The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-06

large volume OF Wator over VorTltOry many
miles In extent 40 as to divide It equtably
among different sections and at the same time
husband the supply requires considerable ex-
ecutive ability, and indicates a people willing
| to subordinate private interests to the geno-
raj veal. Their communal and cooperative
character is also demonstrated by many other
customs Tho walled block was typical clan
| structure intended for many families. The
| large temple was on the contrary distinctive
tribal building. In the vicinity OF each block
are found large pits with a vitreous lining
| that were used az baking ovens In common
| by the entire clan The different fetichcs or
| amulets they held sacred are Of concretionary
| stones OF high natural colors and peculiar
shape. Individual amuets are found in the
pyral mounds: family ones in the ruins Of
| dwelling rooms clan amulets In the urban
| houses. and tribal In the temples.
| The ancient city OF Los Muertos had popu-
| lation OF more than G5, 900 perhaps before the
| days OF the Pharaohs and the Roman Kings.
| The city is laid out north and south; at least.
| In a majority OF instances the streets run to
| these cardinal points. The walls seem to vary
little from this rule: In fact, they are crooked
| In places, az II they might have been con-
| structed for the support of bastions or towers.
This city and the one containing an old fort
further down the ella River are the only ones
in which the writer ever found anv evidence Of
preparation for war. 1t seems as II the race
who lived in this Gila country was either 80
| numerous that 1t feared no attack or had no
enemies with wbioh to contend
South OF Phoenix. on the mesa. are the ruined
corrals or stock pens in which the animals Of
the inhabitants were kept. Many finds prove
the purpose for which they were used. What
the animals were is not 30 easily determined.
On tho Stats found in ruins south Of the Salt
Dt-.- Il. \ ll. IT,, thn
ruins that have best vitbstood the exposure
OF the aRes MANY interesting specimens OF
the ceramic art have been found Ollas Of all
sha pes and sizes urns containing the ashes of
the dead, and lars partly filed with parchcd
corn and beans are found in remarkable
state OF preservation. II seems IA II tho entire
city had been swept bv a flood and the enrthen
houses melted down or shaken by an earth
quake and topped into a thousand fragments,
giving tho inhabitants barely time to escape
Few OF the skeletons that the amateur ex-
plorers have taken out show signs OF mutta-
ton or have broken bones The people appear
to have died Of suffocation or some natural
cause that left no mark upon the frame. In
several. spots where bones have been found
deeper digging has brought to light large
quantities of bone dust as fne and light as
gunpovder In one spot. near Tempe. several
tons OF bone dust have been found recently
lying in what appears TO have once been a
trench some seventy feet long and two feet
deep, nine feet below the surface OF the sun
baked earth Tho edges Of the deposit OF bone
dust wore broken and uneven. 30 that It could
not mark place OF burial Docs 10 consist of
the remains Of animals or Is the dust that OF
human beings? II the latter was it the result
OF funeral rites or were the bodies deposited
there by some great flood that came over the
land without warning? Tho majority of the
skeletons discovered in the ella Valley are in
good condition, and it is not easy to reconcile
this fact with the finding OF the great deposits
Of bone dust
The ruins. which NAV still be- traced. of the
great communal or holy structure in the centre
OF each of these larger prehistoric cities are
furnishing most abundant material for re-
search by the exploring scicntists AT Los
Muertos this building il believed. from the ont
line Of ruins. to have covered nm acre The
Smithsonian etbnologists have reason to be-