NOs 8 SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, IQI5 95 
the walls of which are not constructed of masonry but of willow 
twigs and sticks covered with adobe plastering, a feature quite com- 
mon in the cliff-house walls in northern Arizona, but very rare on the 
Mesa Verde. This is supposed to be a survival of a pre-Puebloan 
style of architecture. A small collection of artifacts was made in 
the course of the repair of Oak-tree House. Among the objects 
found were two beautiful specimens of typical black-and-white-ware 
pottery. The so-called snow-shoe (fig. 118) is rare, and the head-rest 
(fig. 119) exceptionally well made. 
Fic. 118.—* Snow-shoe” from Oak-tree House, Mesa Verde National Park, 
Colorado. 
Following the trail along the north side of the same canyon in 
which Oak-tree House is situated, the visitor comes to a remarkable 
ruin called Painted House, which, like Sun Temple on the cliff above, 
presents a ground plan and architectural features different from 
any yet described in cliff-dwellings. Like the Sun Temple it appears 
to have been built for religious ceremonies, but it is quite different 
in character. Painted House has a long room or court, possibly 
an open dance plaza or a covered ceremonial room, the north side 
of which is formed by the vertical cliff of the rear of the cave. 
At each end of this long room there are rooms with massive 
walls, that on the east being connected with the court by passage- 
