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Excavations in its mounds revealed no objects of interest, although fragments of beautiful pottery, related to that found at Awatobi and Sikyatki, show that it must have been made by people of the older or best epoch of Tusayan ceramics.
The symbols, as well as the pottery itself, can not be distinguished from those of Sikyatki. Fragments of glazed ware are not unknown at Awatobi, but so far as recorded, entire specimens have never been obtained from the latter ruin.
On the western, northern, and eastern sides the slope is more gradual, and while there are many obscurely marked house plans visible over the surface, even quite near the top of the elevation, they are doubtless the remains of single-story structures. This leads me to suspect that when Awatobi was built it was reared on a mound of soil or sand, and not on the solid rock surface of the mesa.
While there may be some doubt of the validity of my identification, yet, taken in connection with the fragment of a vase with the face of Wupamo, I think there is no doubt that the katcina cult was practiced at Awatobi.
Evidences of Spanish influence may be traced on certain objects of pottery from Awatobi, especially on those obtained from the eastern mounds of the ruin. In most essentials, however, the Awatobi ware resembles that of the neighboring ruins, and is characteristically Tusayan.
Their capacity would not be equal to the torrents of rain which, no doubt, often fell on the housetops of Awatobi, and they can hardly be identified as spouts of large bowls, since they are attached to a circular disk with smooth edges.
The effect of this onslaught on men armed with spears, clubs, and leather shields can be imagined, and the encounter seems to have discouraged the Awatobi warriors from renewed resistance. They fled, but shortly afterward brought presents as a sign of submission, when Tobar called off his men. Thus was the entry of the Spaniards into Tusayan marked with bloodshed for a trifling offense.
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 Awatobi at the time of its destruction, although the fact of the occurrence, according to Bandelier, was recorded.
Awatobi pottery may be classed under the same groups as other old Tusayan ceramics, but most of the specimens collected belong to the yellow, black-and-white, and red varieties. It resembles that of Sikyatki, but bears little likeness to modern ware in texture or symbolism.
Espejo's reference to Awatobi in 1583 leaves no doubt that the pueblo was in existence in that year, and while, of course, we can not definitely say that it was not built between 1540 and 1583, the indications are that it was not.
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