MINOR REMAINS OF ANTIQUITY From the foregoing account it is seen that the archeological remains of the Jemez plateau are very numerous and of great interest and scientific value. The village-sites of the ancient inhabitants, with all the accessories of sedentary village life, such as kivas, shrines, burial places, fields, irrigation works, lookouts, stairways, and trails, with the vast number of scattered and isolated cliff-dwellings and small pueblos, not forming aggregations that could be called villages, preserve a complete picture of the ancient life of the Southwest. Buried under the débris of buildings and in the graves of the dead are various artifacts of stone, bone, wood, fiber, and clay (pl. xi, x), displaying the simple industries and domestic life of the inhabitants. These, together with ceremonial objects, as pipes, fetiches, medicine stones, etc. (pl. XVI), with the symbolic ornamentation of domestic and mortuary pottery (pl. XIV, xv), yield important data relative to the social and religious life of the time. A few illustrations of these various artifacts are included herewith. The pottery of the region consists mainly of food bowls, preserved to us through the symbolic act of placing food with the dead. But little is found in the houses. The pottery found consists of the following varieties: A. Coiled and indented ware, plate XIV, a. B. Smooth undecorated ware, plate XIV, c. D. Polished decorated ware, plate XIV, e. E. Polished decorated ware, red with glazed ornament, plate XIV, b. Of class A little is found, and this is mostly in fragmentary condition. The pottery of this class was used principally for cooking vessels, some of which were very large. Of class B but little is found. Class C is still more rare. Seventy-five per cent of all the pottery is of classes D and E. This, as before mentioned, consists principally of food bowls, varying from four to sixteen inches in diameter and in practically all cases having both interior and exterior decorations. A few small olles are found. The clay used was not of first-rate quality. It contained a considerable amount of fine sand and the product was of a rather porous character and quite thick and heavy. Many exceptions to this condition are found, however, in which a much finer clay had been obtained and prepared with great care, making an excellent paste and permitting the construction of fine thin ware. It is noticeable that all pottery of class D is of superior make. The aboriginal potters had considerable knowledge of colors and handled them with good effect in decoration. Yellow and gray ware was always decorated with black lines (pl. xv). Red ware was almost invariably decorated with black and red lines and with a salt glaze (pl. xv, e, f, h). Four shades of red were used, two shades of this color being often applied to the same bowl. The system of ornamentation was bold and striking, and in execution ranges from very crude to very good. Representative motives were sparingly used. In at least 90 per cent of all the decorative work a highly developed symbolism is found. Certain symbolic motives are very persistent, displaying many variants, but capable of being reduced to a few fundamental conceptions (pl. xv, a, b, d). THE PRIVILEGE OF EXCAVATION This presentation of the antiquities of the Jemez plateau is necessarily incomplete, since there are many sites yet unexplored, but it is hoped that the sketch here given will lend encouragement to further exploration and serve as a nucleus around which additional information may be systematically arranged as gathered from time to time. It should be borne in mind that these ruins are mostly on the Jemez forest reserve, and that excavations on the forest reserves are strictly forbidden unless authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture. The majority of ruins not situated on the forest reserves are on the Indian reservations and public lands, and can be disturbed only by permission of the Secretary of the Interior. APPENDIX A AN ACT for the preservation of American antiquities. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who shall appropriate, excavate, injure, or destroy any historic or prehistoric ruin or monument, or any object of antiquity, situated on lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States, without the permission of the Secretary of the Department of the Government having jurisdiction over the lands on which said antiquities are situated, shall, upon conviction, be fined in a sum of not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for a period of not more than ninety days, or shall suffer both fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. SEC. 2. That the President of the United States is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected: Provided, That when such objects are situated upon a tract covered by a bona fide unperfected claim or held in private ownership, the tract, or so much thereof as may be necessary for the proper care and management of the object, may be relinquished to the Government, and the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to accept the relinquishment of such tracts in behalf of the Government of the United States. SEC. 3. That permits for the examination of ruins, the excavation of archæological sites, and the gathering of objects of antiquity upon the lands under their respective jurisdictions may be granted by the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and War to institutions which they may deem properly qualified to conduct such examination, excavation, or gathering, subject to such rules and regulations as they may prescribe: Provided, That the examinations, excavations, and gatherings are undertaken for the benefit of reputable museums, universities, colleges, or other recognized scientific or educational institutions, with a view to increasing the knowledge of such objects, and that the gatherings shall be made for permanent preservation in public museums. SEC. 4. That the Secretaries of the Departments aforesaid shall make and publish from time to time uniform rules and regulations for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act. Approved, June 8, 1906. 54 APPENDIX B SPECIMEN RECORD FOR CARD CATALOGUE OF RUINS AND OTHER ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY CATALOGUE OF ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES STATE, New Mexico. MAP, Pajarito park. SITE, No. 6. CLASS, Pueblo and cliff-village. NAME, Tshirege. Pajarito canyon. RANGE 7 E. Jemez forest reserve. LOCATION: DRAINAGE, Rio Grande. COUNTY, Santa Fe. TOWNSHIP 19 N. SECTION. Unsurveyed reservation. This site occupies a low mesa about 15 miles west of the Rio Grande, 10 miles southwest of San Ildefonso pueblo. Can be reached by wagon road from San Ildefonso to Alamo canyon, thence by trail remainder of distance. Ruins may be seen from abandoned sawmill road 6 miles west of Buckman. This road was formerly much traveled, and the ruins suffered greatly from vandalism. dings not seriously injured, but burial mounds much disturbed. Build Large pueblo on top and extensive cliff-village (cavate type) in south face of mesa. My work at this site consisted of the exploration of the principal cemetery, southeast corner of the pueblo; the excavation of one kiva, and of 14 rooms in the pueblo; also of one burial crypt in south face of mesa. Map of mesa, ground plan of pueblo, numerous sketches and photographs made. Collections secured as follows: All collections were sent to the museum of the New Mexico Normal University, Las Vegas, except skeletal remains, which were forwarded to the U. S. National Museum. Photographs, sketches, maps, plans, etc., also in Normal University museum. This is an enormous ruin, and the work done represents but a small part of what is necessary to complete the investigation of the site. So far as prosecuted, however, the work is finished and fully recorded. Results of expedition to be published in preliminary form in the American Anthropologist. SEPTEMBER, 1900. (Signed) EDGAR L. HEWETT. 55 |