Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-01-22
DISCOVERS NEW TYPE
OF ANCIENT BUILDING
DR.. }. W. Fewkes Uncarths Pueblo
That Was Constructed
in the Open.
MORE THAN 600 YEARS OLD
Structure. Located i'm Mesa Verde
Park, Col, Contained Forty DOmi-
ciliary Rooms, With -Four Ccremo-
NAL KivaS on Ground Floor.

! Y,
! field work In the Mesa Verde National
! Park. Colorado. reports that his work
! has revealed for the first time new
[ type of prehistoric building possibly
| .lore than 500 years old. a pueblo. COM
monty defined as Il terraced community
, building. not attached to cliff. but
constructed in the open.
| During the last few years. the
| Smithsonian Institution. in co-opera-
| ;on with tho Department. of the In
. terror, has directed the excavation and
! repair OF several prehistoric ruins in
the Mesa Verde National Park. among
/ them tho sun Temple" cXcavated by
! pr Fewkes last year, which proved a
unique example of aboriginal building
| specialized for religious purposes, and
: Spruce Tree House." and cliff Pal
ace" characteristic cliff dwellings of
/ the culture of the early jewellers.
The building eXcavated last summer
/ forms one of what is known as the
! Mummy Lake group of mounds. which
might be termed type locality for
/ 1t seems representative Of a consid-
/ cradle region. According to Dr. Fcwkes,
| the area now comprising Arizona. Utah,
/ Colorado and New Mexico was inhab-
! ited In prehistoric times, by Indians
/ similar to those of any other region
/ of North America but their dwellings
were very different. This unique ter
( ritory. therefore. bears the name
I Pueblo culture area" II Is tho only
! aboriginal culture area where build
ings have determined the name. being
| distinguished from all others mainly by
architectural characteristics, although
| the agricultural fact that these for
| bears of the American Indian possessed
maize, or Indian corn. aids in cstab-
| fishing their Deculiari.ies.
EARLY INHABITANTS
DID NOT USE STONE
The immigrant clans that first peo-
J
/ dwellings, nor pueblos." says Or.
| Fewkcs. consequently this style of
dwelling originated exactly where we
now nnd them.
when man first entered the South
west he knew little Of the advantages
| of stone as Il building material for
he built his hut of mud and sticks. or
| possibly skins Of animals The North
American Indian became stone mason
! as result Of a life in cliffs, and no.
where outside OF the Southwest were
| buildings constructed Of stone by the
| aboriEines of the section north OF Mex
| leo. The prehistoric masonry in this
region Is a development which occurred
before tho advent Of the white man.
And yet, no European ever saw an in
| habited cl!n dwelling on the Mesa
Verde, and no article of European man
ufacture has ever been found in the
undiSturbcd debris of the rooms"
All Of which shows that these early
dwellings We're abandoned before the
Spanish conquest.
| Concerning the new type OF dwell
| Ing, just unearthed from the deep cover
of earth rock. debris and saEcbruih.
| DR. Fewkes says that there is every
| reason to believe that there were for
mcrly as many buildings Of this kind
as there were cliff dwellings in the
| canyons. practically about 100 Of them.
| They seem TO have been arranged in
| groups surrounding. or near. Mummy
| Lake, an artificial depression surround
cd by an cncircling ridge or wall. and
! undoubtedly used as a reservoir both
for drinking and irrigation waters.
| The mound chosen To he cXcavatcd
! stands near the government road. at
! the southwest corner Of III" group area.
and only A few steps from the rim
Of Soda Canyon. ''Tt might we'll be
called Far View House" says the eXca-
vator. since the southern outlook is
very fine. and from the upper rooms
four States. Utah, Arizona. New Mex
leo and Colorado. may he seen"
When the building was cXcavatcG
forty domiciliary rooms and four cir
cular. ceremonial kivas were found on
the ground floor The forms were
r:ainly two stories in height. the raft
erS OF the lower floors forming the
beams for the second. and extending
along the north east and west sides
Of the main building. y row OF rooms
to the north Of liva "a" shows evil
denccs OF third story. which prob
ably would have brought the original
number OF rooms to more than fifty.
TO the south is "a great court sup
posed to have been a dance plaza. and
still inclosed by the remnants Of "a wall.
The main north wall of the pueblo
measures l3 feet from east to west.
and was apparently about twenty feet
high. The east and west walls extend
toward the south, fifty and siX;y-fOuT
in height.
The masonry throughout is Of fairly
good construction. hut shows all the
faults of the cliff dwcllers' work
joints unbrokcn and corners not prop
erly bonded to the other walls. The
ends and sides of the stones adjoin-
ing each other are not hcwn or cut
fiat, but the irregularity in the courses
was overcome by climbing with thin
spalls of stone set in mud. No trowel
marks Of the builders were found hut
the prints Of their hands and fingers
are 10 be seen In the mud mortar.
MOST or THE STONES
SHOW ARTIFICIAL DRESSING
Most of the stones used show arti-
fetal dressing on the exposed faces.
and many of them in the inner walls
are incised with decorative figures.
such as spiral and rcctilincar figures.
which. while symbolic, cannot he re-
garded as inscriptions. Unfortunately.
these people were not picture writer's.
and they left no legends to aid us in
our work.
OF the different rooms discovered,
Dr Fcwkes mentions ceremonial rooms.
or iivas: storage rooms. milling rooms.
ESleepng rooms and circular rooms used
mainly for ceremonies and lookouts.
No attempt was made to eXcavate the
ncighhoring cemetery, but an almost
complete adult skeleton was found
buried in ono Of the kivas.
Among what is known as minor an
tiquitics. Dr. Fewkes found fine
series of stone hatchctS and maulS,
generally ErOoved and polished: few
, arrowhcads. spear points and pecking
stones. a number of bone implements,
three animal figures believed to have
been idols some pottery. corn and
animal remains.
Unlike some archa biologists, Fewkes
does not believe that the cliff dwellers
or the inhabitants of this pueblo were
cxtcrminated by their enemies. but
rather that they migrated to the plains