GENERAL VIEW OF ARCHEOLOGY OF TUK IM'KnLO REGION. 5H5 



i\ge procood a\ ith i;roat rapidity. Hctwooii the IVcos and the Colo- 

 rado are oxtciisivo ])latoaus of inferior <^rass lands, timbered nionn- 

 tain ran«2;es, narrow arable valleys, and vast stretches of sandy 

 desert. Much of the area exceeds a mile above sea level. Tlie 

 country was probably always deficient in <2:ame, neitlier were wild 

 fruits })lentiful, nor ^\ as any indiuiMious food supply abundant. 



These physioiiraphic conditions exercised a coerciN'e inlluence over 

 the pi-imitive culture of the Southwest, makin«jf fixed alxxles and an 

 agricultural basis of food sui)i)ly necessary. To the east and nortli 

 nomadic hunting tribes followed where the food (juest led them. 

 They shunned the soutJnvestern desert for the same reason that the 

 bulfalo did. Navahoes, Comanches, and Apaches did not invade 

 this region until comparatively recent 3'ears, for obvious ivasons. 

 In the economic systems of primitive men we find the germs of up- 

 to-date conmiercialism. AVealth is obtained by producing it and by 

 dispossessing others of it. The tribes mentioned belonged to the 

 predatory class. As game was scarce in the Southwest, there was no 

 reason for their gomg there until it l)ecamc worth while for predatory 

 reasons. 



The true indigines of the Southwest Avere necessarily agricultur- 

 ists. Coming into a region where game and wild fruits afforded 

 insufficient subsistence, they, probably partly from previous experi- 

 ence and partly from innuediate necessity, were constrained to sup- 

 plement their food supply by the cultivation of -food plants. The 

 preparation of ground for agriculture and the necessary devices for 

 the utilization of water for irrigation induced a comparatively per- 

 manent abode and substantial house building. Settlements, with rare 

 exceptions, were perforce clustered in narrow valleys along water- 

 ways, or in cliffs, or on mesa tops, within reach of streams or peren- 

 nial springs. 



Thus the indigines of the Southwest were and are Pueblos (town 

 builders) through the coercion of physiographic environment. As 

 an ethnic division they are a most indefinite one, embracing several 

 well-established linguistic stocks and numerous minor dialectic 

 groups, wliich become more numerous the farther back they are 

 traced. Every existing Pueblo tribe that has been studied has been 

 found to be composite, formed by combination of sundry ethnic 

 groups more or less anuilganuited. Incoming bands, regardless of 

 blood or previous condition, if thejj came seeking permanent abode, 

 became Pueblos, Avhether they amalgamated closely by blood with 

 previous settlers or not, by virtue of their enforced adoption of the 

 mode of life made necessary by the physiograi)hic conditions of the 

 region. Similarity of house life, of jfood, of method of acquiring the 

 same, of inventions necessary to food i)roduction, of utensils for con- 

 serving and transporting the scant and precious water supply, of 



