554 PREHISTORIC NEW MEXICAN POTTERV. 



polished on one or more sides. A few were of black, fine-grained ston6, 

 wliicli the Mexicans called moist stones, for after holding- them in the 

 warm hand and using a little friction they feel moist. In some of the 

 rooms charred parts of beams of pine were found ; all the raw wood had 

 Undoubtedly rotted away. Many were the speculations of the inhabi- 

 tants I heard expressed about the race of people, and why they left, 

 none of which gave any solution to the difficulty. It is evident tliat 

 only ;i very few bodies were buried under the houses, or they would be 

 much more numerous after a long continued occupation. It seems a 

 great mystery how these buildings became filled up and have tragments 

 of pottery through the earth from top to bottom. The earth in most 

 localities is quite hard, and can be removed only by a pick-ax. If an 

 archieologisthadau entire building cleared out and laid bare inside and 

 out, a better solution might be arrived at. 



