Tonque (TONG-kee) is a large abandoned
Pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
pueblo in
Sandoval County, New Mexico
Sandoval County is located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,561, making it the fourth-most populous county in New Mexico. The county seat is Bernalillo.
Sandoval County is part of the Albuquerque m ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, about 7 miles / 12 km southeast of
San Felipe Pueblo. It was a site of significant ceramic industry, and may have provided up to one-third of the glaze decorated pottery used in contemporary pueblos in the middle
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
valley.
Pueblo complex
Tonque pueblo (LA240), now a severely eroded ruin, was constructed of
adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
and may never have exceeded a single storey. It comprised between 1500 and 2000 rooms arranged in an E, with four parallel arms running approximately east–west, of about 120 to 280 metres length and of 4 to 10 rooms width, and with a continuous block of rooms running north–south, now mostly destroyed, along the west side.
[Brasswell, A.; ''Digs,'' University of New Mexico Anthropology Newsletter, Spring 2008]
The pueblo is sited on the north edge of Tonque arroyo, a normally dry tributary to the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
, while a spring occurs on the south side. There is evidence that the arroyo floor downstream (west) of the pueblo was cultivated, probably with maize and beans, which may have been largely dependent on seasonal flooding.
Numerous
petroglyph
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
s can be found in the vicinity of Tonque.
History
Archaeological evidence
suggests that the site was first occupied from the early 14th century, and was active until the middle of the 16th century. Tonque is not mentioned in Spanish records by that name, but may be one of two unnamed pueblos visited by
Gaspar Castano de Sosa in 1591.
Oñate also did not list it in 1598, but it may have been El Tuerte in his record.
Alphonse Bandelier stated in 1892 that it was a
Tano village known as Tunque, El-Tunque, Tungee or Tun-ge. The word ‘’tung’’, however is
Tewan for basket or tray, which implies that it was known as the Pueblo of Basket Makers.
The reasons for abandonment are uncertain.
Dendrochronology
Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...
(Tree-ring dating) at sites in the region indicates that a severe drought occurred in the late 16th century. Various other Pueblo legends relate to general unrest at that time.
De Sosa’s journal entry recounts that the two pueblos he visited had been abandoned “only days before,” with evidence of many deaths, and that natives in his party told him that the abandonment was the result of war with other tribes. Evidence from excavation at Tonque suggests that it was already in decline by that time.
Ceramics industry
The arroyo banks provide clay of very high quality, and
mica
Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...
-like materials for tempering are also found nearby. Lead ore and associated minerals for glaze paint can be found in the nearby
Ortiz Mountains
The Ortiz Mountains are a mountain range in northern New Mexico, United States, in Santa Fe County, northeast of the Sandia Mountains and due north of the San Pedro Mountains. The Ortiz include Placer Peak, the highest peak in the range at 8,858 ...
. The fired clay of Tonque is of cream to light orange color with a crystal tuff tempering.
Tonque became a major producer of glaze-on-yellow pottery, of excellent craftsmanship, color and design, between AD 1350 and 1450.
Dating is based on variations in the glaze and pattern, referred to by archaeologists as Glaze Periods A through C for wares at Tonque. The presence of Glaze Period F sherds suggests a possible reoccupation in the late seventeenth century, but no artefacts have been found datable to the period between the late 16th and middle 17th.
Collections of Tonque pottery owned by the Albuquerque Archaeological Society are housed at the
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
.
20th century
During development of coal mining at
Hagan Hagan may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places Iran
* Hagan, Iran, a village in Hamadan Province
Norway
* Hagan, a village in Harstad
* Hagan, a village in Akershus
United States
* Hagan, Georgia, a city
* Hagan, Minnesota, an unincorporated community
* Hag ...
about 4.5 miles / 7.5 km southeast of the pueblo, a brick factory, Tonque Brick and Tile Company, was constructed in 1912 at the south-western corner of the ruins, making use of the clay deposits. An archaeological dig was conducted in 1914 by
Nels C. Nelson, who dug 266 rooms on the western side, much of which was later obliterated by the quarrying of brickmaking clay. In 1933 The Archaeological Society of
Albuquerque High School
Albuquerque High School is a public high school near Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. It is a part of the Albuquerque Public Schools district. Enrollment at AHS stands at 1,741.
AHS was named the 43rd best high school in the state ...
dug the only known
kiva. Amateur archaeologists reported digging 144 rooms in 1969.
A railroad was constructed in 1924 to serve Hagan and passed just north of the ruins, serving also the brick factory. When the mines played out, the railroad ceased operations in 1933 and was removed.
[Myrick, D.; ''New Mexico’s Railroads: A Historical Survey'', “The Rio Grande Eastern Railway Corporation,” University of New Mexico Press, 1990] Unpaved Indian Service Road 844/Madera Road now follows the old trackbed. The brick factory closed in 1942, and little more than the foundations now remain.
The ruins are on land owned by
San Felipe Pueblo, and are considered a sacred site. Tonque Pueblo is not open to the public, except by occasional organized tours.
See also
*
Further reading
* Bandelier, A.; ''Final Report of Investigations among the Indians of the South-western United States'' (Papers of the Archaeological Institute of America, American Series 1890–1892, 2 vols.)
*Barnett, F.; ''Tonque Pueblo: a report of partial excavation of an ancient Pueblo IV Indian ruin in New Mexico,'' Albuquerque Archaeological Society, 1969.
* Kidder, A.V. and Shepard, A.O.; ''The Pottery of the Pecos'', Vol. II (Papers of the Phillips Academy Southwestern Expedition No.7, 1927)
* Nelson, N.C.; ''Pueblo ruins of the Galisteo basin, New Mexico'' (Anthropological papers of the American museum of Natural History. Vol. XV, pt. I. The Trustees. 1914)
* Nelson, N.C.; ''Chronology of the Tano Ruins, New Mexico'' (American Anthropologist, vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 159–180. 1916)
* Warren, A. Helene. ''Tonque: One Pueblo’s Glaze Pottery Industry Dominated Middle Rio Grande Commerce,'' (El Palacio vol. 76:36-42, 1969)
References
{{Pre-Columbian North America
National Register of Historic Places in Sandoval County, New Mexico
Archaeological sites in New Mexico
Puebloan buildings and structures
Sandoval County, New Mexico