The Coconino sun., 1927-01-28

The story of the past of our own
race in the groping days before man
made the epochal step of the invel-
tion of writing, is retold for us in the
comparatively recent remains of
primitive man in America. That is
the secret of the Importance of the
excavation this summer of Eden
Pueblo near Flagstaff, Arizona, by
DR.. j. Walter Fewkes, chief of the bu-
reau of American ethnology, Smith
sonian institution. For Elden Pueblo
produced the largest and best collec-
ton of utensils, cultural objects and
ornaments yet excavated in Arizona.
In addition the Pueblo itself, as exca-
waited and restored by Dr. Fewl1es, re-
veals with unusual detail one of the
most primitive forms of masonry in
the southwest. In these definite evil
dences the archeologist reads how
man so primitive that he had not vet
invented the mechanical device of the
wheel, earned his daily bread, how he
protected himself against the ele-
ments and his enemies, which his re-
Hglous beliefs were, what his ethics,
and how he occupied his leisure hours.
The solution of still another prob
lem of surprising interest is mater
tally advanced by the finds made at
EIden Pueblo. What was the origin
Of man on this continent? !? What are
the relationships of different groups
TO each other? The answer to the
former question lies hidden behind
the answer to the second and that can
only be discovered by an examination
OF the relics left behind by the differ
ent groups. DR.. Fewkes has devoted
himself for years particularly to de-
limiting the areas of culture in the
southwest. The pottery and other
rellcs unearthed at Elden Pueblo are
typical of an extensive region, and
therefore of an epoch of development
In the southwest.
Eden Pueblo, before DR.. Fewkes
began work on it, was a character
less mound of stone and earth with
slzeable pine trees growing on it. AS
the result of a summers work it now
stands out as a pueblo 145 feet long
by 10 feet wide. In its heydey it
probably rose to height of two stor-
les and contained some 40 rooms. The
upper story has long fallen in as have
the tops OF the lower story, the walls
OF which were formerly about four
feet higher than at present The pres
ent walls probably indicate rooms
used mainly for storage. They CON
tain no apertures for doors or win
doWs, indicating that they must have
entered, lighted and ventilated from
the roof. This arrangement was prob
ably a means of defense against enc
mics. No doubt the original roofs held
supplies of boulders to be used as am
munitlon against marauders.
In this shell of a prehistoric city, |
one room stands out by its size, by |
It's rounded corners and by the BAN /
quette which circles it completely and /
which may have served for seats. |
here the community governed itself |
IN council and here about a fire pit /
in the center of the floor took place
its religious and other ceremonies. |
Outside the wall, DR.. Fewkes unearth- /
ed the foundation OF vertical shaft I
or ventllator, through which fresh air /
was sucked in to drive out the smoke. /
This arrangement recalls the kivas of /
other southwestern tribes. There was, I
however, no deflector between the |
ventllator opening and the firepit, and I
neither was there a slpapu, or cere-
monla1 opening IN the floor, which is !,
almost universal in Hopi kivas
That Eden Pueblo was the home of
a relatively ancient people is proved
by the crudity of the masonry. I'm
dressed stones only were used in the
construction of the walls. They va
ried in size from megali4hs to small /
rubble, and they were piled up with
no attention to alignment. Adobe mud
had served as mortar to hold them
together, and this had largely been
washed out The Smithsonian party
replaced the adobe with cement to
preserve the fragile walls.
A key to the religious beliefs of the
builders of this pueblo is found in the
orientation of the walls, north to
south, and east to west This is al
most universal in ancient rectangular
pueblos where sun worship was the
prvailing cultus. Also the prevailing
habit of bUrying the dead with head
to the east confirms this evidence.
The two cemeteries found on the
east and north sides of the pueblo al
most under the walls, produced in
valuable evidence in the shape of NOR
tuary relics buried with the dead The
number of skeletons found indicated
a large population existing over a
long period. The bodies We're buried
at depths varying from a few inches
to six feet, sometimes one above the
other, always extended. They had no
coffins and were marked by no exter-
nal signs Of burial. Some showed