  Human head The true occupants of Carlsbad Caverns National Park were a group of Indians known as “Basketmakers.” They may have been descendants of the early people, or perhaps a new and distinct group. This name was applied because these people made excellent baskets and other woven objects, and had some similarity in culture traits to the San Juan Basketmakers or Anasazi of the Four Corners area. Moreover, there is some similarity in culture traits to the Big Bend Basketmakers of Texas and the Ozark Bluff Dwellers. Perhaps the name best suited for this group would be “cave dwellers,” as they used caves of all sizes, from small overhangs to those of huge proportions, for shelter. Yet, it must be remembered that seasonally they lived in the open. However, to avoid later confusion, we shall refer to them as the Carlsbad Basketmakers. The Carlsbad Basketmakers were an unusual group only “here and there adopting a few cultural traits from their neighbors, but essentially remaining food gatherers and hunters,” Our group was in contact with the Mogollon people to the west before 900 A.D., and possibly 600 years earlier. Pottery found here indicates this as well as other contacts. (See Map.) Pottery is somewhat like a fingerprint. There are certain features about it which are peculiar to only one particular area, and that is the area within which it was made. Consequently, pottery can show time, trade, contact, and movement of ceramic-making prehistoric peoples. At about this same time, social intercourse was also being carried on with the Hueco Basketmakers to the west and the Big Bend Basketmakers to the south. The combined use of metate and mortar was found here After 1200, we find Chaco or true Anasazi influence coming into the Rio Grande valley to Gran Quivera, thence to southeastern New Mexico. This influence represents the Pueblo The Spanish entered the Southwest, bringing the horse, which prompted this change. The Apaches had slowly been working their way southward from sometime after 1300 A.D. By trade and theft they acquired horses from the Spanish, and, in so doing, the long and bloody career of the Apaches got under way. This freedom and rapidity of movement afforded by the horse allowed them to raid, pillage, and murder Indians and Spanish alike. It is about this time that we lose track of our Basketmakers. A small cave dwelling in Walnut Canyon What happened to them is pure supposition. The Carlsbad Basketmakers, for defense or economic reasons, probably joined the Pueblo groups of either the Gran Quivera or El Paso The Carlsbad Basketmaker would very likely fit into practically any present Pueblo group and not be noticed. He was of medium stature, about 5'4-5'6 in average height. His life span was between 30-35 years, and he suffered from arthritis, bad teeth, and broken bones quite often. The material culture of a people is, perhaps, their most important characteristic, as it represents the utilization of the natural resources in a particular area or environment. Caves were used for a number of purposes: burial, ceremonial, transitory living, etc. It is from these caves that archaeologists dig out the material objects left by prehistoric people and are able to reconstruct the story of the occupants. As previously mentioned, the name of our Carlsbad Caverns National Park Indians was applied because they made excellent baskets and woven objects. Coiled baskets of yucca with grass, sotol, or twigs of flexible wood as the binder were the most common. Most baskets have designs of various colors woven into them. Red-brown dye was probably made from mountain mahogany. The black was strips of Devil’s Claw (Martynia arenaria). Baskets were waterproofed by smearing pine pitch or mesquite gum on them. Sandals of yucca and grasses are found in abundance. The square-toed sandal is the most prominent, although the round fishtailed type is common. Both were woven with a variety of ply-thicknesses. They ranged from 5 to 11 inches in length, and 2½ to 4 inches in width. The only known sandal fragment found in the natural entrance to the Caverns is of the square-toed type and is classed as a two warp-two ply. The Basketmaker paintings on the south wall of the natural entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns Basketmaker paintings Yucca seems to have been the most-used plant for weaving. Mats of yucca and beargrass were woven in a variety of ways. A coarse cloth netting and cordage of yucca fiber was used for snaring rabbits and other small game, and large bags of yucca fiber cordage were made for burial purposes. These cone-shaped, twine-woven bags were sometimes quite elaborately woven of red and white cords with horizontal black and yellow bands running completely around them. Cotton was grown to the west, and some combination of cotton and yucca fabrics was made here. Clothing or blankets of animal fur (usually rabbit) and feather (turkey) cloth was common. (This turkey cloth was probably traded from the Pueblos.) Too, plain fur, cloth, and skin robes were used for covering. Hair was woven into rope, as were mesquite fiber and agave. Raw material apparently kept on hand as fiber bundles and rings of grass were common finds. V-shaped cradles were made of grass, and sleeping pits were lined with it. Pottery is really incidental; and, for the most part, intrusive to southeastern New Mexico. It is questionable if the area inhabitants made pottery, but they probably did to some extent. There is found a considerable amount of plain brown ware, and it occurs from early to late times. This ware, although unnamed except for “plain Brown,” is thought to be of local manufacture. Practically all pottery found here was fired in the presence of oxygen (oxidizing atmosphere). A number of types, varying in color from a terracotta, through brown, to reddish tones, are all classed as brown ware. The earliest pottery found in southeastern New Mexico is Mogollon in origin. Mogollon pottery is a derivative from southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. The Mogollon brown and red wares found in this section are definitely pre-900 A.D., and possibly pre-700. These wares are found to have been used through 1150 A.D. The big influx of pottery came during late Pueblo III and Pueblo IV times from 1150 to 1450 A.D. From the west Our Basketmakers were dependent primarily upon wild plant foods, as corn seems to be lacking; and they supplemented their diet by some hunting of game. To the south of the Park is the Black River. In this fertile valley, with its continuous water supply, it is logical to assume that corn was probably cultivated; but there is absolutely no evidence to prove this. Corn was grown about 50 miles north, near Hope, New Mexico, where Pueblo-like settlements were common from 1150 to 1300 A.D. Corn, beans, and squash may have been traded to our cave people by the Pueblos. Lack of practiced agriculture in the Guadalupe Mountain area was probably due to the scarcity of water. Water from seeps, springs, and shallow depressions in the limestone was, of course, utilized. The roasted young bud and heart of the mescal or agave plant apparently was the paramount food, with the cabbage-like base or heart of the sotol running a close second. Yucca pulp and seeds, mesquite beans (Tornillo or screwbean), grass seeds, piÑon nuts, acorns, walnuts, cactus fruits (prickly pear and cholla), wild onions, wild potatoes and other bulb or tuber-bearing plants, grapes, berries and others were utilized. Herbs from true sage brush (Artemisia), wild tobacco, and possibly soap made from the roots of the yucca radiosa were used. A favorite quick food was the young flower stalks of yucca in season. Mescal hearts and baked sotol leaves were stored in caves in cists lined with grass, twigs and bark. Stone slab-lined storage cists were known also. Mesquite beans were pulverized into meal, as substantiated by the many mortar holes throughout the area. The meal was probably fashioned by pounding the beans and pods together, winnowing out the pods, grinding until fairly uniform, and eating them either raw or molded into cakes and cooked in ashes, or into soups. Gourds were used for a household receptacle, probably as a ladle or dipper. The entire country is dotted with large “midden circles.” The one most seen by visitors is located at the natural entrance. For years these circles have erroneously been called “mescal pits” and were thought to have been used strictly for baking or roasting the mescal plant by both our Basketmakers and later the Apaches. In remote instances, it is possible that the Apaches used them, but not as a common practice. The main difference between the Basketmaker midden circle and the Apache mescal pit is that the true mescal pit or earth oven is a depression definitely sunk below the ground level, whereas the midden circle is on ground level. Consequently, the midden circle had other uses than the preparation of mescal hearts. There are three types of midden circles. The most common is the circular mound, which is found up to an altitude of 7500 feet, and out considerable distances into the flats. It is of interest to note that no midden circles of the Carlsbad Basketmakers are found east of the Pecos River. The circular ones will average from 30 to 35 feet in diameter in this area. “The first stage (of development) seems to have begun with the construction of a fireplace composed of fairly large rocks. When heat had cracked these into fragments too small to be useful, the broken bits were then cleared away from a circle about the fire and the hearth rebuilt with other large stones, which in turn were discarded when broken down by heat. When this process had been repeated many times, the cleared circle immediately around the fire was surrounded by a ring formed by an accumulation of the rejected small stones. In course of time and with constant additions of ash and discarded rock, the resulting mound grew to such height that This drawing shows the three stages of development of the midden circle The second type is found on ledges or narrow terraces along canyon walls and was elongated in shape. The third is built out in front of caves and shelters and takes on a rough half-circle shape. The mescal pit as used by the Apaches is described in their section. A Basketmaker Midden Circle or cooking pit A cut-bank showing an elongated Basketmaker Midden in Slaughter Canyon Practically all game was hunted, notably mule deer, elk, and buffalo; and next, if not the most important, rabbits, both the cottontail and jackrabbit. Also, antelope, plains white-tail deer, big horn sheep, peccary (Javelina), mountain lion, bobcat, wolf, fox, coyote, badger, porcupine, ring-tailed cat, opossum, prairie dog, armadillo, pack rat, kangaroo-rat, muskrat, field mouse, white-foot mouse, beaver, pocket mouse, ground squirrel, pocket gopher as well as fish, ducks, hawks, owls, quail, desert tortoise, pigeons, doves, large terrapin, lizards, and snakes were utilized. Our people had the dog and probably ate him in time of famine. Although some turkey bones have been found, it is quite certain that this bird was not domesticated here as it was among the Pueblos. Needless to say, leather was fashioned from the skins of practically all animals and was used for pouches, snares, etc. Usually the first thing to enter our minds when stone is mentioned in connection with aboriginal peoples is arrowheads or projectile points. Stone was used for many and varied purposes, and it would be difficult to list these in order of importance. Projectile points were, of course, important, though used primarily for hunting rather than warfare. Points of various sizes, shapes and materials were used by the Carlsbad Basketmakers. First were the dart and lance points, and later, as arrow points, after the introduction of the bow to the Southwest. Flints, cherts, and chalcedonies were the most common materials used for points and small tools, although rhyolite, felsite, etc., have been found. Stone was worked by grinding, pecking, drilling, and percussion and pressure flaking. Mortars were usually cut into stationary rock near camping places such as those seen near the natural entrance to the Caverns, although small portable mortars were used to some extent. The pestles were usually made of granite and were carried from camp to camp, as pestles with yucca leaf carrying-straps have been found. Projectile points, pottery, decorated sea shell, a mano-pestle and a sandal fragment from Carlsbad Caverns National Park Metates or grinding bowls are less common. Metates were made from limestone, sandstone, and granite, while the mano, the small stone used for crushing and grinding on the metate, was composed of limestone, granite, and travertine. The metates are oval, circular, and semi-flat in appearance, and the manos are of the one-hand type. Leaf-shaped knives, end scrapers, side scrapers, drills, choppers, hammerstones, rubbing or smoothing stones, axes and stone pipes were made and used. Found throughout the Guadalupe Mountains, sometimes at the head of canyons, usually on the canyon floors, are small stone cairns and stone rings or circles. To date, no feasible explanation is given as to their function. These are not to be confused with the “midden circles” previously mentioned. For other than fuel, wood was widely used as clubs, digging One of the mortar holes near the mouth of the entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns Woodworking with stone tools consisted of seven methods: chopping, whittling, shaving and planing, sawing, splitting, gouging and scoring, scraping and sanding. Fire was made with the use of a wooden hearth. Friction was created by revolving the point of a stick with the hands in a small depression in the hearth, which contained tinder of punk wood, shredded inner bark or grass. Cedar or juniper bark was probably used for torches. Animal bone was used for awls, stone flaking tools, jewelry ornaments and weaving tools; animal horn or antler was used much the same. There is a slight possibility that bone gaming dice were made and used, as perhaps were horn ladles and dippers. In earlier times our Basketmakers used the atlatl as their predominant weapon or hunting implement. It was composed of two parts; the stick for throwing the dart, and the dart itself. Later the bow and arrow replaced this implement in importance. Atlatls were from 19 to 25 inches in length and were made of oak, mesquite, thorn growth Tornillo, sinew and buckskin. Occasionally a small stone was attached to add weight and balance. Atlatl dart shafts consisted of two parts. The foreshaft was of heavy oak or comparatively hard wood with a stone point. This was inserted into the main shaft of sotol bloom stalks. The idea being upon impact that the base would fall away from the foreshaft, thus allowing full penetration and less chance of the animal or man knocking or pulling it out. Both the atlatl and dart shafts were sometimes highly decorated. A variety of stone points were used as was the dart bunt, which possibly was used as a stunner as its appearance suggests. The dart bunt was a round wooden knob carved to insert into the main shaft. Bows and arrows were made of varied hardwoods and reeds. Bows had an average pull of about 40 pounds and were from 3½ to 5 feet in length. Arrows were 20 to 28 inches long, and the bowstring was either yucca fiber or sinew. The lance or spear, ordinary stick clubs, grooved fending sticks, round fending sticks, flattened and round throwing sticks found may also have been used as weapons. Disposition of the dead was accomplished by burying with offerings in a flexed or semi-flexed position on the back, or cremated with the burned remains being buried in bags or baskets. The graves are usually small and quite shallow. Burials are found in caves, midden circles, and open sites—practically any place where digging was easy. Quite often the unburned burials had a “kill hole” pottery bowl placed over the face. Cremation, from all appearances, was practiced earlier and was concurrent to inhumation. The few skeletal remains found in the natural entrance and Bat Cave section of the Carlsbad Caverns suggest midden type Possibly one of the most interesting and still visible bits of evidence of the Carlsbad Basketmakers are the pictographs or paintings on the south wall of the Cave entrance. These markings are badly weathered, but one can distinguish what appears once to have been a red figure with black up-raised arms of a person, and blobs of red and black which may have been anything. In other caves over the area have been found other pictographs (paintings) and petroglyphs (pecked) designs. Paints were made from red hematite (red oxide of iron); red and yellow ochers; blue and green from copper carbonates, azurite and malachite; black carbon and white kaolinite. Occasionally there are found small pebbles with painted designs or lines on them, but their function is unknown. Jewelry consisted of wooden combs and wooden pin hair ornaments, beads and pendants of white and pink shell, gypsum, black beidellite, turquoise, bone, squash seeds and sections of reeds. Beads were strung on hair cord or yucca fiber cord. Bracelets of Glycimeris shell were worn. For the most part the shell tells of considerable trade to the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California by our people. Fresh water mussel shells common to the Pecos River were also used for ornaments. Trade was carried on from Mexico into this general region as indicated by the finds of copper bells and macaw parrot feathers from Pueblo ruins in southern New Mexico. Ceremonial paraphernalia finds are rather rare. Fragments of a golden eagle feather headdress, rattles of gourds, and turtle or tortoise shells, pahos (prayer sticks), wooden wands and wooden painted tablitas (headdresses) have been unearthed in Guadalupe Mountain caves. Closely related to ceremonial purposes, and usually found in close association with the above, are reed cigarettes and whistles, prayer offerings of miniature fending sticks, fiber balls, gaming dice (sticks or counters), as well as possible ceremonial bow sets. As to how the ceremonial objects were used is, naturally, conjecture. |
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