The Irish standard., 1895-09-21

S as e
rizona ss,f
EthnploEy by9 aos II 14inde
brought about Al iseosvefie MI
srespeeting q !prehistor ic racs hsses
PILE burroWed like hsls
them 50 xtensiYe US to be verita BILE 50 ~
Iterranean hotels, the apa rtne1lt being
In suits for the occupancy OF famids
"a Eigh II miles south OF Verde, on the east
side $of the river, is the now empty horne
OF a once prosperous underground COM
Munity. It has 200 rooms on i ne e main Ia
level. divided into sev emit fours distinct
and separate sets. On a5level above, con-
shutting b second ID story. M are tsy-six
rooms i'd twenty four sets. It Ssis believed
that the entire estab lishment accom-s
:modated 1860 or 200 people. VII 4. ~
n followed out Of the faces OF the Gins
In Y that region are ia ousan ds 4of rooms,
sometimes in clusters #of two OfS. tnree,
while now and then VIII be found such 81
h an ella borate excavation as that Just de-
scribed. afrording quarters tor 81 com IN
mEnity of conside bile size. a he places
chosen for such workings are alons the
faces Of cliffs, where strata Of soft rock
occur. The rooms generally are Tudely
scircular.tIe largest being thirty feet ana
/ the smallest five or six feet in diameter.
b In the underground hotels q suite or
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES OIL one ldCSS llle1AiAaA 49,
in, front, entered by ia narrow hall from
the face OF the bluff, and a. number OF
small err rooms connected by marrow door.
ways of short passages. There Is no out
let into the open except through the main
room or parlort II Usually there4are NUM-
Der OF little storage rooms Or cubby-holes,
corresponding to closets. These are from
foot to five feet In diameter, on a level
with the floors, .5sISa " = e
s Not much is known about the history
Of the Rio Verde Valley. Within recent
years that region has been a stamping
ground OF the hostile Apache and Wal,
Rapai
Remains of large villages are found on
the river terraces, some of them Of elabor-
ate and complex ground-plain, indicating
long occupancy. The ruins cover a space
Of five acres. This village like all of
are others, was built after the fashion of
a pueblo; being merely an aggregation of
rooms, most Of which were only one story
in height. It had 225 rooms on the
ground floor and about 300 rooms in all,
providing accommodation for perhaps $50
persons This interesting structure OF an
tiquity is of roughly dressed stone, with
a mum Der OfScourts Or open spaces separ-
ating the clusters Of rooms. One room
that stands by itself is thought to have
been a sacred ceremonial chamber.
THE ancient Inhabitants Of the Verde
Valley relied mainly If not wholly upon
agriculture for their support. Of the
military art they knew so little that they
built no Qualifications Of any kind. They
grew much corn, and remains of lrriga-
ton canals and reservoirs utilized by
them are found That the domesticated
the sheep and the dog is proved by pic
tographic writings.
# In the rooms were found fragments Of
baskets, bitsfof grinding stones, bundles
Of f1bres, pieces Of cotton cloth, pottery,
arrow-shafts and sandals Of woven yucca
fibre. Sometimes the house had a cavity
In the rock for holding fifteen or twenty
gallons of water-a> months supply for
an aboriginal family.
These people buried their dead in inches
in the rock. A few of their mummies
have been found, preserved merely by
the dryness of the atmosphere in the arid
region. That climate is particularly fav-
orable to the preservation is natural and
not artificial. 1t was so in ancient Egypt,
which is a very dry country. #
The population of the Verde Valley was
never large, probably not exceeding 1000
souls, There were few tillable areas, and
apart from these the country is forbid
ding and not suited to agriculture. The
ruins in the region are so numerous and
extensive as to be attributed formally
to an immense population. estimates run
ming as high as 100000. But these people
had way Of moving continually on and
on, and a band Of 500 of them might
leave behind them the remains Of fifty
villages in a century.