MESA VERDE PUEBLO FEWKES. 465 



rim of Soda Canyon. This trail, used by horsemen before the Gov- 

 ernment road was constructed, was probably an old Indian path 

 of great antiquity, connecting the various pueblos of the Mummy 

 Lake group with Spruce-tree House and Cliff Palace. A steep 

 branch trail descends from it over the rim of Soda Canyon to the 

 spring above mentioned, near which are mounds of ruins sheltered 

 by Steamboat Eock. This trail may have been used by water car- 

 riers in prehistoric times. 



The position of the mounds on the plateau near Mummy Lake were 

 first designated on an excellent map of Mesa Verde, published by the 

 United States Geological Survey. It is evident from this map that 

 the cluster of mounds near Mummy Lake is only one of several 

 groups; for instance, from the rim of Soda Canyon, looking north 

 and east, four similar clearings can be seen, in each of which are 

 several artificial mounds, all of w^hich have the same general form 

 and are covered with sagebrush.^ No regularity is noted in their ar- 

 rangement (pi. 1), but they vary in siz^ and shape, all appearing to 

 have, as a common feature, a central depression, which, judging from 

 that excavated, indicates a large kiva. We find superficial evidences 

 of rectangular and oval houses, and in one instance the building 

 under the mound may have a D shape. Fragments of walls project- 

 ing above the ground are absent in all cases, but in one or two in- 

 stances the direction of the buried wall can be followed for a few 

 feet by surface indications. 



As these communes or clusters of small pueblos are more con- 

 spicuous in clearings than among the thick cedars, the question nat- 

 urally arises whether they were built before the cedars grew or 

 whether man burnt or otherwise removed the trees of the forest before 

 he laid their foundations. The author inclines to the belief that the 

 clearings were made by the hand of man, and that cedars were grow- 

 ing on the mesa when man appropriated it for his habitation or for 

 planting. When once removed the constant tramping of people 

 would certainly prevent trees from again growing on the cleared 

 areas. At the time the buildings were inhabited they were sur- 

 rounded by farms cleared of underbrush, and it appears from the 

 amount of sand and soil filling the rooms of the pueblo that the wind 

 played a great role in transporting sand to the mound from the sur- 

 face of the bare earth. Sagebrush or trees would tend to anchor 

 the soil and prevent its blowing away, which implies that the sage- 

 brush has grown since the fields were no longer cultivated. As 

 shown on the map (pi. 1), one or two of the smaller mounds of the 

 group lie outside the clearing or in the cedars, a few of which trees 



1 This relation of mounds to sagebrush covered clearings is discussed by Dr. Prudden, 

 Amer. Anthr., Vol. 16, No. 1, 1914. 



