Civilization of Prehistoric New Mexico indiai
0
Statesman, Salcn, Or. Men., J;.-.. 9, 'Z3 (Src. 1
n
.i
- By EDWARD S. KITCII
CHICAGO WAn anthropolocist
says life among prehistoric Mo
gollon Indians of western New
Mexico wasn't too far different
rom that of today's modern white
man with some important exceDt-
. ions, oi course.
These primitive Indians lived In
apartments, thrived on a farm
economy, were devoted to religion
and had itchy feet.
. Paul S. Martin, head of the De-
partment of Anthropology of the
. Chicago Natural History Museum.
,has supervised the museum's
southwest archaeological expedi
tions for the last 12 years. He re
ports that this year's work In the
.excavations near Reserve, N. M.i
reveaiea important material .on
which to build a chronological his
tory of the people whose begin
. nings reach back 5,000 years.
-Research Purple
Martin says the purpose of his
research on early American life
urdesigned to:
. 1. Learn why a particular cul
. ture or civilization develops.
:i 2. Determine why and how it
changes. :' .
S .Whv It dentin.. mnA AUm
"These problems all have a di
tect bearing on our daily lives be
cause their answers may help us
to prevent our own civilization
from withering," he said.
The reconstructed history of the
Mogollon Indians begins when they
'moved from southern Arizona to
the Pine Lawn .Valley ' area : and
established a village many cen
turies ago. They left their home
land because thelakeV and rivers
were drying up. i e ' S '
! At first -they may have lived - in
skin tents and depended for food
largely, on gathering seeds, nuts,
.berries, bulbs and hunting small
game. By about 2000 B. C, Martin
said, the idea of farming com,
' beans and squash was adopted.
Later ideas of making pottery and
building pit houses (religious cen
ters) were borrowed from more
southern tribes:
Second Century
; By the beginning of the second
er, third cenutry B. C, the nucleus
of a civilization had come into be
ing, Martin said.
An extraordinary feature of this
fledgling culture was the presence
of religious buildings found in the
excavations, A large pit house or
kiva was set aside In each village
for devotional use even in the ear
liest, times. Through the ages,
. while many other cultural changes
were taking place, the church
building was always found in each
village, tit gradually became more
elaborate and larger.
About (1000 . A. t D., : surface
houses were built with rock walls
The compact village uhits con
tained I to 20 , rooms, . Martin
laid.'
Tht ancient village wis known
to the museum expedition as
Voota Canyon Site, and is
perched atop a low mesa some
73 feet Ugh, around which flows
the Blue River.' Fifteen rooms
were uncovered. The ceremonial
chamber probably served as
religious center for other nearby
villages. -
Copper Bell '
.-. Another significant discovery
at ' the dig was a tiny copper
bell ' worn as 'bracelet or anklet
pieces It was found on the hiaza
floor of the village. Slightly
iTusneu, u. may inaicaw inanne
. Moglon Indians traded with the
'
people of Mexico or the Indians
of southern Arizona.
The restlessness of the people
was evident in the architecture.
Rooms were added or altered in
size as fancy moved the occu
pants, Martin said. Dissatisfac
tion with the apartments was
demonstrated time after time.
The Mogollons packed up and
moved away about 1350 AD.
Why they did remains a mystery.
But Martin says the traditional
story that the Apiches drove
them from their homes ia more
fiction than fact because the
Apaches didn't arrive on the
scene until some 200 years later.
Exodus Dalrf
Martin places the date of the
exodus of the Mogollon Indians
at 1350 A D. because of the pres
ence of certain types of pottery
found among the Zuni Indians
is bimiiar wtresem hr-'e
which were also found at the dig
site. Radioactive carbon calcu
lations have established the date
of the pottery.
When they moved they took
their most valuable and portable
possessions, leaving behind most
ly the heavy corn mills of stone
and the large storage pots.
The Mogollon Indians were so
named by archaeologists.
It may be that the priests de
creed i move to offset bad lurk
or black "masic. But Martin fig
ures that maybe they were like
our pioneers and frontiersmen
who simply did not fit into a
settled existence.
SALG C:D"J ill PZIColinCG
it
I
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Otnuint Harmony Heust Suites. All fintst oualitv. Ev.
9araBtttd ptrftct. Compl.t. with doublt drtsitr and htadboord
with foot. PLEASE! Don't bt diseppolnttdl Corn. In wy.
Sovt upto S50.07 on thisfpectaeulor sptelal purcliast.
" f
Critical
Of Address on
State of Union
CHICAGO If! Adlai E. Steven
son aaid Sunday President Eisen
hower'a report'to Congress "was
less' State of the Union Mes
sage than a state of the Republi
can Party message."
' He -called it "political in tone"
and ' "very misleading" about the
state of United States defenses and
foreign policy.
The nation'i relationships with
other countries, Stevenson said,
navo never oeen more perilous
than, now, from Iceland to Japan,
x x x we have never been in more
peril." - V
Steventon. agreed with the Pres
ident that taxes cannot be cut now,
but taid low income groups should
get some sort of tax relief.
' A guest on a national television
program, CBS , "race Th.e ' Na
tion," . Stevenson laid, the Presi
dent! message to Congress Thurs
day teemed to show more con
cern for domestic than foreign pol
icy. ' , '.,'.: ... , ' ', .. .. "' ,t
"It remains to be seen whether
they (the Republicans) mean it
more than before," he said, "x x x
the Republicani always seem to
appropriate the Democratic posi
tion in election years."
Stevenson, the first announced
candidate for the Democratic pres
idential nomination in 1936, said
the administration'!, farm and
school policies as outlined by
tht President Thursday are a
complete reversal from the past.
"After three yean they've de
cided it is time to do something
for tht farmers," he said.
Egyptian Scouts
Reported Killed
' i .. ,--,
JERUSALEM, Israeli Sector
A government announcement said
two Egyptian scouts were killed
near Erez settlement close to the
Gaza Strip' in an exchange of fire
with an Israeli army patrol Sun
day." '
Two submachine guns,- ammuni
tion and lists with observations en
Israeli road traffic were' found on
the bodies, the announcement said..
It recalled two other Egypt ion
scouts killed in the same area in
similar- circumstances Friday,
with tht capture of a third.
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