The Washington times., 1925-03-17
ANCIENT RUINS.
IN NEVADA
FOUND
Moapa Desert DiscIoses Lost
City of PuebIos, Six
Miles Long !
By DAVID SENTNER.
international News Service.


: NEW YORK. March 17.-ThO
veil of mystery which enshrouds
earliest American civilization is Elk.
pected to be lifted by the excaya.
.tions of. the Museum of the Ameri-
can Indian Heye Foundation) ex-
petition. under M. r. Harrington.
which has discovered vast ruins of
as ancient. Indian Pueblo, six miles
long, in the Moapa Desert region Of
Nevada.
THE Lost City, is the farthest
west and probably the farthesf
north that ruins Of this sort have
ever been found, according to Alan
son Skinner, archaeologist, OF the
Heye Foundation.
II believe these ruins will prove
as important to America as the
Tut-ankh-Amen tomb Is to Europe"
Skinner said today. I'VE hope to
reveal knowledge of Pueblo myth
ology, religion and ceremonies,
about which little is known.
The Harrington report indicates
so far that these Indians were
much advanced over other print.
tive peoples. One cannot tell at
this time how far back they lived
perhaps from 10000 to 10000 years
HagQ."
Covered By Sands.
George G. Heye, founder and
director of the museum Of the
American Indian, New York. de-
scribed the ancient city as covered
almost entirely by drifting sand,
with here and there a corner OF a
stone dwelling jutting out Of one Of
the dismal dunes. Throughout the
silent streets and plazas numberless
fragments of pottery litter the
ground.
"Archaeologists class ruins Of this
type as being pre- Pueblo.'' said
Heye, land belonging ito a remote
period. before the culture or civiliza-
ton of the Pueblo tribes discovered
in New Mexico and Arizona by the
Spaniards had developed.
"The age Of the Lost City
christened Pueblo Grande de Ne
vada, must be very great. The
character Of the pottery seems
ancient; the small houses rise, story
upon story, into the air. Parts OF
the city have been rebuilt twice and
even three times, one house being
supplanted by another. The great
erosion. or washing away. which
has taken place since the city was
abandoned, indicates great age, be-
cause such washing away must take
place very slowly in. dry, desert
country.
''The pottery excavated is of a
very ancient type, considered one
Of the earliest forms known in con.
nection with the prehistory OF the
y. L. al -
characteristic designs, in black on
gray, or black on red.
Houses Are Square.
''The ancient houses are square.
as a rule, with one to three rooms,
but some round kivas, or ceremonial
chambers, also, were found, where
the secret rites of the tribe, con-
nected with their ancient religious
ceremonies were conducted ,,a.
1.-THE jewellers in the Lost city,
were accustomed to bury their dead
under the floors or ruins OF aban.
doned houses: or, perhaps, they did
not abandon their houses until after
deaths and burials had taken place
in them.
with the buried remains were
found canteens. or water bottles, of
D0IIeTV,
signs painted on them, and beauu'
full eating bowls of clay"
Archaeologists declare that the
Pueblos were monogamists, with
the status of their women held high.
The houses were built and owned by
women. with the men assisting only
in the heavy work. Divorce was re
earded lightly, and a wife could dis.
miss her husband on the slightest
nrovocation. Theschildren belonged
/ to the mother.
The hair of the early Pueblo men,
according to ethnologists, was
banged above the eyes, with their
back hair worn in knots. Both men
and women were weavers, and the
men wore shell necklaces.
There is evidence that originally
priest presided over each clan.
There were secret orders dealing
with war, healing, hunting. re-
ligion. farming and magic. Re.
Iigious motives were found in all
their activities. First the kiva ire.
ligious chamber) was built, and
the village grew up around 1t.
The Pueblos are believed to have
heen great farmers, with fields ir-
rigated from natural rivers and
storage reservoirs. Corn was the
principal crop. They also raised
cotton, out of which they made
clothing. ceremonial coats, kills
and leggings.
The dog was the only domestic
animal, but there is no proof that
1t ever was used as a beast Of
burden.
The skeleton here pictured was
found under the floor Of one OF
the deserted houses In the ruins
of the Lost City" near st. Thorn
Nav