Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-05-29

were constructing HORIZONTAL ma
sonry with stones laboriously htted
INTO place. At least. this Is the story
read by scientists in the varied types
of ruins which plainly illustrate dlf-
ferent stages of skill.
Ancient Communists
Circular, square and semi-clrcu-
lar towers, some twenty-five feet
high. were built by these Indian
craftsmen. Rooms were arranged
in tiers to form community houses.
There were temples with affairs and
outlets for smoke. Then the stone
builders vanished, and so complete
was their disappearance that even
| the Indians Of the region have only
vague traditions as to their exis-
tence.
A clue to the & of the Mesa
Verde cliff jewellers was noted by
DIR. Fewkes in excavating the u
Temple ruin in 1915. A great red
cedar tree was growing in the an
mex to the temple. Its roots a
| penetrated into the rooms, SO that
it was necessary to cut them of
and to fell the tree in the work OF
| restoration. A stump of the tree
was left, however. and $50 annular
rings can be counted. DR.. Fewkes
add $50 years as a conservative
guess for the time of the temples
construction and use before trees
would have grown in it's deserted
rooms. From such evidence he
thinks It likely that the ancient
Pueblos were in existence o
1900 A. D.
After the disappearance of these
early communists the rock villages
were left to be gradually worn down
and buried in sand and debris. In
1888 two herdsmen who were hunt
ing lost cattle discovered among the
cliffs what seemed to be towers and
walls of a city. Closer inspection
showed that the structures were the
remains of an old cliff dwelling, a
community house with 200 family
living rooms and twenty-five rooms
for worship. The herdsmen named
it Cliff Palace.
Soon after their discovery the
! Mesa Verde remains were found to
have a commercial value, and van
dals began footing the rooms OF pot
terry. bones and bits of fabric. The
walls were badly damaged and foun-
dations undermined by the reck-
less collectors.
In 1907 the government reserved
the tract of land to protect 1t from
further plundering. Congress made
appropriations, and DIR. Fewkes at
once began to restore the damaged
ruins and to put them into condi-
ton for visitors to see. Horseback
trails were the only way of reaching
the ruins at first, and few tourists
had sufficient enthusiasm to make
the thirty-two mile trip from Man
cos. Since then automobile roads
have been built, and a small hotel
has been opened. Rangers act as
guides, and Americans can visit the
prehistoric ruins of Colorado in
modern comfort.
Work Just Begun
Almost every year some new type
of ruin is salvaged from the debris
of the centuries. In 1910 the Cliff
Palace which Is the largest cliff
dwelling in the southwest, was ex-
cavated and repaired. In 1915 the
D-shaped Sun Temple was brought
to light. The mex ear a large COM
munity house of a new type was un-
earthed and in 1919 n of the best
preserved cliff houses in the south
west was added to the list of Mesa
Verde's attractions. Even the
wooden beams of the roof Of this
| mouse were eliit lnldCls
Last summer a Fire Temple evil
IDENTIFY devoted to worship and con-
servation of fire was discovered. DIR
Fewkes has just left for another
summers work at Mesa Verde anc
he has selected for special atten'
ton this year a mound of a new
form. Apparently this structure wa:
lot a dwelling hut was used fol
some unknown communal purpose
1t is at present a pile OF stone:
twenty-five feet high with a de-
pressed center. No walls rise above
the surface of the ground, but al
the stones covering the mound show
artificial work indicating fine ma
sonry.
The size, shape and past use of thu
structure can be determined only b.
removal of the accumulated debris
laying bare the rooms now conceal
ed by fallen stones. drifting sand
and a dense growth of vegetation
1t is proposed to strengthen anC
otherwise repair the shattered wall
so that tourists may behold on
more of the great prehistoric Mes
Verde buildings somewhat in IT
original conditions.
Mesa Verde excavations are o
'lUsat iptAEAst to science 4 mum