﻿NO. 5 



SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I922 



93 



these which have thus far been excavated belong to different types; 

 but it is desirable to examine and repair them all in order to discover 

 Other types. Indian corn, the national food of the clift'-dv^ellers, 

 should be again planted in this area so that the future student or 

 tourist could behold a Mesa Verde village in approximately the same 

 environment as in prehistoric times. The first of the mounds was 

 excavated by the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1916, and was 

 called Far View House, and the particular mound chosen for excava- 

 tion in 1922 lies about 100 feet to the south of it (fig. 89) or on the 

 southern edge of the sage-brush area. 



Fig. gi. — Distant view of Pipe Shrine House. Iliis view shows the 

 whole north wall and the east wall foreshortened. The group of men at 

 extreme left are looking at skeleton in cemetery. (Photograph by Geo. L. 

 Beam. Courtesy Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.) 



The only noticea])le characters of the mound when work began 

 were a saucer-like central depression, and an elevated rim, which led 

 Dr. Fewkes to suspect a buried subterranean kiva surrounded by a 

 series of rooms above ground. The mound was covered by a dense 

 growth of vegetation. No walls were seen when this was removed, 

 and much accumulated sand, earth, and stone had to be removed 

 before any masonry was visible. Complete excavation revealed a 

 remarkable building or pueblo (figs. 89, 91) presenting to arche- 

 ologists several new problems for solution. 



The large depression turned out to indicate a central kiva (fig. 92) 

 quite unlike that of any other on the Mesa Verde National Park. 

 This room has no central fireplace : no ventilator or deflector to dis- 



