The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-09-04
A Theory Established.

PROFESSOR Byron Cummings of the Irn;
Verslty OF Utah has made more and deep-
s e lnrcads into the mysteries of the cliffs.
me pueblos. the mesas the awful reoion
of desolation than any other man Ssni,
Yesterday he returned after a Journey into
.he san Juan country, where he spent th.a
peter part of three months Professor
cummings was accompanied bv Neil Judd
Tjrr. StiI.on LocKhart, students. The
ilrst named of the young men returned
with the rofessor-Loekhart elected to
remain IN san juan He will return later.
Inc chief purpose of the expedition was
TO learn. If possible. something about the
habits and culture of the people who Oc-
cupied the pueblos of the mesas with n
view TO establishing their relationship
with the cliff dwellers Professor Cum
mings Is confirmed in his opinion that the
people who inhabited the cliffs are the
same as those who dwelt upon the mesas.
during the brief time the expedition had
at ITS disposal such excavations as Were
possible We're made in large ruin twenty
I'VE miles southeast of Monticello and the
sloe canyons of the Montezuma were also
explored An exploring trip south of the
San Juan river was made, taking the
party into virgin territory.
On AIkaIi Ridge.
Two weeks were spent In side CANYONS
OF the Montezuma canyon making mans
and locating a ruin for exploration. The
party decided to excavate a large ruin
at the head of Ruin canyon on AlkAii
ridge. A permanent camp was estab-
nshed at Cave spring, and five and a half
weeks were spent in excavatin. portion
OF the ruin The party uncovered part
OF the ruin and opened three kivas or
ceremonial chambers. the ruin con-
tanned fOrty-one kivas The ,Siyas are
made as nearly round as possible. The
ones in this ruin were about twelve feet
IN diameter aid were about six feet high
The burial mound of this ruin was
opened up and although pottery hunters
had dug in the Tuin before, considerable
material was found From the building
the searchers obtained a good many bone
and stone implements and some pottery.
FROM the burial mound twenty-eight skel-
etons and parts of skeletons and fifty
pieces of pottery were obtained.
An Extensive Population.
The most important part of the work
was the study of the structure of the
buildings and ceremonial chambers for
the purpose of comparing them with sim
liar buildings in other parts of the San
Juan drainage 1t was found that while
the ruins were similar the ruin excavated
was very ancient and belongs among the
olcest OF this region. 1t is evident ac-
cordlne to Professor Cummings view, that
on the meSas and in the canyons of the
Montezuma there once lived a very eX-
tensive population. They built strong de-
fenslve works on the rim rocks around
the heads of canyons. and built dwellings
the ruins of which now cover acres and
acres of ground.
A kiva was uncovered at Cold Spring
cave in Butler wash. with the object of
the structure of the ceremonial
chambers in caves with those of the pu-
ebloS on the meSas. The structure was
very similar, which tends to prove that
the people who occupied the caves were
the same as those who built large pueblos
on the mesas. From the fact that there
We're in one ruin as many as forty-one
ceremonial chambers, which are supposed
to have been used for holding council and
meetings. it is evident that a
large number of clans occupied each pu-
eblo.
Field for Explorer.
The exploration work of the trip was
under the direction of the American So
ciety of Archaeology, and was'under the
supervision of Professor Z. l.. Hewitt of
d. c.. a director of the So
ciety, WHO was with the party few davS
on Alkai ridge. Messrs. Kidder Del
Fritsch and Parsons of Harvard We're also
with the Salt Lake party in the Monte
yuma country.
Besides the work mentioned, Professor
Cummings and party made an exploring
zip into the Kaenta group of canyons in
the edge of Arizona This country is said
to be virgin territory for the archaeolo-
gist a trip was also made to Monument
tai valley south of the San Juan.