The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1898-10-01
FINDS II ARIZONA.
RELICS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL
VALUE IN THE STATES.
Buried Cleics Laid I..sre-nIany ideas OF
the Customs, Dress, Warfare and
1eliGion OF the Prehiseorio Indisas
Bfou4he to Light.

Religion OF the Prehiseorlo Indis.s
BFoughe to Light.
The Smithsonian institution will
soon publish a most interesting &C
count of excavations recently made
near Winslow. Ariz., under its
auspices. the result of which was the
discovery Of many things OF archaeo-
logical importance. DR.. j. Walker
Fewkes had charge of the digging.
which unearthed portions &C the ruins
Of four ancient and ong-buried cities.
The aboriginal inhabitants of tae
region have traditions to the effect
that the towns in question were the
dwelling places of remote ancestors
OF their own. and the finds" made
incidentally to the excavations seem
to show that this belief is presumably
correct. Up to comparatively recent
date the walls OF the ruined build
ings rose to a considerable height. but
the Mormons. in constructing the near
by Sunset City. now itself in ruins.
utilized the stones for their houses.
says the ST. Louis Globe-Dem ocrar.
One OF these buried cities, to which
the most careful study was given, was
evidently a pueblo Of great size. of a
rectangular shape and inclosing plazas.
From this ancient ruin, now repre-
taken several hundred beautiful OBJ
jects OF prehistoric handiwork. They
were obtained from the metropolis or
burial place of the pueblo. in the very
shadow of which the dead were inter-
red, not being carried away to any dis
lance. Almost every grave was indi-
Gated by fat stone slab which lay
above q skeleton. Many of these stones
were perforated with round. oval or
com h010 I4
extended at length, while others had
their knees drawn up to the breast.
Many vases and pots were obtained.
which bore strange designs, mostly
representing NEUROLOGICAL birds and
beasts. Their significance. as illus
trating the mythology of the people
to whom the pottery belonged. is as
certainable to some extent from the
traditions still current among the liv-
ing aborfgines. One design. wholly
unique, is painted on the bottom Of
bowl. On one side of the rim is rep
resented the upper part OF man. and
below. in the interior of the bowl, are
two footprints. as If the man had
leaped into the receptacle. From these
a line of footprints extends across tho
bottom of the bowl. ending at the OPP
body and legs of man crawling out
Of the bowl on the opposite side. On
another piece OF pottery. a food basin.
is a figure Of q spider. representing the
NEUROLOGICAL spider woman. She is an
earth goddess, bride of the sun and
mother Of the twin war gods. The
priests made elaborate prayer sticks.
some OF which were several feet long,
and painted them with yellow green.
blue. red. white and black pigments.
the same as those used by their de-
scendants. They priced for ceremonial
purposes quartz crystals, stone con-
cretions and fragments of obsidian.
They were acquainted with bells made
of copper. They had rattles of sea
shells and wore fringes of shells on
the margins OF their garments. In
ceremonials they made use Of stone
slabs painted with animals. The war
riors We're armed with bows and ar
rows tipped with stone and obsidian
points. They had clubs. stone ham,
Iners and axes. They made needles.
dkins and avis of bird stones, an
telope tibiae and ribs, which they
sometimes carved in imitation Of ami
mails The women were adopts in the
manufacture of earthenware vessels,
which they decorated in elaborate fg-
ures in several colors. They were ia
miliar with the art of glazing pottery
and practiced etching OF the same to a
very limited extent. They buried their
dead just beyond the outer walls and
deposited with them various votfve
offerings, pottery. basketry, ceremonial
and other paraphernalia. having first
painted the face and wrapped The body
in mating. The symbols on their pot
terry indicate that they recognized the
sun and spider as powerful deities.
They worshfped the rain, clouds.
lightning. snake. tadpo1e. frog and var
ious mythical birds. They entertained
an idea of a future life and associated
the dead with rain gods.
Good Works.