Acoma Pueblo is sited on a steep flat-topped hill rising straight up from the plain for 120 metres. Acoma, isolated from main railway lines and roads, could preserve its culture, including its pottery production. Pottery production for the tourist market began in 1880 when a railway station opened in the neighbouring Pueblo Laguna for the new transcontinental railway line. In the 1940s potters like Lucy Lewis (190?-1992) and Marie Chino (1907-1982) gained their inspiration from the shapes and motifs on the prehistoric pottery found during excavations in the Acoma region. These potters brought new life to an old tradition. From the early 1950s on women potters sign their work.