Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-06-19

Chemists will make a determined
effort this summer TO penetrate the
mysteries surrounding the history OF
the cliff dwellers OF the Mesa Verde
| Colo, and to shed some light, il pos
sible, on the origin Of the strange race.
their customs and what was their posi-
ton among ancient tribes.
Many exploring parties are already
fitting out for the Mesa Verde. Pro-
fessor George Dorsey of the Field Co
lumbar museum has announced that
he will visit the famous ruins for the
purpose of obtaining information about
the cliff dweIlers, and party Of Eng
| lish scientists is equipping itself for
l similar tour. This party will soon
| leave Denver and, besides a thorough
| equipment for excavation, will carry
many large cameras with telephoto
lenses, says the Chicago Record. This
| will be the first time that the telephoto
| lens has been used for purposes Of
exploration. There are ruins in the
Mesa Verde which are inaccessible to
the photographer who carries an or
binary outfit The only way to photo
canyon, and the distance is too great
for an ordinary lens to do effective
work. The teIephoto, which combines
the effectiveness of the ordinary lens
with the magnifying power of a tele-
scope, will give some new and impor-
tant views OF these remarkable dwell
ings, which have hitherto defied the
efforts of the photographer.
be more systematically and thoroughly
explored than ever before, but scien-
tific studies will be prosecuted in Den
yer. The Colorado State Historical So
ciety has gathered large collection of
cliff dweller skulls. bones, pottery, i'm
plements and pictures, and DR.. A l..
Bennett, an eminent anthropologist,
has been engaged to study this collec-
ton and make deductions as to the life
and times of the lost race. DR.. Bennett
has done anthropOlogical work I'm Afri-
ca. his observations ON the cannibal
Fang" tribe being published by the
Anthropological Institute Of Great Brit
ain and Ireland.
SO far but little scientific work has
been done in the endeavor to ascertain
something about the cliff dwellers.
NordenslSjold. Il Norwegian, has made
a few careful notes and measurements, |
and that about ends the work. DIR. |
Bennett intends to find out facts by |
comparative measurements OF skulls |
and bones and by studying the pottery
and picture writings. What the scien-
tific world wishes to find out is to what |
race and to what tribe the cliff dwell |
ers belonged and why they chose such |
a peculiar situation for their houses. |
1t is a peculiar fact that all cliff dwell |
ers' skulls are fiattened at the back, /
supposed to have been caused by ar /
tificial means, such as binding against |
board. DIR. Bennett is inclined to |
think that this may have had a psyche
logical effect on the tribe. reducing GER |
tain portions of the brain by pressure /
and causing naturally courageous In
dams to become timid and to fee to the /
cliffs for protection against enemies.
At present scientists do not know
whether cliff jewellers belong to the
bronze age or to the stone age. DR.. /
Bennett is inclined TO think that re-
search Will prove that the cliff dwelIers
were the ancestors of the Pueblo In
dams and that they were connected
also with the mound builders.
Thomas J. Diven. an eminent arche-
Ologist, who has returned from an in
spection of the Santa Clara cliff dwell
ings near Santa Fe. declares that the
people who inhabited the strange |
dwellings were the ancestors OF the
Pueblo Indians and that they cannot
be regarded as q lost race.
History knows of no extinct peo-
pie" says Professor Diven. Absorb
ton by conqueror is not extinction.
The cliff jewellers were the ancestors
Of the Pueblos and were driven from
their strange dwellings by some great
of nature that was as
terrible as the eruption of Vesuvius
when Pompeii was wiped out of exist
ence- Everything proves this theory of
abandonment. The Pueblos' metates,
Or grinding stones; their freplaces,
their idols and their pottery-au are
similar in design and manufacture TO
those left in the cliff dwellings. The
beams that now support the roofs OF
the adobe huts of the Pueblos are pre-
cisely similar to the charred beams
thrown up by the excavation made in
the Santa Clara ruins by the Smith ,
sonian institution officials. Their adobe
dwellings, are built in terraces, reced- ]
ng with every story, and similar in de-
sign to the terraced rock cliffs that the ,
lift jewellers left behind. ,
I'm my opinion the cliff jewellers I
left their residences and ,
hanged their nature and their mode of ,
living foE the same reason that Pompeii ,
md Herculaneum We're abandoned and ,
'or the same reason that Sodom. Go ,
norrah and other cities around the ,
Dead sea were deserted by their terror
stricken inhabitants Some powerful =
,ataclysm Of nature operated with IT. I
'esistible force on superstitious ma r
ures- The most casual inspection viii 4
convince one that since those dwell
ngs in the cliffs were constructed a
errible earthquake has shaken that