he pueblo was
built in the form of a rectangle of single-story houses surrounding a
plaza. There was an opening or entrance on the southern side, near
which is a mound, possibly the remains of a kiva. A trail now passes
directly through the ruin and down the mesa side to Jeditoh valley,
probably the pathway by which the ancient inhabitants ascended the
cliff. The Hopi Indians employed by me in excavating Awatobi had no
name for this ruin and were not familiar with its existence before I
pointed it out to them. For want of a better interpretation I have
regarded it as a colony of old Awatobi, possibly of later
construction.

Excavations in its mounds revealed no objects of interest, although
fragments of beautiful pottery, related to that found at Awatobi and
Sikyatki, show that it must have been made by people of the older or
best epoch[78] of Tusayan ceramics.

MORTUARY REMAINS

Although it is well known that the ancient inhabitants of the great
houses of the Gila-Salado drainage buried some of their dead within
their dwellings, or in other rooms, and that the same mortuary
practice was observed in ancient Zuni-Cibola, up to the time of my
excavations this form of burial had never been found in Tusayan. I am
now able to record that the same custom was practiced at Awatobi.

Excavation made in the southeastern declivity of the western mounds
led to a burial chamber in which we found the well-preserved skeleton
of an old man, apparently a priest. The body was laid on the floor, at
full length, and at his head, which pointed southward, had been
placed, not mortuary offerings of food in bowls, but insignia of his
priestly office. Eight small objects of pottery were found on his left
side (plate CXII, _a_, _b_, _d_, _e_). Among these was a symmetrical
vase of beautiful red ware (plate CXI, _a_) richly decorated with
geometric patterns, and four globular paint pots, each full of pigment
of characteristic color. These paint pots were of black-and-white
ware, and contained, respectively, yellow ocher, sesquioxide of iron,
green copper carbonate, and micaceous hematite (plate CXIII, _a_,
_d_, _e_) such as is now called _yayala_ and used by the Snake priests
in the decoration of their faces. There were also many arrowpoints in
an earthen colander, and a ladle was luted over the mouth of the red
vase. My native excavators pronounced this the grave of a warrior
priest. The passageways into this chamber of death had all been