Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-09-06
CLIFF JEWELLERS.
RELICS Of AN ANCIENT RACEiN
COLORADO.
The Skulls and Hnndiwori, ola Pre-.
historic Peoplc-Grcat Houses
With Hundreds ofEonms
Large Reservoirs.

laws vi INC cnN-uWelicfS on tie
Mancos, i'll Southern Colorado, have been
once more entered 10y vaudals, but this
time only rain and the dust of departed
centuries were to be found.
The existence OF these caves has long
been known, but 10 thorough examine
Ton was ever made until Il few months
ago, when Charles McLoyd. Il prospector
ana miner of The San Juan, and four
companions concluded to look into the
aoahuoned dwellings,. \ writer in the
Denver R,7UJIican describes the result %:
their Investigations No definite idea OF
securing Il collection was Thought Of, l,n.
inter wandering from one rum 20 another
Oh the top Of the cliffs, and where the
land could he made fertile, they COM
mcnccd exploring the caves. Among the
lrst entered little of interest was to be
round, but they finally came TO IL place
that was almost inaccessible On the mesa
above large reservoir was to he seen.
ana 1t is the opinion of the explorers that
TINS great tract ofground was once titled
ny the people who lived in the caves be-
low. But now rinon trees of great ace
urc standing on all sides, aud how many
OF them have sprung up, lived their days,
uecaycd and then have been succeeded hy
diners, no man living to-day knows-it
may have been hundreds, it may have
been thousands of years ago.
Mr. McLoyd says that the dwellings in
hiontezana County were found Oh the
sides of walls of the canon OF the Mancos
and its tributaries in wind-worn caves or
:reviccs caused by falling water, and
were so completely protected from the
elements that many OF their effects were
found III Il perfect state of preservation.
as rule, these caves are in almost mae.
,eSslblc places. When inhabited they
"efc reached quite frequently by notchcs
cut III the rock, and at other times rope
ladders must have been used.
Quite number of the houses found
were OF pretcntinus dimensions. the iar.s.
.st being Il building on the ground floor
d which are I12 rooms, and 200 in the
apper stories. This building was four
stories in height with tower. and was
ouit of dressed stone and cement made
81 the surrounding soil mixed with a sub
tance now unknown, and the architec.
;urc now would he called that of the
Roman period
The race, according to the theory adj
RANGED by the Smithsonian institution,
:Xisteu about ten thousand years ago.
thls theory is based upon the idea that
ne people lived and farmcd on the banks
81 the Salt River before the bed of that
'tream was changed and the finding of
;recs and fungi in the ruins.
The adjoining natives, tic Nayaios,
ire the only race that have any tradition
concerning these people, and theirs is
INT the c!iff jewellers became extinct by
being overcome by numbers, and, ore.
errinG death by drowning rather shan
1t the hands of the enemy, jumped; into
Inc water below their homes, and ill.,
iteal OF drowning, became fish. The
:llif dwcllcrs were "a quiet, inolicnsivc
ace, Judging from the lack Of instri,
nents of war and tl,e inany articles that
we're used in their Grade method of farm
ug.
Phrcnologically speaking, they were
lulet and peaccable, the back part Of
Inc skull being very fiat and often de-
pressed, Willie the front part was well
ormed and denoted some intelligence.
Among the skulls in the collection is
one that consists OF one piece only, and
inows no trace of Il seam between the
hrcc parts, as is usual in the human
'knll. The bones found would indicate
mai they were II people of medium
height and we'll formed, having small
lands aud feet, tie hair black and
liner in texture than that of any known
ace of savages. There is no sion of
my domcsticatcd animal or fowl, with
he exception of the turkey; it was
utilized in many ways, specimens of
lust brushes, bone needles, etc, Having
been found. The agricultural products
ound consisted of corn. beans and
pumpkins, for articles OF food, and
he yucca for that of clothing.
Their textile fabrics consisted Of
mats and cloths made of cords of the
yucca plant interviewer with the down
rom the turkey or fur of some animal.
md is soft and flexible 1t was used
evidently only i'll the burying of their
lead, who were raped iii this cloth, it
Slking the place of the shroud in modern
lays, while for an outside covering o..
.oilin, they used Il mat of hewn sticks
If iron wood and connected in the same
manner that the modern Venetian blinds
ire made. There are also Il few pieces OF
:loth woven out OF human hair. which
vas made on II crude loom of sticks and
cords. There was in this machine about
800 pieces OF wood, and it was found
intact by explorers, but was destroyed in
trying to remove it, as it was hurled
from dwelling to the bottom of the
canon, and only pieces are now in exist
sncc, no ether loom ever having been
tound
There were discovered near the cities
Of these people large reservoirs for hold
ing the water that came down from the
mountains. These reservoirs were made
with stone walls. There Is one still per
fect, it being situated on top of the
''mcsa verdi, or foot hills, and is $50
leet in diameter, walled with double
walls and now contains from ten to ff-
:ecn feet of water All their farming
was carried on i'll the valleys above the
aanons and was accomplished by hard
labor and with the crudcst of implements,
nothing having been found OF this paturc
Except q sharp-pointed stick of hard