Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1884-01-16
An Ancient City Discovered.

James Stevenson of the United States
geological survey has reported to Major
| roWell, as one of the results of his last
seasons field operations, the discovery of
several more "uined cave and cliff cities
| differing in some respects from any he had
| 9eiore examined. The most remarkable
was village of G5 underground dwellings
| situated near the summit of one of the vol
canlc foothills of the San Frencisco noun.
ans, in the San Juan regions OF Arizona
The surface stratum of the hill had, by
exposure, become hardened, and formed
| he common roof for the entire community
| The dwellings were excavated after IL com
mon pattern, and description of one
| gives AN idea of the whole. They had no
| ntercommunication beneath the surface
nd were only accessible by means Of
| square holes leading from the surface bv Il
| vertical shaft 10 the floor of he main room
| u tho dwelling. Holes cut ut convenient
| Instances along the sides of the shaft, serv
| "a the purpose of IL stairway. Descending
| he shalt. the explorers found themselves
1t the side of an oval shaped. arched roof.
| ed room, about twenty feet in its smallest
| ilameter. AT the end, and on the side
| opposite the entrance, low doorway S con.
| nected the main room with smaller rooms,
The whole suite consisting of four apart.
| ments.
groove Is inches deep by 10 in width,
| extended from the floor to the main room
ap one side of the shaft to the surface OF
| the hill, It's bottom filled with ashes, and
It's sides blackencd with smoke, formed
he fire place and chimney of the establish
ment. Around the mouth of the shaft a
| stone wall enclosed a kind OF door yard.
The wall seems to have served the double
purpose of guarding against snow Slides
and preventing the accidental fall OF an
inhabtaLt into his own, or his neighbours,
dwelling,
Considerable debris was found in these
ancient dwellingsan examination of which
led to the discovery of many cur;os, H.
lustrating some of the social and domestic
customs of the extinct race. Stone mauls
and axes, the implements used in excavat-
ing the dwellings, pottery bearing great
variety of ornamentation, bone avis and
needles of delicate workmanship, the fam-
ly grinding stone for grain, its wel-worn
surface indicating long use, shell and OBJ
sidian ornaments and implements of wood,
the use of which are uEdiscoverable, were
among the trophies of the exploration
Search was made for water course or
spring. hut no appearance of the existence
OF water in the region in recent centuries
WAS discovered.
There were signs of intercommunication
between this village and cliff city some
one mile distant, which is also Il new dis
covery. This city, or, rather. cluster OF
villages, occupied the sides of Il canon,
which has rel emily been christened Wal
nut canon. 1t is an immense lissure in
the earth, with nothing above the general
level of the country to indicate its existence
to the traveller until he stands upon its
brink The sides have been quilted by
storms and torrents, leaving shallow cave
like places OF great length ut different
heights, along the bottoms of which,
wherever the ledge furnished sufficient
area, dwellings in groups or singly, were
built. The season was we'll advanced
when the place was reached, and only lit
tie time was spent in lis exploration, All
the ancient methods of approach had been
long before worn away, and access to the
nearest of the groups of houses was II work
of difficulty. The group or village which
three-quarters OF Il mile in length and con-
sisted of single row of houses the COM
mon rear wall being the lining rock, while
the sides and fronts We're made OF large
squared stones laid in clay. narrow
street or pathway extended along the en-
tire front. Other and similar villages
could be seen along the canon Tor dis
tance of five miles. Among the relics
found here was a wooden spindle whirl
similar TO those in use by the Pueblos of
the present time, but unlike them in the
apparent manner of its manufacture
Nothing indicating the use of metallic
tools of any description was discovered.
The surface of the wood of which the
whirl was formed had apparently been
charred and then ground down to the re-
auired size and shape by rubbing it upon
sandstone. A shaft of reel similar to BAN
boo, a species entirely unknown In that
region at this time, still remained IN the
wlvl. 1t had been broken by the ancient
workmun, and neatly mended by winding
about it II piece OF fine twine. The ends
of this twine, being examined under the
microscope, disclosed the fact that its fibre
was of very fine human hair.
AILlcIGS VI WJOu, GOlH CoDo SNNh
perfect grains of corn. walnuts, bones OF
the elk, antelope and wolf, portions of
wearing apparel of a fabric resembling the
mummy cloth of Egypt, and other articles
were found in abundance buried in the
piles of debris which partially filled these
deserted homes.
There were no weapons of war or works
of defence, no temples of idols, and no
hieroglyphics of pictures.