The two distinguishing archæological characters here are architecture and ceramics. As more attention has been given the latter, we may consider it at once. In the first place, there is a kind of glazed decoration which characterizes the sites of the Rio Grande country, but which extends westward into that of the Little Colorado. As this is territory occupied by the historic Pueblo peoples, a connection between the two has been assumed and, in fact, recently proven.[1]
Another easily distinguishable type of pottery is that finished in white and decorated in black. This black-on-white ware has for long been considered one of the oldest and fundamental Pueblo types, chiefly because it is found in almost all parts of the area. Yet, its distribution does not equal that of corrugated ware, that type in which the original coils of clay can be seen, which in the Rio Grande Valley, at least, has as good claim to antiquity as the black-on-white. In addition, a number of more recent and local types of pottery have been defined,[2] but the preceding are sufficient to show that we can safely assume the fundamental unity of the original Pueblo cultures.
Turning to architecture, we note that the surviving Pueblo structures are merely accumulations of one-room houses and that those now occupied in the Rio Grande Valley do not differ in essentials from those in ruins. Hence, it is clear that a large portion of these ruined houses belong to the antecedent culture of the historic Pueblo natives, whose traits have been outlined in the preceding chapter. The center of dispersion for this type seems to have been in the Rio Grande Valley, from which it spread outward in all directions. To the north and west, across the headwaters of the Rio Grande and over into the San Juan country, we have what is known as the cliff-dweller type of house. Just what may be the specific relations of these to the central type cannot be determined from the data at hand, but since the basic house plan seems to be of the Pueblo type, we may safely assume a close historical connection. The essentials of this plan are a bracket-like enclosure of articulated rooms in the open court of which is a kiva, or ceremonial chamber. In fact, the presence of
