52 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1915. 



have resulted from the gradual accumulation of drifting sand and 

 dust over the fallen walls of more or less permanent dwellings. Un- 

 like the isolated structures at Willard, however, the mounds at 

 Beaver City disclosed groups of associated rooms, arranged with 

 some degree of regularity and exhibiting a certain unity of purpose. 

 In each of the two groups studied, small series of contiguous rooms 

 were uncovered, but the majorit}'' were single compartments sepa- 

 rated from the other dwellings by varjdng distances. The walls of 

 these primitive dwellings at Beaver were built of adobe, sometimes 

 placed in wide layers but more often forming a solid mass. No open- 

 ings that could be identified definitely as doors were found in any of 

 these walls; this fact, together with the comparative abundance of 

 circular stone slabs, leads to the belief that entrance to the dwellings 

 was gained through roof openings which could be closed with the 

 stone disks. Post holes in several floors, with charred fragments of 

 cedar logs, and masses of clay bearing impressions of logs, Avillows, 

 and grass, give a fairly complete indication as to the nature of the 

 roof construction. Large timbers crossed in the direction of the 

 shorter dimensions, their ends resting upon the side walls of the 

 rooms; when necessary these were supported by upright timbers. 

 The roof beams in turn supported lesser timbers with layers of wil- 

 lows and grass. Layers of clay, varying in thickness from 1 inch to 

 6 inches with the unevenness of roof materials, covered the grass, 

 thus completing a truly substantial shelter. 



Four small mounds, similar to those at Beaver City, were excavated 

 at Paragonah, in Iron County. These contained one room only, but 

 there are larger mounds in the vicinity whose superficial indications 

 suggest as many if not more rooms than the group at Beaver. 

 Twenty years ago, it is reported, there were about 100 mounds in 

 this vicinity; to-day more than half of them have disappeared 

 through cultivation of the soil. 



A brief examination was made by Mr. Judd of several house sites 

 overlooking the Eio Virgen, near St. George, in the extreme south- 

 western corner of the State. From this village eastward to Kanab 

 only a few mounds were noted, although cowboys reported the exist- 

 ence of others in the vicinity of Short Creek, on the Utah-Arizona 

 line. 



From Kanab as a base, the mounds in Johnson Canyon and the 

 small cliff houses in Cottonwood Canyon were visited and partially 

 examined. From superficial observations the former were judged to 

 contain the remains of house structures similar to those at Beaver 

 and Paragonah, although the availability of suitable stone for build- 

 ing purposes has resulted in its partial substitution for adobe, with 

 certain accompanying structural modifications. 



