Arizona republican., 1898-05-17
ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH.
Among the Ruins of the Salt River
 Valley, Arizona.

To the archaeologist this region pre- sents a. most interesting field. Not only are the ruins numerous and of all sizes, but the type of structure I which they represent is peculiar to
 the Salt River valley. In the great cliff dweller country to the north we 1 find boulder, stone and adobe ruins, 1 also cave or cavate dwellings,; but for 1 some twenty-five miles along the Salt all buildings are adobe. The excep- tion of some structures of stone at 1 the Crosscut, four miles east, is not | taken into account, for they stand in
 connection with larger adobe ruins. 1 So far as I am aware, no other re- zion in the United States, and there are numerous sections in which ruins abound, contains adobe structures to 1 the exclusion of those of other ma terials. Aside from the uniformity of
 material, these cid buildings repre- sent a common type of construction,
 or at least slight variations from a given plan. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that a careful study of several of tihe large groups such as those at the CrosTcut at Mesa, north east of Tempe and upon MT Patricks estate near Phoenix would procure fo- the scientist sufficient data fer an un- derstanding of the manners, beliefs arts, migrations and daily life of these strange prehistoric tribas. MT. Cush- | lng's report upon his extensive explo- rations at Les Mertos and other ruin groups, when published, will be of great interest," not only to the inhabi- tants of the Salt River valley, but to the archaeologic world at large.
 The examination of many of these groups during the past five months, and the collecting and study of sev- eral thousand objects in stone, shell, bone, clay and wood has convinced | me that the field offers great oppor- tunities- But it must not be assumed
 that an exploration of any one of the larger groups could be conducted short | of several thousand dollars expense One mile northwest of Mesa lies the | greatest structure found in the valley. We did not survey it, but rough
 measurement gave the length as 700 feet, the width 525 feet and the height as thirty-fve feet. Walls protrude from its summit iii places. It may have contained at least 800 or. more l rooms. Such building could not possibly be excavated thoroughly for less than $5,000. From mere con- cercial standpoint the objects found
 would not justify one-tenth of the ex-
 pense, but archaelogically the explo
 ration of such an important site would
 more than recompense the museum undertaking the work.
 of 1ha 1o1ri1 a | common plan. It is not possible to go
 into details in this short paper, but | l will call attention to the important facts. It is quite evident that primi- l tive man in the Salt River valley
 lived largely by agriculture. His old
 canals can be traced for many miles,
 and incidentally, they have vastly | aided the modern canal companies,
 saving them thousands of dollars in l excavation. About the ruin groups
 are depresslons. These served both to
 furnish material for the multitudi-
 nous adobes used in building construc-
 tion and also as reservoirs. At Mesa,
 and on both the Patrick and Kalfus
 estates there are some acres of reser-
 voirs. Thus there was no danger of water famine.
 l. All iol SS6m to nave i been surrounded by platform court. | The outer edge of this is usually a line of rooms surrounding the struc- l ture on three sides. The platform
 may be three or five feet above the | surrounding land. Sometimes it is I only the original surface, and seems an elevation because the earth about | it has been removed in order to make reservoirs. The main, or large build ing was a large pueblo or compart- | ment house in which many families | lived. There are courts and halls such 1 as occur in Zuni and other modsrn | puabloes. About the main ruin lie | many small ones. Some are circular
 estufas in which certain rites and l ceremonies were enacted. Others are | merely refuse heaps of ashes, etc, on ! which people (perhaps the common folk) lived in the open air, or pro- | tected by light dwellings of perishable materials Tn several grOuDS there