Kokopelli, the humpbacked flute player of Galisteo (New Mexico, USA), belongs to the pantheon of the Pueblo Indians (pre-Columbian era). He strangely reminds one of other characters represented in other corners of the world, like in ancient Greece. But why is he humpbacked? The question remains unanswered.

Incising: Kokopelli, the flute player, with the sun symbol. This figure is often found among the petro glyphs of the Southwest. Length: 14 inches. Galisteo (New Mexico).

Petroglyphs in red ochre nicknamed "Supernova"-a 10-pointed star, a quarter moon, a magical hand. This composition may depict the explosion of a giant star in the year 1054, an event that has also been chronicled in the history books of that time in Europe, China and Japan. Height: about 24 inches, Chaco Culture National Historical Park (New Mexico), Anasazi Culture.

Pictograph of a human figure. A familiar and at the same time mysterious figure with a feather headdress, hands raised in an expression of peace and agreement. It is reminiscent of similar figures found among the petroglyphs of other cultures in Val Camonica (Italy), Siberia, the Sahara and Australia. Height: 8.8 inches. Chaco Canyon (New Mexico).

Mimbres pot, black on white, with a stylized lizard. The circular lines call to mind the shimmering heat in which this animal lives. Diameter: about 4 inches. Mimbres Valley (New Mexico), Mogollon Culture (E.H. Morris Collection), UCM.
UCM = University of Colorado Museum, Boulder (Colorado)

Pictograph showing a big-horned sheep pierced by three arrows. The body is divided by geometric and decorative lines, which undoubtedly have symbolic meaning. Roughly picked, the implied shapes are easily recognizable (curved horns, hooves), an effect achieved by means of finer incising. Length: 28 inches. Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, north of Alamogordo (New Mexico). There are around 5,000 petroglyphs in this historic area: animals, representations of humans, geometric and abstract shapes.

The roof beams (ponderosa pine) of one of the many rooms in a wall of the Aztec Pueblo (New Mexico). Because of these wooden beams, Southwest archaeologists were able to determine the year in which the trees were cut through dendrochronology (chronological determination based on annual tree rings) and thereby to establish the year in which the building was constructed.

Pottery from the various prehistoric cultures. Mug, 6.8 inches high, Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, Anasazi Culture, 1075-1150, CCP
CCP = Museum Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

Pottery from the various prehistoric cultures. Coiled pot, 8.8 inches high, Chaco Canyon, Anasazi Culture, 1000-1200, CCP
CCP = Museum Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

Spear point or knive of obsidian. Height: 2.6 inch Anasazi Culture, Bandelier National Monument (New Mexico).

Spear points or knives of flint. Height: 3 inches. Anasazi Culture, Bandelier National Monument (New Mexico).

Wooden necklace or pectoral, 19.8 inches diameter, and ear pendants, 2.2 inches diameter. Found in a grave at Chetro Ketl, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico), Anasazi Culture, CCP.
CCP = Museum Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

Part of a wooden sculpture of a parrot, 6.6 inches high, from a grave at Chetra Ketl, Anasazi Culture, CCP.
CCP = Museum Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

Wooden comb with 10 teeth, made of sharpened willow rods and yucca fiber. Length: 5.8 inches. Shiprock, west of Aztec (New Mexico), Anasazi Culture, CCP.
CCP = Museum Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

Examples of Anasazi masonry. Wall with a dark sandstone frieze, 280 feet long, Aztec Ruins National Monument (New Mexico).

One of the great kivas of Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico); 60 feet in diameter. Middle: A fire altar; these square structures, covered with boards, may have been used as floor drums, on which people danced. Jewelry and cult items were found in the square niches built into the curved walls.

The long and beautiful succession of rooms on the ground floor of Pueblo Bonito, the most significant of the Southwest pueblos. The masonry attests to extraordinary building skill; the stones are so carefully fitted that mortar is superfluous. The beams protruding from the wall support the ceiling of the rooms.

Examples of partially underground pit houses, the oldest permanent shelter constructed by Southwest Indian people. Made of twigs and branches covered with mud they sheltered the inhabitants from the heat in the summer and cold in the winter. - Reconstruction of a Mogollon pit house; depth of the floor: 32 inches, Three Rivers Petroglyph Site (New Mexico).

Examples of Anasazi masonry. A wall constructed of parallel layers of narrow stone so precisely fitted that mortar was not needed, Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon.

Examples of Anasazi masonry. Masonry consisting of rough stones alternating with narrow, flat slabs, creating a decorative effect, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

Roof of a restored kiva, Pecos National Monument (New Mexico). The ladder at the center leads into the subterranean ceremonial room.

Petroglyph with "stairway to heaven" or cloud pattern, both motifs commonly found in the Southwest. Using these pathways, a deceased Indian achieved heaven one step at a time. Height: 32.8 inches. Three Rivers Petroglyph Site (New Mexico).

View of Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico). Built between 930 and 1130, this pueblo has a diameter of 178 feet, which encompassed 800 rooms, 35 kivas and two great kivas (about 20 feet and 13 feet in diameter respectively). It was considered the largest immobile object in the world, until a larger one was created in ew York in 1882.

Typically cylindrical Chaco Canyon pottery, black on white, with geometric designs and four small handles at the rim. Height: 8.8 inches. 120 such pots were found in a grave at Pueblo Bonito; Anasazi Culture (Collection of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.), CCP.
CCP = Museum Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

The restored kiva at Kuaua, Colorado State Monument (New Mexico), is known for its beautiful 15th-century frescoes. Those shown today are copies; the originals are stored in the nearby museum. The paintings, done in black, yellow, red, blue, green and white, are related to fertility rites involving prayers for rain and the good will of the gods and the Pueblo cosmogony.

Three "killed" Mimbres ceramic bowls, black on white, from the Mimbres Valley (New Mexico), Mogollon Culture. Left: Stylized representation of a human figure with a club such as those used to hunt rabbits, UCM.
UCM = University of Colorado Museum, Boulder (Colorado)

Middle and bottom: Two small pendants of red shale, the upper one representing a stylized bird, the middle one a sun with a number of rays projecting from it, Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico), CCP.
CCP = Museum Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

Pipes, used as mortuary offerings and in healing ceremonies to blow smoke over the body of the sick person. Uppermost: clay pipe; 6 inches long, Bandelier National Monument (New Mexico), Anasazi Culture, MNM.
MNM = Collections of the Museum of New Mexico, Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe (New Mexico)

Miniature clay representation of a «forked double basket» (an object with ceremonial significance?). Height: 6.20 inches. Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico), Anasazi Culture (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.), CCP.
CCP = Museum Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

Mug, black on white, with characteristic Chaco Canyon (New Mexico) decoration consisting of geometric lines and crosshatching, handle in the shape of a jaguar (?). Height: 7.84 inches. HMP.
HMP = Heard Museum, Phoenix (Arizona)

Typical Chaco Canyon pottery, black on white, with stairway-like motifs, triangles, chessboard squares, elongated spirals and crosshatched areas. Anasazi Culture. - Cylindrical pot. Height: 8.8 inches. MNM.
MNM = Collections of the Museum of New Mexico, Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe (New Mexico)

Typical Chaco Canyon pottery, black on white, with stairway-like motifs, triangles, chessboard squares, elongated spirals and crosshatched areas. Anasazi Culture. - Mug. Height: 6.8 inches. MMA
MMA = Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque (New Mexico)

Typical Chaco Canyon pottery, black on white, with stairway-like motifs, triangles, chessboard squares, elongated spirals and crosshatched areas. Anasazi Culture. - Ladle in Mesa Verde style. Length: 13.6 inches. CCP
CCP = Museum Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

Typical Chaco Canyon pottery, black on white, with stairway-like motifs, triangles, chessboard squares, elongated spirals and crosshatched areas. Anasazi Culture. - Ladle. Length: 5.2 inches. CCP
CCP = Museum Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

Typical Chaco Canyon pottery, black on white, with stairway-like motifs, triangles, chessboard squares, elongated spirals and crosshatched areas. Anasazi Culture. - Bowl. Diameter: 8.0 inches. CCP
CCP = Museum Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

Typical Chaco Canyon pottery, black on white, with stairway-like motifs, triangles, chessboard squares, elongated spirals and crosshatched areas. Anasazi Culture. - Bowl with painted rim. Diameter: 4.2 inches. CCP
CCP = Museum Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico)

Large figures with shields decorated with animal symbols (bear paws). The surfaces and lines are fairly evenly picked. The style is a blend of realism, naturalistic stylization and schematization. Height of one figure: 46 inches. Galisteo (New Mexico).

Rock engraving: human figures with feathers on their heads and decorated bodies, flanked by two stylized birds. The figure of Kokopelli, the hunchback flute player of the Southwest, can be seen to the right. The lower figure is 20 inches high and the upper one measures 24 inches. Galisteo (New Mexico).

Positive and negative handprints on friezes or in masterly compositions. The hand is a universally familiar symbol, found in all cultures at all times. - Length of one of the large hands: 8 inches. Galisteo (New Mexico).

The stepped pyramid, or "stairway to heaven," symbolizes rain clouds as well as the paths that lead into the next world (as in ancient Egypt). The design is commonly found on pottery and in pictographs. - Painting of a frieze of birds sitting on the top of three pyramids, red on ochre. Height: 7.2 inches. Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (New Mexico).

The stepped pyramid, or "stairway to heaven," symbolizes rain clouds as well as the paths that lead into the next world (as in ancient Egypt). The design is commonly found on pottery and in pictographs. - Painting inside a room at Long House Ruin. Length: 50.4 inches. Bandelier National Monument (New Mexico).

Historic Pueblo pottery has, to a large extent, retained the formal vocabulary of the prehistoric pots. - Pottery bowl with feather design (comparable to the painted Mimbres pot on page 160). Made in about 1957 by Maria Martinez, one of the best known contemporary Pueblo potters, from Pueblo San Ildefonso, New Mexico. Diameter: 11.88 inches.
MNA = Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff (Arizona)

Photo Gallery