pen space was the site
of the mission, but was then unoccupied. This open space recalls the
large court at Walpi, where the Snake dance occurs, but it was
considerably broader, one side being formed by the structures which
rose from the edge of the mesa. In course of time, however, the
mission buildings were erected on this site, and a wall connecting the
ridge of houses on the north and the outhouses of the mission was
made, thus inclosing the court on all four sides. It was into this
inclosure, through a gateway, the buttresses of which still remain,
that the assailants passed on that eventful night when Awatobi was
destroyed.

There is good evidence that a massacre of Awatobians occurred in the
southeastern angle of the eastern part of the pueblo, just east of the
mission. If so, it is probable that many of the unfortunates sought
refuge in the outbuildings of the church. Suspecting that such was the
case, I excavated a considerable space of ground at these places and
found many human skulls and other bones thrown together in confusion.
The earth was literally filled with bones, evidently hastily placed
there or left where the dead fell. These bodies were not buried with
pious care, for there were no fragments of mortuary pottery or other
indication of burial objects. Many of the skulls were broken, some
pierced with sharp implements. While it is true that possibly this may
have been a potter's field, or, from its position east of the mission,
a Christian burial place, as at Zuni, the evidence from the appearance
of the bodies points to a different conclusion. According to the
legends, the hostiles entered the pueblo through the adjacent gateway;
their anger led them especially against those of the inhabitants who
were regarded as _powako_ or sorcerers, and their first acts of
violence would naturally have been toward those who sought refuge in
the buildings adjacent the church. Near this hated "Singing-house" the
slaughter began, soon extending to the kivas and the whole of the
eastern section of the village. There was no evidence of murderous
deeds in the rooms of the western section of the old pueblo, and the
legends agree in relating that most of the men were in kivas, not far
from the mission, when the village was overthrown. There is no
legendary evidence that there were any Spanish priests in the mission
at the time of its destruction, and there is no record extant of any
Spaniards losing their lives at Awato