Pottery Mound is an important Puebloan archaeological site located on the Rio Puerco in central New Mexico. It was occupied from about A.D. 1370 to 1475, but its pottery and kiva murals reflect both Western and Rio Grande Pueblo traditions. Its architecture is complicated and not fully understood. Beginning in 1954, University of New Mexico archaeologist Frank Hibben brought many field schools to the site, but field records and publications were few.
This was clearly a village of prodigious potters, mural painters, and weavers. Hibben’s discovery of 11 elaborately painted kivas attests to the richness of ceremonial life in the village, as does the massive amounts of pottery sherds that were recovered, thus giving the pueblo its name.
In this noteworthy volume, Polly Schaafsma brings together scholars with field experience at the site along with others who have studied its remarkable legacy. Eleven noted authors explore the various aspects of the ruins and its remains. Their essays, complemented by four informative appendices, describe the excavations at the site and the remarkable artifacts that were recovered. It is rare to find painted murals intact in the American Southwest, consequently recording 11 of them is remarkable. No other site to date has yielded such a large number of paintings or painted kivas, and the variety of subject matter and detail is rivaled at only two other sites in the region. The Pottery Mound murals portray people and gods dressed in rich costumes. Some are armed and some are conducting ceremonies. Animals are abundant as are celestial objects like stars, clouds, and rainbows. Plants like maize and squash are also common.
Hibben believed the paintings were Mexican. Schaafsma, a leading expert on Southwestern rock art, argues for their inclusion in Puebloan artistic tradition, especially rock and kiva art of the Rio Grande Valley. Her chapter on the artistic tradition is the highlight of the book. Richly illustrated and finely produced, this volume is a must for those interested in the art and archaeology of the Puebloan world.
