﻿THE 
  PUEBLO 
  BONITO 
  EXPEDITION 
  OF 
  THE 
  

   NATIONAL 
  GEOGRAPHIC 
  SOCIETY 
  

  

  By 
  Neil 
  M. 
  Judd 
  

  

  Leader 
  of 
  the 
  National 
  Geographic 
  Society's 
  Expeditions 
  of 
  1921 
  and 
  1922 
  

  

  PUEBLO 
  BONITO 
  is 
  a 
  pre-Colum- 
  

   bian 
  village, 
  now 
  in 
  ruins, 
  situated 
  

   in 
  northwestern 
  New 
  Mexico. 
  Its 
  

   exact 
  age 
  is 
  unknown, 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  an 
  

   increasing 
  hope 
  that 
  this 
  will 
  be 
  closely 
  

   approximated 
  before 
  our 
  studies 
  have 
  

   been 
  completed. 
  

  

  We 
  might, 
  I 
  believe, 
  assume 
  with 
  some 
  

   degree 
  of 
  certainty 
  that 
  the 
  village 
  was 
  

   occupied 
  1,000 
  years 
  ago. 
  

  

  I 
  do 
  not 
  mean 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  Pueblo 
  

   Bonito 
  was 
  erected, 
  or 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  aban- 
  

   doned, 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  922 
  A. 
  D. 
  My 
  thought 
  

   is 
  that 
  if 
  it 
  had 
  been 
  possible 
  for 
  us 
  to 
  

   look 
  down 
  from 
  the 
  cliffs, 
  say 
  800 
  or 
  

   1,200 
  years 
  ago, 
  it 
  is 
  likely 
  we 
  should 
  

   have 
  seen 
  happy 
  children 
  at 
  play 
  on 
  the 
  

   housetops 
  and 
  their 
  elders 
  busy 
  with 
  

   varied 
  activities 
  in 
  and 
  about 
  the 
  village. 
  

  

  Pueblo 
  Bonito 
  is 
  a 
  colossal 
  apartment- 
  

   house, 
  not 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  its 
  kind, 
  but 
  one 
  of 
  

   the 
  largest 
  and 
  best 
  known 
  at 
  that 
  early 
  

   period. 
  Its 
  equipment, 
  its 
  furniture, 
  is 
  a 
  

   bit 
  out 
  of 
  date, 
  to 
  be 
  sure, 
  but 
  many 
  a 
  

   city 
  dweller 
  of 
  today 
  would 
  welcome 
  the 
  

   freedom 
  of 
  its 
  spacious 
  rooms 
  (see 
  dia- 
  

   gram, 
  page 
  322). 
  

  

  This 
  aboriginal 
  village 
  or 
  pre-Colum- 
  

   bian 
  apartment 
  hotel 
  was 
  a 
  whole 
  com- 
  

   munity 
  in 
  itself, 
  since 
  it 
  covered 
  a 
  little 
  

   more 
  than 
  three 
  acres 
  and 
  sheltered 
  

   between 
  1,200 
  and 
  1,500 
  individuals. 
  

   Roughly 
  speaking, 
  its 
  foundations 
  were 
  

   approximately 
  equal 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  

   United 
  States 
  Capitol. 
  

  

  There 
  were 
  more 
  than 
  300 
  rooms 
  on 
  

   its 
  ground 
  floor 
  ; 
  its 
  outer 
  walls 
  were 
  four, 
  

   perhaps 
  five, 
  stories 
  high. 
  Portions 
  of 
  

   fourth-story 
  walls 
  still 
  stand. 
  Its 
  houses 
  

   were 
  terraced 
  upward 
  from 
  two 
  inner 
  

   plazas 
  or 
  courts, 
  like 
  the 
  magnified 
  seats 
  

   of 
  an 
  amphitheater. 
  

  

  The 
  modern 
  pueblo 
  of 
  Acoma, 
  south- 
  

   west 
  of 
  Albuquerque, 
  New 
  Mexico, 
  pos- 
  

   sesses 
  several 
  features 
  closely 
  paralleling 
  

   those 
  of 
  Pueblo 
  Bonito. 
  Its 
  houses 
  are 
  

   in 
  long 
  rows, 
  with 
  a 
  high 
  wall 
  on 
  one 
  

   side, 
  unbroken 
  except 
  for 
  small 
  ventila- 
  

   tors, 
  and, 
  opposite, 
  stepped 
  houses 
  over- 
  

   looking 
  the 
  plazas. 
  Acoma 
  is 
  the 
  oldest 
  

   continuously 
  inhabited 
  settlement 
  in 
  the 
  

  

  United 
  States; 
  its 
  population 
  has 
  been 
  

   estimated 
  at 
  between 
  1,000 
  and 
  2,000 
  

   when 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  first 
  attacked 
  it, 
  in 
  

   1540 
  (see 
  illustration, 
  page 
  324). 
  

  

  Our 
  initial 
  explorations, 
  conducted 
  dur- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1921, 
  afford 
  a 
  rea- 
  

   sonably 
  accurate 
  view 
  of 
  Pueblo 
  Bonito. 
  

   The 
  building 
  is 
  semicircular. 
  It 
  is 
  310 
  

   feet 
  north 
  and 
  south; 
  its 
  south 
  face 
  is 
  

   518 
  feet 
  long. 
  If 
  stood 
  on 
  end, 
  this 
  wall 
  

   would 
  reach 
  to 
  the 
  windows 
  of 
  the 
  Wash- 
  

   ington 
  Monument. 
  

  

  The 
  twenty 
  or 
  more 
  circular 
  kivas 
  (a 
  

   kiva 
  was 
  both 
  a 
  council 
  chamber 
  and 
  a 
  

   religious 
  sanctuary) 
  border 
  the 
  two 
  open 
  

   spaces 
  where 
  public 
  ceremonies 
  were 
  en- 
  

   acted. 
  The 
  clustered 
  dwellings 
  overlook- 
  

   ing 
  these 
  courts 
  furnished 
  seats 
  for 
  

   gathered 
  spectators, 
  just 
  as 
  the 
  house- 
  

   tops 
  of 
  Oraibi 
  are 
  now 
  utilized 
  during 
  

   the 
  Snake 
  Dance 
  and 
  other 
  native 
  dramas. 
  

  

  The 
  shaded 
  sections 
  of 
  the 
  diagram 
  on 
  

   page 
  322 
  mark 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  rooms 
  exca- 
  

   vated 
  last 
  summer, 
  but 
  tests 
  made 
  else- 
  

   where 
  disclosed 
  buried 
  structures 
  not 
  

   shown 
  on 
  this 
  plan. 
  

  

  THE 
  BONITIANS 
  USED 
  THREE 
  TYPES 
  OF 
  

   MASONRY 
  

  

  One 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  results 
  of 
  

   our 
  first 
  season's 
  work 
  was 
  identification 
  

   of 
  three 
  distinct 
  types 
  of 
  masonry 
  em- 
  

   ployed 
  in 
  construction 
  of 
  the 
  pueblo. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  north 
  and 
  northwest 
  sections 
  of 
  

   the 
  ruin, 
  dwellings 
  with 
  very 
  crude 
  stone- 
  

   work 
  are 
  found. 
  These 
  houses 
  formed 
  

   the 
  nucleus 
  of 
  Pueblo 
  Bonito 
  ; 
  their 
  build- 
  

   ers 
  possessed 
  a 
  culture 
  cruder 
  and 
  less 
  

   artistic 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  peoples 
  who 
  came 
  

   later 
  to 
  join 
  with 
  them 
  and 
  who 
  were 
  

   largely 
  responsible, 
  we 
  may 
  safely 
  as- 
  

   sume, 
  in 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  

   community 
  whose 
  shattered 
  walls 
  first 
  

   attracted 
  our 
  attention 
  and 
  now 
  command 
  

   our 
  admiration. 
  

  

  The 
  outline 
  of 
  this 
  more 
  primitive 
  

   settlement 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  wholly 
  traced, 
  

   owing 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  partially 
  

   destroyed 
  and 
  built 
  over 
  as 
  newer 
  build- 
  

   ings 
  were 
  erected. 
  

  

  323 
  

  

  