The Coconino sun., 1927-01-28

/ evidences of violence, but generally
they were unbroken and in good con-
dition.
A few skeletons were found in the
rooms. These were not generally ac-
companied by mortuary objects but
by metates or corn grinders, paint
/ plements. Besides an abundance of
pottery, including cooking ollas, seed
jars or paint pots, mugs, dippers, la
dies, food bowls and effigy jars, the
graves contained shell ornaments such
as finger rings, armlets, bracelets,
anklets, incised hairpins made from
leg bones of the deer, Implements
made from the bones Of animals, frag-
ments of paint, and turquoise.
From these numerous possessions
of the dead and other relics we can
obtain an idea of the manners and
customs of the ancient inhabitants.
We know that their main food supply
was Indian corn, which they ground
on the stone mills. From the many
bones of different animals found and
from the character of their imple-
ments we know that this vegetable
diet was well supplemented by animal
food
The triangular stone spades or hoes
by which they laborionsly broke and
titled the ground prove the Eden
Pueblo inhabitants to have been in the
stone age of development. They had
no metals whatever. They lacked such
elemental mechanical inventions is
the wheel, and the absence of bones
of donesticated animals such as the
horse, sheep, pig or cattle, indicates
their lack of these aids to progress.
Glass was, of course, unknown to
them and their pottery was unglaZed.
Their pottery gives US the most eff
fective key to the beliefs and stage of
development of these people. The
Smithsonian party dug up over 800
intact pieces of pottery and frag-
ments Of many more. The pottery
has depicted on it figures Of three
kinds: ID realistic conceptions of
contemporary animals OF those con-
nected in way with their mythology;
(2) conventional figures which rep
resent certain of their religious con-
ceptions, and (3) ornamental figures
DR. FEWKES FAMOUS US--GAL TWO
which are used simply for decoration
on their pottery.
Each tribe in the southwest APP
pears to have had a different system
of decoration and where we find two
people widely separated using the
same symbols, it is natural to sup
pose that these people are related, or
that the symbols have been transmit
ted from one area to another. The
aim then of the areheologist is to in
vestigate the pottery from different
regions and where lil1enesses are
found, to interpret them. 1t is rea-
sonable to regard the discovery of a
large number of symbols-realistic
and conventional, or decorative-from
any one locality as of great import
ance in the study of the culture of a !
people.
The pottery and its symbol from
Eden Pueblo are characteristic, form
ing a type that can readily be distin-
guished wherever one of these pieces
of pottery occur; and the size Of the |
collection necessarily increases the /
knowledge of the type We find, for |
instance, that this collection of pot
terry when compared with another col
lection from the nelghborhood of San
ia Fe, New Mexico, or another from I
Phoenix, Arizona, differs very mark
edly. What the symbols represent /
is not easy to determine, inasmuch I
as the people who made them have T
Our best key is COM
parison with the people Of a modern
pueblo. 1t seems rational TO suppose
that the use and meaning has been
transmitted to the descendants and if /
we find symbol in an ancient ruin +
several hundred years old similar TO /
that in modern one, the interpreta-
ton of it given by the moderns is
to our knowledge of the
ancient people, Consequently, the
study Of modern life must go pari
passu with the study of the ancient
life.
Then, so far as age goes, the study
Of the character of the pottery is of
Importance There are
certain symbols which are very an
eient, having passed out of the mem
Dry of man. These are supposed TO
be very old because they are univer-
sally found in stratified earth and in
piles of refuse. So a knowledge of
she stratification is of great import
ance, as is the knowledge of symbols
both necessary in making identifi-
cations.
What is the age Of Elden Pueblo ?"
was question repeatedly asked of
Dr.. Fewkes during the excavations.
It is not now possible to answer this
n terms of the Christian calendar.
1owever, nothing made by white man