Archaeology Magazine - March 1952 - 21

logical spans in the Southwest. To date we have published six reports on the Mogollon culture of this area
and have another in press.
In other words, an important culture of the Southwest that was largely unknown prior to 1939 has been
under investigation by us for eight seasons. The work
we have done thus far has closed the gap between 2500

The

1951

Season

The Chicago Natural
History Museum expedition to western New Mexico devoted the major effort of
its 1951 season to early habitation sites of the Mogollon
Indians in Pine Lawn Valley.
One site consisted of a cave with a one-room structure at
its entrance. In the cave, in addition to more than 1500
stone tools of the pre-pottery period (c. 2700 b.c. to a.D.
1), diggers Paul S. Martin, field director, and John B.
Rinaldo, associate,recovered tools of bone and antler, objects of leather, string, matting and basketry, sandals,
cigarettes, bows, arrows, and other articles of substances
usually considered perishable, but which here, because of
the extraordinary dryness in the cave, have survived in
fine preservation.
In the same area was a small one-room masonry house,
perhaps a watch tower, which concealed a gruesome but
important discovery: beneath the foundations of this house
was found the headless skeleton of a young girl. In some
primitive propitiation of the god of war, the victim had
been sacrificedby beheading, and her body laid upon the
ground, after which the wall was built directly over it.
Human sacrifice was commonplace among the Mayas of
Yucatan and among several tribes in our own western
states, but this is the first instance reported from the
Mogollons.
A second major effort of the 1951 campaign was the
excavation of Cordova Cave, another Mogollon habitation
site overlooking Pine Lawn Valley, 1200 feet above the
valley floor and a steep mile and a half from the river,
nearest source of water. Unfortunately for the archaeologist, this cave had been burned out. The fire is betrayed by
an ash layer, six to fourteen inches thick, running from
wall to wall and from front to back.
In the upper levels, all objects of wood, leather, and
plant fibers, and all other perishable artifacts, were destroyed. Objects of stone, such as knives, scrapers, and
arrowheads, and pottery fragments survived, and by their
characteristic shapes enable the diggers to fix the date of
the fire in about the first century A.D.From the lower levels,
however, perishables were discovered in good preservation.
Under the direction of Elaine Bluhm another structure
was partially cleared during the 1951 campaign, a long
Spring 1952

B.c. and A.D. 1000; and a continuation of the work will
close the gap between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1350. We
hope to conclude the work here and then to follow the
path of the Mogollon people after they abandoned this
area. In what direction they went, we cannot as yet say,
but we are working on that problem, also, in addition
to our excavations.

Pine

Lawn

alley

rectangular building of ceremonial character, probably a
kiva. At some long-ago date the roof of the building was
burned and its timbers collapsed on the floor- a disaster
for the residents, Dr. Martin points out, but glad tidings
for the archaeologist who will expect to find, sealed under the charred debris, the remains of the weapons, pottery,
tools, and other furniture and personal possessions of the
occupants which were in the building when the fire broke
out. Because tons of rocks which once formed the masonry
walls had collapsed inwards, digging was very slow, and
the excavation was left half done, to be completed during
the 1952 campaign.
The Chicago expedition has been extraordinarily successful in locating and exploiting the dry caves of New
Mexico, but work in a dry cave has its drawbacks. Dr.
Martin has furnished an eloquent critique from the point
of view of the man with the trowel :
"Digging in a cave is far from pleasant. The dust and
heat are oppressive; and the wearing of masks and goggles
- an uncomfortable and trying experience- is absolutely
necessary to give protection from toxic, nuisance, and
pneumonoconiosis-producing dusts. Added to these discomforts is another- inadequate ventilation. The caves
that we excavated in 1950 and the one . . . done in 1951
are small- about 40 feet deep by 30 feet wide at the mouth
and 6 feet or less high. At the end of a day, the workers
look as if they had been working in soft-coal mines.
"Fortunately for us, these caves are usually far removed
from roads and trains and high tension electric lines. I say
'fortunately for us' because if the caves were easy of access
they would have been stripped and pilfered long ago by
vandals. But since we have to take the good with the bad
in all phases of life, we accept the fact that a good' (that
is, undisturbed) cave is never near an electric power line.
Hence, good lighting and ventilation are beyond our reach.
A portable generator might be used, but the expense of
one is prohibitive ; and the problem of transporting one to
or near the cave would be difficult if not impossible. Therefore we get along without forced ventilation, and for illumination we use portable, chargeable, wet-battery electric
lamps."
21

Archaeology Magazine - March 1952

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - March 1952