UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO BULLETINS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SERIES, OF INTEREST TO ANTHROPOLOGISTS Vol. 4. No.2. Whole Number 267. Allen and Schaeffer. The Dis­ tribution of Human Blood Groups among the Navajo and Pueblo Indians of the Southwest. June 1, 1935. 25c. ETHNOBIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST Vol. 4. No. 1. Whole Number 266. Castetter, E. F. 1. Uncultivated Native Plants Used as Sources of Food. May 15, 1935. 25c. No.3. Whole Number 275. Castetter and Underhill. II. The Ethnobiology of the Papa go Indians. Oct. 15, 1935. 25c. No.5. Whole Number 297. Castetter and Opler. III. The Ethnobiology of the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache. A. The Use of Plants for Foods, Beverages, and Narcotics. Oct. 15, 1936. 25c. Vol. 5. No. 1. Whole Number 307. Castetter and Bell. IV. The Aboriginal Utilization of the Tall Cacti in the American Southwest. June 1, 1937. 25c. P AINTEIJ \VOOLJEN PLAQUE FROM TSEH So The University of New Mexico Bulletin • TSEH so, A SMALL HOUSE RUIN Chaco Canyon, New Mexico (PRELIMINARY REPORT) By DONALD D. BRAND, FLORENCE M. HAWLEY, FRANK C. HIBBEN, et ai. THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO Whole Number 308 June 15, 1937 Anthropological Series, Vol. 2, No.2 Published twice a month by the University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico Entered as Second Class Matter, May 1, 1906, at the post office at Albuquerque, New Mexico, under Act of July 16, 1894 UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO PRESS 1937 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Ackno\vledgement ___________________________________________ 7 Preface ____________________________________________________ 9 Roster of the 1936 Chaco General Field Session_____________ 13 Introduction, by Donald D. Brand ____________________________ 17 Scheme of the Report ___________________________________ 17 History of Research in the Chaco Canyon __________________ 18 Spanish and Mexican Period _________________________ 18 American Military Period ___________________________ 20 Period of Geologic and Geographic Surveys ___________ 21 Beginnings of Modern Research 1888-1920 ____________ 22 Modern Period 1920-- _______________________________ 24 Chronologie Outline ________________________________ 28 Studies in Geology, Geography, and Biology ____ ;-______ 29 Surveys, Maps, and Place Names _____________________ 31 The Report, Part I, The Natural Landscape, by Donald D. Brand__ 39 Location and Setting ____________________________________ 39 Geology, Landforms, and Drainage _______________________ 40 Weather, Climate, and Water Supply _____________________ 43 Biota _~_________________________________________________ 46 Natural Resources ______________________________________ 49 Vegetable _____________ ~_____________________________ 49 Mineral ___________________________________________ 55 Shells _____________________________________________ 63 Animal ____________________________________________ 63 The Report, Part II, The Site and the Excavations, by Frank C. Hibben _____________________________________________ 67 Excavation Methods ____________________________________ 68 General Features of Superstructure (Pueblo II) ___________ 69 Masonry ___________________________________________ 71 Openings __ ~________________________________________ 71 Plaster _______ ~_____________________________________ 71 Floors _____________________________________________ 72 Roofs _____________________________________________ 72 Cists and Bins _____________________________________ 72 Fireplaces _________________________________________ 73 Special Structures __________________________________ 73 Superstructure Pueblo II: The Kivas _____________________ 73 Kiva 1 ____________________________________________ 74 Kiva 2 ____________________________________________ 75 Kiva 3 ____________________________________________ 77 Kiva 4 ____________________________________________ 79 [ 3 ] 4 ] THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO Evidence from Shards in the Superstructure _______________ 80 Dating ____________________________________________ 81 Substructure or Pueblo I __________________ __ _____________ 81 General Features of Substructure (Pueblo I) ______________ 82 Walls ________________________________________________ 82 Floors 83 Roofs 83 Cists, Bins, and Fireplaces ________________ _ ________ ___ 83 Special Structures __________________________________ 84 Shard Evidence from Substructure _________ ___________ ___ 84 The Report, Part III, Summaries and Conclusions ______________ 85 Summary of Pottery from Tseh So, by Florence M. Hawley__ 85 Succession of Chaco Canyon Masonry Types, by Florence M. Hawley _______________________________________________ 88 Stone and Other Artifacts, by Frank C. Hibben ____________ 90 Artifacts other than Fabrics and Basketry ____________ 90 Metates _______________________________________ 90 Manos __________________________________________ 91 Projectile points________________________________ 91 Knives ______________________________________________ 92 Percussion Instruments __________________________ 92 Ornaments ______________________________________ _ 93 Awls ___________________________________________ _ 94 Scrapers 94 Counters 94 Palettes 94 Mortars _______________________________________ _ 95 Sandal Last ____________________________________ _ 95 Trays _____________ .____________________________ _ 95 Pipes _________________________________________ _ 95 Disks ________________________________________ _ 95 Hoes _________________________________________ _ 95 Rubbing Stones __________________________________ _ 96 Effigy Forms ____________________________________ _ 96 Methods of Working Materials __________________ 96 Shell Identifications _________________________________ 98 Fabrics and Basketry _______________________________ 98 Basketry _____________________ . ____________ ._____ 98 Matting _______________________________________ 99 Fabrics ________________________________________ 99 Mammal and Bird Remains, by Frank C. Hibben ____________ 101 Bird Remains ______________________________________ 106 CONTENTS [ 5 Vegetable Remains, by Frank C. Hibben __________________ 107 Foods _____________________________________________ 107 Identified Vegetable Material other than Food _________ 108 Subsistence, by Donald D. Brand __________________________ 112 The Place of Tseh So in the Chaco Culture Pattern, by Florence M. Hawley. _______________________________ 115 Bibliography, Compiled by Donald D. Brand ___________________ 120 Appendix I, Floor Deposition and Erosion in Chaco Canyon, by Donovan Senter ____________________________ 134 Appendix ~I, Burials from Mound 50 and Mound 51, by Donovan Senter ____________________________ 140 Appendix III, The Refuse Dump of Mound 50, by Florence M. Hawley ____________________________________ 163 Working Bibliography for the Appendices _____________________ 173 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Painted Wood Plaque from Tseh So __________________ Frontispiece MAPS Map I Tseh So and Its Environs ___________________________ 10 Map II Section of Miera and Pacheco Map ___________________ 32 Map III Probable Location of Mineral Sources _______________ 54 Map IV Plot of Excavations ________________________________ 70 FIGURES IN TEXT Fig. 1 East-west Section at Room 11, Mound 50 _____ .__________ 66 Fig. 2 Kiva 1; Kiva 3 ______________________________________ 76 Fig. 3 Succession of Chaco Canyon Masonry Types ____________ 89 Fig. 4 Matting and Wood Fragments _________________________ 97 Fig. 5 Profile of Chetro Ketl-Chaco Wash Stratigraphic CuL___ 136 Fig. 6 Burial Records from Mounds 50 and 51 _________________ 146 Fig. 7 Graphs of Refuse Mound ____________________________ 164 TABLES Table I Shard Percentages by Rooms and Levels ______ in pocket Table II Artifacts ___________________________________ in pocket Table III Mammal and Bird Remains _________________________ 100 Table IV Measurements and Observations on Burials from Mounds 50 and 51 ___________________________ 148-160 PLATES I - XXII _______________________________________________ in back ACKNOWLEDGMENT The publication of this bulletin has been made possible through the interest and kindness of Mr. William Shirley Fulton, of Waterbury, Connecticut, and Dragoon, Arizona. Mr. Fulton has already demonstrated, through excavation and publication, his position as a worthy amateur of archae­ ology. The Department of Anthropology of the University of New Mexico herewith acknowledges its debt of gratitude to Mr. Fulton as a sympathetic and intelligent patron. [ 7 ] PREFACE For an eight year period, 1928-1935, the Department of Anthro­ pology of the University of New Mexico had co-operated with the School of American Research in maintaining a summer field session in the Jemez Canyon, New Mexico. This General Field Session (com­ monly known as the Jemez Field School), offering lower and upper division work in two courses graded for beginners and advanced stu­ dents, provided lecture and field work in archaeology, ethnography, anthropo-geography, and natural history. Both students and faculty were recruited from colleges and universities throughout the United States. In August of 1936, for the first time, the General Field Session was held in the Chaco Canyon, northwestern New Mexico. This change to to the Chaco was made (1) In order to acquaint visiting students and faculty with the outstanding ruin area north of Mexico; (2) To test the thesis that young students in archaeology, if properly supervised, could profitably carry on an excavation under the supposedly more complex conditions obtaining in the Chaco; and (3) To accelerate the study