The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-09-25
LIVED IN HOLES

Explorations in the Rio Verde Valley Of
Arizona, conducted for the Bureau of
EthnOlogy by Cosmos Mindeleff, have
brought about interesting discoveries
respecting prehistoric race. These peo-
pie burrowed in the earth like rats. Their
houses were holes in the hills, some Of
them SO extensive as to be veritable SUBJ
terranean hotels, the apartments being
In suits for the occupancy Of families.
Eight miles south Of Verde, on the east
side OF the river, Is the now empty home
OF once prosperous underground COM
munity. 1t has 200 rooms on the main
level, divided into Seventy-fOur distinct
and separate sets. On level above, con-
shutting second story, are ffty-six
rooms in twentyfour sets. 1t is believed
that the entire establishment accom-
modated $50 or 200 people.
followed out of the faces Of the cliffs
in that region are thousands of rooms,
sometimes in clusters of two or three,
while now and then will be found such
an elaborate excavation as that just de-
scrlbed, affording quarters for a COM
munlty of considerable size. The places
chaser for such workings are along the
faces of cliffs where strata of soft rock
occur. The rooms generally are rudely
circular the largest being thirty feet and
the smallest five or six feet in diameter.
In the underground hotels a suite or
d1narily consists of one large main room
IN front, entered by a narrow hall from
the face Of the bluff, and a number Of
smaller rooms connected by narrow door
ways of short passages. There is no out
let into the open except through the main
room or parlor. Usually there are 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.
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.
apai.
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 aggrega ton Of
rooms, most of which were only one story
IN height 1t had 225 rooms on the
ground floor and about 300 rooms In all.
providing accommodation for perhaps $50
persons. This interesting structure of an
t1quity is of roughly dressed stone, with
NUMBER or courts or open spaces separ-
atlng the clusters of rooms. One room
that stands by itself is thought to have
been 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
QUILT no Notifications of any kind Thev
grew much corn, and remains of irriea.
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. bits of grinding stones, bundles
of fibres, 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 bv
the dryness of the atmosphere in the arid
region. That climate is particularly fay-
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 600
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 fiftv
villages in q century