SUCCESSIVE STAGES OF CULTURE IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO. 79 



civilization, an older and more widespread one dwelling in small hamlets far remote from 

 present sources of water, and a later one clustering nearer the sources of water and building 

 large, well-protected villages. 



The second or later type of ruins has already been illustrated by the castle of Kin Ya'a 

 or Pueblo Viejo. A much more remarkable illustration, however, is found in the notable 

 ruins of Chaco Canyon. This is a steep-sided, flat-floored valley cut in the plateau 25 

 or 30 miles north of the cliffs at the northern base of the Continental divide. The ruins 

 center around Pueblo Bonita, the home of a trader, and the only permanently inhabited 

 place for many miles. Within half a mile or less of this place there are six large ruins and 

 at least ten small "suburban" ones. Farther away there are others scattered up and 

 down along the canyon and in the lower parts of the chief tributary valleys. Most of the 

 ruins are on the valley floor, but a considerable number are high on the level plateau, far 

 above the bottoms of the valleys. None of the larger ones, however, appears to be at a great 

 distance from the main lines of drainage, or from places where a supply of drinking-water 

 might be secured with a moderate amount of care in the construction of reservoirs. Often 

 a considerable climb would be required to surmount the high cliffs and carry the water up 

 from the stream, but that would not be of great importance among a primitive people. 



The ruins in this region, more than in any other that we have yet discussed, present an 

 appearance of sohdity and permanence. (Plate 3, b.) This does not mean that they were 

 necessarily occupied more permanently or even as much so as the others, but being built 

 of stone they are massive and durable, and have withstood the ravages of time. Moreover, 

 they appear to be younger than at least a part of those which we have been considering. 

 The larger ruins are strongly built, compact structures with lofty stone walls, solid at the 

 base, but sometimes pierced with windows at the level of the upper stories. Each one must 

 have sheltered several hundi-ed people, as appears not only from their size, but from the 

 amount of labor required in building them. The largest are thought by some students to 

 have had as many as 1,000 to 2,000 denizens. It must have taken a good many people and 

 a long occupation to build a large number of villages all located close to one another, and 

 all together presenting an appearance which seems quite massive even to the modern 

 traveler accustomed to the great cities of the present and to the ruins of the most famous 

 empires of the past. The perananence of the villages is still more evident when we consider 

 the amount of labor involved. We must constantly bear in mind that the American 

 aborigines not only had no iron tools, but were also not blessed with beasts of burden. Yet 

 aU the stone for the main ruins, such as Pueblo Bonita itself, appears to have been brought 

 from a considerable distance, a mile and a half, so it is said, in this case. The trail can still 

 be seen along which the rock was brought to the top of the cliffs to be thrown down to the 

 place where it was needed. A few unused rocks still lie at the top of the cliffs. Of course 

 it is possible that certain villages were built and immediately abandoned according to the 

 frequent assumption of archeologists and ethnologists, but this seems improbable, for people 

 would scarcely go to so much labor again and again if they expected soon to move away. 

 Moreover, they could not have accomplished all that the ruins still show, unless they 

 had lived in the place many years. This is important because it means that in this one 

 Umited valley or its environs a rather dense population, numbering probably several 

 thousand people, had to be supported year after year, in good times and bad. So dense a 

 population would drive out all the game in a short time and could not depend upon that 

 source for food ; nor could they have lived upon wild products, for there are none that would 

 support more than about one man for every square mile. Therefore all these people must, 

 it would seem, have been dependent upon agriculture, a conclusion by no means new, but 

 which means much when considered in reference to climatic changes and their effects. 



The problems of agriculture, of water-supply, and of the location of villages are all 

 closely connected. We have just seen that while the small and apparently ancient type 



