during the past three or 
four years by the Muse- 
um’s expedition to the 
Rio Grande valley of 
New Mexico includes 
some of the largest an- 
cient towns known in 
the Southwest. The 
ruins vary in size to be 
sure but several of 
them contain, or con- 
tained, from five hun- 
dred to three thousand 
five hundred rooms and 
more. The number of 
their inhabitants can- 
not be definitely esti- 
mated, but judging 
from the present-day 
Indian villages, some of 
which show a popula- 
tion ranging from one 
hundred to one thou- 
sand seven hundred, 
these ruins must in their 
day have sheltered even 
larger groups. These 
towns-people were not, 
as In our own modern 
cities, great masses of 
unorganized humanity, 
continually competing 
for a living at multifa- 
rious pursuits. They 
were rather closely or- 
ganized coéperative so- 
cieties, essentially com- 
munistic. 
The Indian’s needs 
were few but those few 
were imperative. In consequence of this 
his activities were limited and corre- 
spondingly intense. Agriculture was his 
mainstay and good crops generally de- 
pended on artificial watering. Under 
such circumstances, one man being un- 
able single-handed to maintain an irri- 
Excavated section across a communal building at Pueblo Tunque, 
showing the full width of six rooms. 
good condition, but the rooms do not ordinarily show such regularity 
in size and arrangement 
The walls are of adobe and in 
gation system, the natural outcome was 
coéperation. Codéperation was similarly 
necessary for purposes of defense against 
the inroads of less provident neighbors; 
for as there is no reason for supposing 
these permanently settled agriculturists 
to have been aggressive warriors, we 
391 
