The evening times., 1900-02-06
ANTIQUE cLIFF-DwELLERs.
Many New Discoveries Made by Prof.
Hewitt

SANTA FE. y. NJ. Feb. 6.-PrOf
Hewett, whose discoveries in the elm and
cave dwellings near Santa Fe have already
been briefly outlined found in the older
cliff dwellings ornaments OF ivory rudely
carved, which were made from live ivory,
and not fossil ivory, and this seems to be
proof that the Cliff-dwellers were contem-
poraneous with the mastodon and other
mammals. from which alone they could
have derived ivory.
On the walls Of the cliff dwellings. too.
under the plaster put there more recently
by the Pueblo Indians. who sought the
caves as a refuge in the time OF the Span
ish invasion were found rude carvings in
the rock. number OF which Prof. Hewitt
photographed. and which seem to be
stories Of historic Incidents. and show
pictures Of such prehistoric animals as
those Of which remains were found in the
Tesuque Valley and at san Udefonso only
this winter, and include the mastodon.
Connecting two villages was discovered
a path In sandstone on top of the volcanic
tufa, which at several places had been
worn hip deepTa process which must have
y
dwellings near Santa Fe il stretched out
in a line would extend sixty miles. and
must have given a habitation to hundreds
OF thousands of people
On the mesas above the cliff dwellings
are ruins OF community houses, which con-
tanned from fifteen hundred to two thou
sand rooms each, and in which Prof.
Hewitt found fragments Of very ancient
pottery, and also OF a later origin, which
showed that they We're also reOccupied by
the PueblOs. which reoccupation gave
credence TO the belief until lately generally
accepted by scientists that the cliff dwell
ings are only from three hundred 10 four
hundred years old. and were built by the
Pueblo Indians as a refuge against the
Spaniards
Some Of the latter caves probably we're.
but the vast majority of them seem to date
back to the tertiary period, and here near
Santa Fe scientists will probably find con-
elusive proof that man existed even before
the quaternary period now generally ac-
cepted as the time Of the first appearance
of man.
The question Of how these vast multi
tudes OF cliff dwellers found susteuapce in
these arid regions is answered by the fact
that in the tertiary period the upper Rio
GTande Valley was vast lake, into which
running streams flowed from all directions.
over fertile areas the dry river beds still
remaining
Finally the lake broke through a dam of
volcanic tufa twenty-siX miles thick and
formed the Rio Grande River. The large
amount of charred corn found in the cave
dwellings thus far explored shows that il
Is one of the staple products. II is OF pc
culiar shape and different from the Mexi-
can corn of today. skeletons found in the
cliff dwellings by the Rev. G. S Madden
show that tine original dweilers in the cliffs
were not Pueblo Indians, but Of gigantic
stature.
Prof Hewitt found FIVE varieties Of cliff
dwellings, each an Improvement upon the
former. the oldest being dug IN the. .perpen-
dicular walls Of the volcanic tufa, while the
more recent have outbuiIdings and are
built on ledges Mr.. Hewitt will continue
his explorations in the cliff dwellings this
summer, and Will then give the results of
his discoveries 10 the world in book form.
He has the fossil remains Of prehistoric
animals found in the same region.