Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1921-02-11
UNEARTH ANCIENT
1000 ROOM HOUSE
IN PECOS, NEW MEX.
SCIENTISTS MAKE VALUABLE
DISCOVERY OF 1000 YEAR OLD
STRUCTURE rs MILES EAST OF
SANTA FEE.

Santa Fe, n. NJ, Feb, ll.--Nheh
Europe was plunging through the ter
rors Of the middle ages and along
about the time Attila, the Hun was
ravaging the civilization Of Rome,
another civilization OF different type
was in a fairly we'll perfected state
in western North America. The cen
ter of this civilization as well as
center of trade and commerce vas
Pecos, New Mexico, about twenty-five
miles east of Santa Fe
This was determined definitely, az.
cording to DR.. A. v Kiddcr, by tx
Cavations conducted by himself aAd
assistants last summer. Dr. hldder|
was aided by DR.. +. A. Hooton, spe
cialist in physical anJhropology, and
Dr. c. E. Guthe, who had just re
turned from his exploration among
the Mayas in Central America.
The scientists opened more than
200 graves and examined some IOpo
skeletons Homes haG baea built
upon ruins of previous hlbitations
and the bodies of the dead buried in
the ruins had increased q such an
extent that the Indians Of PeCOs, some
eighty years ago deserted their thou
sand year old city md moved to Je-
mez because the waters had become
contaminated
Cliff dwellings of a thousand rooms,
well preserved specimens OF the
past civilization and unusual exam.
pies of early day pottery and house
hold utensils were recovered accord.
ing to the report on the excavations
recently made public.
Castenada, the chrOniClcr Of COro
nado's explorations $50 years ago
mentions but one pueb,a az Peccs
obviously the north house. EXcaNa-
tons last summer showed that here
had been puebla at an carly period
on the site of the south house which
had been abandoned and reduced to
a mere heap Of ruins before the com /.
ing of the Spaniard5. In the inter I
TO- of the mount there was uncovered .
one ground floor chamber il excel I
lent preservation. It's roof was al.
most intact; from the beams still
hung the bark loops that had been
used to suspend goods OS the owners
ana on one smoke blackened log are
a series of hand prints, large and
small, slapped on in white wash.
To explore the extensive north
house which originally must have
had more than thousand rooms and
walls of which still stand almost
three stories high, trenches We're
started simultaneously at the east
entrance and west edge of the mesa. |
The western trench was run along
bed rock and after passing through
bhrials four feet deep. encountered
the foundation walls of an early build.
ing, the presence of which had not
been suspected. This was cut thru
and the trench struck a large oval
pit which proved to be a treasure
house fifteen feet deep, ten feet wide
and twenty feet long, built in a nat
ural crevice in the mesa. About its
edge was neatly built coping wall
two feet high and it resembled some
what the cenOteS at ChiChen TIA and
elsewhere in the Maya field in Yucca
tan. The cistern yielded an unus
ually full and unmixed collection Of
artifacts and pottery from the earliest
times to the Paiaritan or Fourth
Glaze period. When the cistern was
cleaned it was bridge over and the
trench was continued Another zone
OF skeletons was discovered and some
of the best pottery thus far found
was taken from the graves.
In another trench ruins were en-
countered similar to those of the pre-
historic walls of the palace cover
nors at Santa Fe, built long before
the coming of the Spaniards, The
similarity was traced to the ruins
upon which the Santa Fe structure
had been constructed and which had
been built by Ornate or his success.
sor in 1908.
Other trenches revealed a large
series of cooking jars. painted oilas
ana one nest of ceremonial pOts
Wedged between rocks and yet quite
unchanged. With these were many
handsome shell ornaments two sets
OF bone flutes, two very large tobaC- -
co pipes, one Of them elaboratelv =
carved, thirty.six buffalo horns. part
OF a wooden dance head dress and
many other specimens
IN one place were found two under
ground kivas or ceremonial cham.
bers. Both We're built in the earliest |
time, about the beginning of the
Christian era.
BY careful observation of the strat.
lied filings in the lower part of the
rooms, cO-ordinated with an inten-
SlVe study of the successive IDcre-
ments of masonry that had gone into
their construction. Dr. Guthc had
)een able to work out and record bv
plans of the pueblo from the fou0da.
non OF the town. perhaps 1000 wears
ago down to the time of its abar-
lonment about eighty years ago. Pc.
;os apparently is the longest contin.
lously inhabited city of the American
The museum of New Mexico owns
The site pyravptaJ