritual. A considerable 

 number of perfectly spherical stones, that show marks of chipping and 

 dressing, recall the weapons of offense used by the ancient Pueblos. It 

 is possible that some of the smaller of these were covered by a skin, 

 and, when attached to a stick, were used as a maul. 



My attention was called, soon after my arrival in the Pueblo Viejo, 

 to small rectangular slabs of stone about the thickness of the sole of a 

 shoe, flat on one face, rounded on the opposite, and grooved about the 

 edge. Later several of these sole-shaped stones were collected. They 

 have never been found in northern ruins, but are common in the ruins 

 along the Gila and Salt rivers. These slabs were used in ancient 

 ceremonials, and the Hopi, who have legends referring to them, still 

 use stone objects, with which they may be compared, in certain kiva 

 rites. 



The ordinary form of these objects is simply rectangulir, with a 

 groove on the rim and a slight depression on one face, with a border 

 which is ornamented with incised parallel lines. One of the best of 

 these slabs had the head and tail of a bird carved on the ends. 



This specimen was found near Mr. L. Place's ranch at Safford, and 

 was dug out of an irrigating ditch not far from his house. From the 

 large number of these stone objects from the Gila Valley ruins, I judge 

 that they were in common use in ancient worship. 



A number of grooved stones identical with those mentioned in pre- 

 vious reports from more northern Arizona ruins were likewise found in 



