The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-01-26
An Ancient City Discovered.

Stephenson OF the Geological Survey
has reported to Major Powell. as one
of the results of his last seasons field
operations, the discovery of several
more ruined cave and cliff cities. diff
fering in some respects from any he
had examined. The most remark
able was village ofsixty five under
ground dwellings situated near the
summit of one of the volcanic foot
hills of the San Francisco Mountains,
in the San Juan region of Arizona.
The surface stratum of the hill had,
by exposure. become hardened, and
formed the comfnen roof for the en-
tire community. The dwellings were
excavated after common PATTERN
and description OF one gives an idea
Of the whole. They had no inter,
communication beneath the sS.-fs1es
and were only accessible by means of
square holes leading from the surface
by vertical shaft to the floor of the
main room of the dwelling. Holes
cut at convenient distances along the
sides of the shaft served the purposes
of stairway. Descending the shaft
the explorers found themselves at the
side of an oval shaped. arched.roofed
room. about twenty feet in it's small
est diameter. At the ends and on
the side opposite the entrance low
doorways connected the main room
with smaller rooms, the whole suite
consisting of four apartments.
A groove eighteen inches deep by
fifteen in width, extending from the
floor of the main room up one side of
the shaft to the surface of the hill. Its
bottom filled with ashes and its sides
blackened with smoke, formed the
the fire place and chimney of the es-
tablishment. Around the mouth of
the shaft stone wall enclosed kind
of door yard. The wall seems to have
served the double purpose of guard
ing against snow slides and prevent
ing the accidental fall of an inhabitant
into his own or his neighbours dwell.
ing.
Considerable debris was found in
these ancient dwellings, an examina-
tion of which led to the discovery IL
lustrating some of the social and do
mestic customs of the extinct race.
Stone mauls and axes, the 'imple-
ments used in excavating the dwell
iDgs, pottery bearing great variety
of ornamentation, bone avis and
needles of delicate workmanship, the
family grinding stone for grain its
well-worn surface indicating long use,
shell and obsidlan ornaments and i'm
plements of wood, the uses of which
were undiscoverable. were among
the trophies of the exploration.
Search was made for watercourse
or spring, but no appearance of the
existence Of water in the region in re-
cent centuries was discovered.
There were signs of intercommuni-
cation between this village and a cliff
city some fifteen miles distant, which
is also a new discovery. This city,
or rather cluster of villages, occupied
the sides of a canon, which, has re-
Gently been christened Walnut Canon.
1t is an immense fissure in the earth,
with nothing above the general level
Ofthe country to indicate its existence
to the traveller until he stands upon
its brink. The sides have been gull
lied by storms and torrents, leaving
shallow cave-like places of great
length at different heights, along the
bottoms of which, wherever the ledge
furnished sufficient area, dwellings
in groups or singly were built. The
season was well advanced when the
place was reached and only little time
was spent in its exploration. All the
ancient methods of fapproach had been
|
long before worn away, and access to
the nearest of the groups of houses
was work of difficulty. The group
or village which was most narrowly
examined was about three quarters
of a mile in length. and consisted of
a single row of houses, the common
rear wall being the lining rock, while
the sides and fronts were made of
large squared stones laid in clay. A
narrow street or pathway extended
along the entire front. Other and
similar villages could be seen along
the canon for distance 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 appar-
ent of its manufacture.
Nothing indicating the use of me-
tallIc tools of any description was dis.
covered. The surface of the wood oI
which the whirl was formed had
apparently been charred and then
ground down to the required size and
shape by rubbing it upon sandstone.