In the seventh and eighth centuries another site of great interest was occupied in east-central Arizona. This site, which is known as the Bear Ruin, lies in the Forestdale Valley some eight miles south of Showlow. Tree-ring dates were obtained from three beams. The dates fall in the middle of the seventh century. These logs may have been cut at any time during the building period, however, and it is only through finding pottery of known age that archaeologists have arrived at the dates of 600 to 800 A.D. for the estimated age of occupation.
Bear Ruin is important because it shows hybridizing and blending of Mogollon and Anasazi traits. Probably the Mogollon was the original [culture] on which were superimposed certain Anasazi traits. Eventually the former is thought to have been so completely overlaid by the latter as to practically disappear, not only here, but also in other parts of the territory.
The people who lived in Bear Ruin, in the days when it was not a ruin but an inhabited village, were equally dependent on hunting and agriculture. They lived both in round and rectangular pit houses. Seventeen of these have been excavated, and it is thought that this may represent about fifty per cent of the village.
Most of the houses resemble those of the Anasazi area, yet some are like Mogollon houses and others show a combination of Anasazi and Mogollon elements. None contained either masonry or slab linings. A large [kiva] was found on the outskirts of the village. It contained a grooved trench, dug into the floor, which, it is thought, may have provided a fastening for the lower beams of looms.
Cooking was apparently done over large rock hearths in and about the houses. The technique employed may have been to fill pits with rocks which were then heated. Food wrapped in some insulating material, such as grass, was then placed in the pit and covered with hot rocks topped with earth. This [trait] is one of those which, it has been suggested, may have been derived from the ancient Cochise people.
The Bear Ruin people did not make any painted pottery, but this must have been a matter of choice, for they were familiar with the painted wares of the Anasazi, Mogollon, and Hohokam, which they imported. A great percentage of the indigenous pottery was the plain buff to reddish-brown ware so plentiful in all early Mogollon sites. One distinctive type of pottery found in the Forestdale Valley is characterized by a black interior and a brown or reddish-brown exterior marked by black fire clouds. These clouds or smudges are the result of pottery coming in contact with fuel during the firing process. Another Forestdale type is a gray to light-brown ware which may represent a fusion of Basketmaker gray ware and Mogollon buff ware. A third is a red-brown pottery mottled by fire clouds.
The dead were buried in shallow pits scattered throughout the village. Bodies usually lay on the back in a semi-flexed position with the heads to the northeast. Most of the graves contained mortuary offerings, usually pottery. One child was found buried with seventeen vessels. Nine of these were miniatures and were possibly his toys. Due to soil conditions, bones were poorly preserved. What evidence could be obtained from them indicates the presence of a mixed population, such as would be expected on the basis of the mixture of traits shown in the material [culture].
THE THREE CIRCLE [PHASE]
In New Mexico further changes took place during the Three Circle stage which followed the San Francisco. Pit houses were somewhat smaller and shallower and were all rectangular and often stone-lined. Roofs were usually supported by four main posts placed near the corners. Sometimes the supports were incorporated in the wall. In some cases, the side entrances were short and sometimes started with a step. Besides the domestic structures, there were also larger rectangular pit houses with long inclined entrances which are thought to have been of a ceremonial nature.
Troughed metates entirely replaced the basin-shaped variety. Manos were shaped and four-sided in form. Axes were sometimes notched and sometimes grooved for hafting. Stone vessels were still simple, but were sometimes ornamented with [incised] patterns. Serrations on both edges characterized the arrow points which were long and narrow-stemmed. Stone palettes appear in this [horizon]. They may have been inspired or introduced by the Hohokam, or they may have evolved from the simple paint grinding stones such as those found in the SU site. Stone pipes and short clay pipes with fitted stems have been found.