GO ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1921. 



Future field-work on the Mesa Verde ought to be especially di- 

 rected to the study, of the relation of the Earth Lodge culture and 

 that of the pueblo, in which is included the cliff dwellings and 

 pueblos on top of the mesa. Both are characterized by distinctive 

 pottery as well as architecture, although the essential features of 

 the former are not very well known. Aztec and the Chaco ruins have 

 local differences from the Mesa Verde, but it is not known which 

 area first lost its population. Both populations flourished at about 

 the same time, and it is believed the cliff dwellings on the Mesa- 

 Verde were older than the community houses of the Chaco Canyon. 



In May, 1921, the chief resumed his work on the Mesa Verde, 

 remaining there until the close of the fiscal year. During this time 

 he completed the excavation of Far View House, and protected with 

 a cement groat the tops of about tw r o-thirds of all the walls of rooms. 



About 385 feet north of Far View House, on higher land, in about 

 the center of the cluster of 1G mounds that are included in the 

 Mummy Lake group, the excavation of a most interesting building 

 wholly buried under fallen walls was begun. Enough work was done 

 to show that it is a remarkable type of building, consisting of a 

 central circular tower with several subterranean rooms or kivas on 

 the south side, overlooking a large cemetery. It has all the appear- 

 ance of a necropolis of the cluster, and important results await its 

 final excavation. Unfortunately work on this mound had to be sus- 

 pended at the close of the fiscal year. 



The Mummy Lake cluster of mounds is a typical village and is 

 duplicated again and again on the mesa and the surrounding valleys. 

 The complete village consists of buildings of several forms and func- 

 tions, isolated or united, although the components are largely habita- 

 tions of the unit type. Evidently the tower, with its accompanying 

 kivas and cemetery, was the necropolis but not a habitation. The 

 spade alone can divine the true meaning of members of this group. 



In Majr the tops of all the walls of Sun Temple were recemented 

 with groat to protect the walls from snow and rain, a work of no 

 small magnitude. 



During the entire year Mr. James Mooney, ethnologist, remained 

 in the office, engaged in formulating replies to ethnologic inquiries 

 and in digesting material from former western field seasons. No 

 new material was collected or completed. His w r ork during the win- 

 ter was interrupted by a period of serious illness. 



During the last fiscal year Dr. John R. Swanton, ethnologist, 

 practically completed the proof reading of Bulletin 73, Early History 

 of the Creek Indians and Their Neighbors, which is now going through 

 the press. He also copied the Koasati texts which were collected a 



