Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895: Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1895-1896, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898, pages 519-744

In Short

This work is an archeological field report documenting a 1895 expedition across Arizona's Verde Valley and the Hopi mesas. Led by Jesse Walter Fewkes for the Bureau of American Ethnology, the survey examines cavate dwellings, cliff structures, and ruined pueblos like Awatobi and Sikyatki. Through detailed mapping, excavation of burial mounds, and the analysis of mortuary pottery, the narrative reconstructs ancestral Puebloan life and migration traditions. The book remains a fundamental text due to its meticulous paleographic study of prehistoric Southwestern ceramic art and its connection to Hopi folklore.

The Story

The narrative follows an scientific survey through the rugged landscapes of Arizona, beginning in the Verde Valley. The expedition establishes its initial camps along the Rio Verde, pitching tents on bluffs to inspect the cavate dwellings carved into the sheer limestone cliffs opposite Squaw Mountain. Moving eastward into the Red-rock country, the party traverses dramatic canyons lined with towering sandstone formations that resemble giant cathedrals and needles. Here, they discover and map the cliff dwellings of Palatki and Honanki, recording pictographs left by both ancient inhabitants and later Apache visitors. By combining local geographic observations with Hopi oral traditions, the investigation links these southern ruins to the ancestral migrations of specific Hopi clans, particularly the Water-house phratry moving northward toward the mesas.

The survey then shifts its focus to the Tusayan region, systematically visiting the ruined pueblos scattered across the Middle and East Mesas and the Jeditoh Valley. The party examines historic and prehistoric sites including Old Shuñopovi, Old Mishoñinovi, Chukubi, and Payüpki, detailing their architectural footprints and surrounding debris. Particular attention is given to Awatobi, a major pueblo destroyed at the end of the seventeenth century. The text outlines Awatobi's early historical contact with Spanish explorers, the violent arrival of Tobar, the establishment of the Franciscan mission, and the eventual destruction of the village. Excavations in Awatobi's mounds and kivas yield key artifacts, including prayer-sticks, clay bells, stone implements, and items showing early Spanish influence.

The final and most extensive section of the expedition centers on the ruins of Sikyatki, an ancient pueblo situated near the East Mesa that was destroyed prior to Spanish contact. The team undertakes detailed excavations of the site’s eastern and western cemeteries, unearthing intact mortuary offerings buried alongside human remains. The rich yield of ceramics—ranging from coarse, coiled cooking vessels to beautifully polished cream-and-red food bowls—forms the foundation for an exhaustive paleographic analysis. The survey carefully classifies the decorative symbols found on the pottery, interpreting representations of human figures, quadrupeds, reptiles, tadpoles, butterflies, dragonflies, and birds. It further analyzes abstract geometric motifs such as rain-clouds, crosses, crooks, germinative phallic symbols, and the deliberate "broken line" in vessel borders. The work concludes by examining non-ceramic mortuary finds, including carved stone fetishes, obsidian blades, shell ornaments, bone whistles, and preserved food deposits, tying these physical artifacts back to the broader ceremonial and daily lives of the prehistoric Pueblo peoples.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins The expedition establishes its base camp on a bluff overlooking the Rio Verde to survey the nearby cavate dwellings. The team daily fords the river to reach the steep cliff faces, noting ancient irrigating ditches in the plain below and mapping the rock-cut rooms.

Exploring the Red-rock canyons Moving into the vivid sandstone canyon country, the party discovers and names the cliff dwellings of Palatki and Honanki. They document the surrounding landscape, record ancient paleoglyphs, and evaluate the modern Apache pictographs painted over the older walls.

Surveying the Tusayan ruins The expedition travels to the Hopi mesas to inspect the historical and prehistoric ruins of Old Shuñopovi, Old Mishoñinovi, and neighboring sites. The researchers map room foundations and collect surface potsherds while recording regional clan traditions from local priests.

Uncovering Awatobi's history Focusing on the Jeditoh Valley, the team investigates the large ruin of Awatobi, cross-referencing Spanish historical accounts with native legends. Excavations in the mission court and surrounding rooms reveal kivas, mortuary remains, prayer-sticks, and evidence of the town's ultimate destruction by fire.

Excavating the Sikyatki cemeteries The survey moves to Sikyatki, unearthing the eastern and western burial mounds to analyze intact mortuary deposits. The team uncovers hundreds of skeletons accompanied by decorated food bowls, ladles, stone tools, and personal ornaments.

Deciphering the pottery symbols The investigation turns to a comprehensive paleographic study of the recovered Sikyatki ceramics. Decorative iconography is analyzed in detail, decoding realistic and stylized depictions of birds, reptiles, insects, and symbolic geometric patterns.

The People

• Jesse Walter Fewkes: The primary investigator and leader of the expedition. He seeks to trace the ancestral migration routes of the Hopi people by combining rigorous archeological excavation with native oral traditions.
• The Hopi Priests and Traditionists: Local informants and elders who assist Fewkes by interpreting ancient pictographs, identifying ceremonial objects, and recounting clan migration legends. They safeguard sacred sites like Old Mishoñinovi from unauthorized digging while providing crucial context for the paleography of the ceramics.
• The Ancient Sikyatki Potters: The historic and prehistoric artisans whose artistic output forms the core of the report's scientific analysis. Through their painted designs of birds, serpents, and geometric symbols, their beliefs regarding rain, fertility, and mortality are preserved across centuries.
• Don Pedro de Tobar and Juan de Padilla: The Spanish military captain and Franciscan priest whose sixteenth-century arrival at Awatobi marked the initial, violent contact between Europeans and the Hopi. Their assault over a symbolic line of sacred meal established Spanish influence and set the stage for Awatobi's complex later history.

In Its Own Voice

"The entrances to the cavate dwellings opposite Squaw mountain are visible from the road for quite a distance, appearing as rows of holes in the steep walls of the cliff on the opposite or left bank of the Rio Verde." — Context: Fewkes describes the initial view of the riverfront cave habitations during the early field survey in the Verde Valley.

"One of the first tendencies of man in visiting a ruin is to inscribe his name on its walls or on neighboring cliffs." — Context: The author reflects on human behavior while examining both modern American signatures and ancient Indian totem markings on the cliffs of Honanki.

"The ancient inhabitants of Sikyatki have left no written records, for, unlike the more cultured people of Central America, they had no codices; but they have left on their old mortuary pottery a large body of picture writings or paleography which reveals many instructive phases of their former culture." — Context: Fewkes introduces the main analytical chapter dedicated to interpreting the symbolic iconography painted on prehistoric ceramics.

What It's Really About

At its core, the report is an inquiry into the cultural continuity and ancestral origins of the Pueblo peoples of the American Southwest. Rather than viewing archeological sites as isolated, dead monuments, the narrative uses physical artifacts—specifically pottery decorations, architecture, and grave goods—as a historical text. By comparing ancient ceramic symbols with the living rituals and oral histories of nineteenth-century Hopi clans, the text argues that prehistoric sites like Sikyatki and Palatki were built by the direct ancestors of modern Pueblo societies. It addresses how religious symbolism, art, and migration patterns evolved over centuries, showing how environmental conditions and interactions between diverse clans shaped the architectural and ritual traditions of the region.

Why Read It Today

This volume appeals to readers interested in Southwestern archeology, Native American history, and the evolution of American anthropology. It offers the distinct, immersive atmosphere of a late nineteenth-century field report, combining pristine geographical descriptions of Arizona’s canyons with detailed scientific observation. Reading the text feels like walking directly through an active dig site, observing the careful unearthing of ancient burial sites and the step-by-step decoding of painted symbols.

The work does present specific challenges typical of Victorian-era scientific literature. It is extensive and technical, containing lengthy inventories of potsherds, minute architectural measurements, and detailed taxonomies of decorative motifs. Readers must also navigate the period's academic style, which reflects nineteenth-century ethnological perspectives and terminology. However, what stays with the reader is the deep reverence for the artistic legacy of the Sikyatki potters and the compelling demonstration of how material culture can preserve the voice and spiritual world of a civilization long after its cities have fallen to ruin.