Pottery Mound facts for kids

Pottery Mound (also called LA 416) was an old village in New Mexico. It was built by ancient people long ago. This village was located near the Rio Puerco river. It was west of a town called Los Lunas, New Mexico.

People probably lived here between the years 1350 and 1500. The village was made of adobe, which is a type of sun-dried mud brick. Pottery Mound is famous for its 17 kivas. Kivas are special rooms used for ceremonies. Many colorful paintings, called murals, were found inside these kivas.

This mural shows unmarried girls. It was found in Kiva 16 at Pottery Mound.

Exploring Pottery Mound

Many people have studied Pottery Mound to learn about its past. Frank Hibben, a professor from the University of New Mexico (UNM), led several digs. These digs were like special school trips for students. They happened in 1954, 1955, 1957, and 1958.

Professor Hibben also led other research projects. These projects helped save important items from the site. Later, in 1979, another UNM professor, Linda Cordell, also studied the site. She made maps and did more tests.

In 2003, UNM started to organize all the items found at Pottery Mound. They wanted to share what they learned. In 2012, the land where Pottery Mound is located was given to the Isleta Pueblo.

Why is it Called Pottery Mound?

Pottery Mound gets its name from two things. First, there were many broken pieces of pottery, called potsherds, on the ground. Second, there was a low mound. This mound was made of melted adobe from old buildings.

The pottery found here is part of a style called Rio Grande Glaze Ware. This style started around the year 1315. It continued until the Spanish came to New Mexico in 1693. Pottery Mound has its own special pottery. It is called Pottery Mound Polychrome. Polychrome means "many colors."

This pottery often had red and black paint. It also had two different colors of clay slip. Slip is a thin layer of liquid clay. On bowls, one color was on the inside and another on the outside. Pottery Mound has the most different kinds of pottery of any old site in central New Mexico.

Some pottery found at Pottery Mound came from other places. This includes pottery from the Hopi people. There was also pottery from the Acoma-Zuni area. And some came from north-central New Mexico. This shows that people at Pottery Mound traded with many other groups.