MESA VERDE PUEBLO FEWKES. 463 



of the rooms. These cliff dwellings were abandoned before the 

 Spanish conquest. 



The inhabitants of the caves on the Mesa Verde were ignorant of 

 hieroglyphs or letters, and therefore have left no written account 

 of their origin and early history, although vague traditions are pre- 

 served by their descendants, especially among living Pueblos, as the 

 Hopi. The most reliable data we now have to aid us in interpreting 

 their culture are their buildings and archeological remains, or monu- 

 ments, and minor antiquities, called artifacts, especially objects of 

 burnt clay, that they have left behind. Their houses are the most 

 significant.^ As pointed out by Westropp, in referring to prehistoric 

 and historic cultures of other races: "Architecture is the external 

 form of their public life; it is an index of their state of knowledge 

 and social progress." 



One type of building characteristic of this culture is illustrated by 

 Spruce-tree House and Cliff Palace, but this is not the only form. 

 There are others, such as Sun Temple, brought to light in the sum- 

 mer of 1915, in which we find a building specialized for religious 

 purposes. 



Field work in the Mesa Verde during the summer of 1916 first 

 revealed still another type differing considerably from the two pre- 

 ceding. This type, locally new, is known to ethnologists as a pueblo, 

 commonly defined as a terraced community building constructed in 

 the open or not attached to cliffs. It is a representative of many 

 buried houses on Mesa Verde, and it is not too much to say that 

 formerly there were as many buildings of pueblo type on top of the 

 plateau as there were cliff dwellings in its canyons. Manifestly a 

 knowledge of the Mesa Verde variety of pueblo is desirable, and a 

 description of it will enlarge our conception of prehistoric culture 

 in this locality. The object of the present article, then, is to make 

 this known as a contribution to our knowledge of the aborigines of 

 Mesa Verde. 



The general condition and situation of mounds on the surface of 

 the plateau will first be considered. 



THE MUMMY LAKE GROUP OF MOUNDS. 



One of the best known group of mounds in the Mesa Verde 

 National Park is situated south of a reservoir called Mummy Lake. 

 There is no good reason for calling this prehistoric reservoir a 

 lake, for it is not a lake, and no mummies have ever been found in 

 or near it. The term " Moki Lake," by which it is sometimes desig- 

 nated, is equally meaningless, but both names are so firmly fixed in 

 literature that it is difficult now to substitute others. 



1 Probably some writers on classical archeology would hardly consider cliff dwellings 

 architectural forms. 



