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The first time I visited Pueblo Pato, I wasn't impressed. I was hiking alone along the edge of the canyon, and came across a medium-sized pueblo about where I expected Pato to be. The weed-covered ruin consisted of around a hundred rooms and was surrounded by an extensive "sheet-midden" of pot sherds and lithics, but otherwise seemed unremarkable.
How wrong I was. It was several years before I returned, to find that the mound I had stumbled upon was only one of at least three that make up the Pato group: Cumulatively, Pueblo Pato comprises approximately 300 rooms, making it one of the largest in the Monument. Two of the mounds perch dramatically up against the edge of the cliff (see the aerial photo above), while the third (not shown) lies 200 meters inland. One of these clusters appears to have been at least two stories high, based on the thickness of some of the remaining walls and the amount of rubble.
The area around the site contains much evidence of its past occupation, including manos and metates, pot sherds, obsidian flakes, and arrow-straightener grooves cut into a large boulder. The surrounding land has been cleared of rocks and terraced to support agriculture, and stands of agaves--presumably descended from the original crops--grow there still. There is also a "racetrack" nearby--one of those mysterious features found throughout the region that archaeologists surmise was used for some kind of ritual sporting event.
But the most interesting attribute of Pueblo Pato is the petroglyphs. Etched into the cliff face below the ruin are dozens of panels depicting everything from animals to people to abstract art. Included among them are the famous "Duck" petroglyph for which the site is named (pato means "duck" in Spanish), and some of the best examples of the "big hands-big feet" motif in the region.
The photos below only scratch the surface of what Pueblo Pato has to offer.
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| Photo 1
The large mound, from a distance. (Sep 2011)
| Photo 2
Typical walls inside the larger ruin. (Sep 2011)
| Photo 3
Prickly Pear with ripe fruit, inside the second ruin. (Sep 2011)
| Photo 4
A room inside a third ruin cluster. (Jun 2007)
| Photo 5
Walls line the sides of the point. (Sep 2011)
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Photo 1 shows one of the mounds from a distance. It is possible to walk right past one of these sites and never see it, due to the camouflaging grass and brush. Photo 2, 3 and 4 show some interior walls. Photo 3 also shows prickly pear cactus growing inside the walls. The pads of the cactus are edible after cooking, and the red fruit (shown in its ripened state in this November photo) is used to produce sweet juice or jellies. Photo 5 shows some stonework along the narrow point that juts out into Perry Tank Canyon. This is the same point visible at the top of the aerial photo above.
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| Photo 6
A typical section of exposed wall. (Jun 2007)
| Photo 7
Obsidan flakes, left over from tool production. (Jun 2007)
| Photo 8
Pot sherds litter the ground. (Sep 2011)
| Photo 9
The grooves in this boulder were used to straighten arrows. (Sep 2011)
| Photo 10
A broken metate, once used to grind food. (Jun 2007)
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Photos 6 through 10 show some of the features of the site. For the most part, walls stay intact only as long as they remain buried. The wall section shown in Photo 6 was probably dug up by pot-hunters, and will soon deteriorate as the mud mortar washes away.
Photo 2 shows some flakes of obsidian found among the pot sherds. In recent years it has become possible to determine where such obsidian was mined, using a technique called Energy-Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF). As it turns out, most of the obsidian found on Perry Mesa came from Government Mountain near Flagstaff, about 65 miles to the north.
Photo 9 shows a boulder with grooves cut into it, probably used to straighten arrow shafts. (The shafts would be heated with steam, and then carefully worked in the grooves to take out any bends or kinks.) Photo 10 shows a broken trough-style metate of a type used to grind corn into flour.
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| Photo 11
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| Photo 15
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Agave still grows in fields around the ruin. (Sep 2011)
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Several matates near where the trail from Pueblo Pato to Rattlesnake crosses the stream at the bottom of the canyon.(Sep 2011).
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A different style of petroglyph, also near the stream crossing. (Sep 2011)
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Directly across the canyon from Pueblo Pato lies another ruin called Rattlesnake. The ancient trail that connects them follows the canyon's rim up-stream for about three-quarters of a mile, descends into the canyon, and then climbs back out on the other side. Fields of agave, probably descended from the original crops, line the route on the Pato side (photo 11). The stream crossing at the bottom of the canyon is marked with at least a dozen bed-rock and boulder metates--some with manos still present--and a host of petroglyphs surrounds the site (photo 15). One imagines this as a meeting place, where denizens of both pueblos gathered to gossip and prepare food. An interesting detail is the shape of the metates: this oval "basin-style" design is usually associated with grinding seeds and nuts, whereas the "trough-style" metate found in Pato itself (photo 10) is more suitable for corn.
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| Photo 16
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| Photo 19
| Photo 20
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| This "big hands, big feet" motif is fairly common around the Agua Fria National Monument, but Pueblo Pato seems to have a particularly large number of them. (Sep 2011)
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One of the more enigmatic aspects of Pueblo Pato are the panels of "big-hand, big-feet" petroglyphs (photos 16 through 20). There are other examples of this motif around Perry Mesa, but this is the largest grouping. Their significance is unknown.
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| Photo 21
Petroglyph of a warrior holding a bow or staff. (Sep 2011)
| Photo 22
A member of the Embra tribe from Panama, in a similar stance.
| Photo 23
A Buffalo Dancer headdress from the Zia of New Mexico. (Curtis, 1925)
| Photo 24
White Mountain Apache, Arizona (C. C. Pierce, 1884)
| Photo 25
Another warrior petroglyph, possibly holding weapons. (Sep 2011)
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Photo 21 shows a petroglyph of a human-like figure that appears to have a tail and horns. The tail, however, may actually represent a loincloth similar to the one shown in Photo 22. Scott Kwiatkowski, an archaeologist and member of the Yavapai Prescott Indian Tribe (who claim the ancient inhabitants of Perry Mesa as their ancestors) has pointed out that the loincloth or breechcloth was common among southwest tribes, and proposes this as an explanation for the ubiquity of tailed anthromorphic petroglyphs throughout the region.
The horns on the figure may represent a ceremonial headdress similar to those in the historical photos 23 and 24. Photo 25 shows another anthromorphic petroglyph at Pueblo Pato, this one wearing a similar headdress and possibly holding weapons.
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| Photo 26
A pudgy "big hands, big feet" petroglyph. (Sep 2011)
| Photo 27
These grids are gouged out of the opposite side of the same boulder as Photo 26 (Sep 2011).
| Photo 28
A Pronghorn Antelope. (Sep 2011)
| Photo 29
Mule Deer (Sep 2011)
| Photo 30
Another Pronghorn. (Sep 2011)
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Photos 26 through 30 show some of the other petroglyphs found in the vicinity. Images of pronghorn antelope and mule deer are especially common, and were probably a significant source of food. Pronghorns (though not mule deer) still roam the mesa today.
Pueblo Pato was supposedly named for the petroglyph of a duck located near the ruin, but I have never been able to find it. If anyone would like to donate a photo, I'd appreciate it.
UPDATE - Aug, 2008: The Duck petroglyph really does exist! According to some sources, this is the only such petroglyph in the American Southwest. Many thanks to reader Kevin Artz for sending in this picture. Note the anthoromorphic figure on the right. Could this be another example of a person wearing a loincloth and ceremonial headdress?
UPDATE - April, 2010: Okay, I stand corrected--there are other duck petroglyphs in the Southwest. This one is located near Los Alamos, New Mexico. Thanks to Bryan Chance for submitting this photo.