GENERAL VIEW OF ARCHEOLOGY OF THE PUEBLO REGION. 587 



detenninecl by the geology of the location. If in the open, sandstone 

 or tufa blocks, bowlders, and adobe were used, as furnished by the 

 environment, and the structure timbered witli what nature supplied. 

 If considerations of defense necessitated a cliff dwelling, its character 

 was a geological question. Great natural caves and recesses under 

 overhanging clift's were selected, and houses not structurally differ- 

 ent from the pueblos in the open were built within them. Such for- 

 mations occur numerously throughout the Rio Colorado drainage 

 area. Accordingly we find this class of cliff dwellings distributed 

 over the valleys of the San Juan, Little Colorado, Gila, and their 

 tributaries. 



In cliffs of volcanic tufa, or other nuiterial sufficiently friable to 

 permit of easy working with stone tools, dwellings were excavated. 

 Small natural caves in such regions were utilized as dwellings, with 

 or without further excavation, and both with and without masonry. 

 Large o]:)en caves were sometimes walled u}). Interior walls were 

 sometimes built. Houses not structurally unlike pueblos in the open 

 were built in front of these excavated rooms against the cliffs. The 

 name " cavate dwelling" (originally proposed by Professor Mason) 

 has long been applied to excavated cliff dwellings. They are distrib- 

 uted over the four drainage basins of the pueblo region, l)eing most 

 numerous on the western tributaries of the Rio (rrande, the northern 

 tributaries of the San Juan, and the northern tributaries of the Gila, 

 particularly the Rio Verde. 



III. Distribution. 



The distribution of the Pueblo culture, as disclosed by archeolog- 

 ical remains, was determined primarily l)y drainage. The region lies 

 on both sides of the Continental divide. The eastern portion is 

 drained by the Rio Grande and its tributaries; the westei'n by three 

 principal tributaries of the Rio Colorado, viz, the San Juan, the Lit- 

 tle Colorado, and the Gila. These four drainage basins constitute 

 the primary seats of Pueblo culture. 



The primal needs of primitive man are water, food, and shelter. 

 In the Southwest, water was first in importance. Where water was, 

 food was possible. Such game as the country supported frequented 

 waterways and springs, and here only were to be found the conditions 

 necessary to the production of food plants. Accordingly, the exten- 

 sion of the indigenous culture was directed by the drainage, and so 

 thoroughly did it overspread the region under consideration that 

 there is not a valley of any consequence from tlie Pecos to the Colo- 

 rado, and from the San Juan to the Gila, that is without its charac- 

 teristic archeological remains. Following is a list of the principal 

 valleys, basins, canyons, and mesas containing ruins: 



