54 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 54 



It is certain that these ancient dwellings were not ruined by floods. 

 Most of them are so situated that no flood could aft'ect them. The 

 large pueblo in the bottom of the Frijoles canyon may have had one 

 corner cut away by a flood many years ago, but this is not certain. 

 The outline indicates that a small portion had been destroyed ; but, 

 in the writers' examination, two equally plausible explanations sug- 

 gested themselves : (1 ) That instead of a flood, the ordinary meandering 

 of the stream, which has repeatedly swung back and forth across the 

 valley, as shown by the terraces, may have undermined that corner. 

 (2) That an irrigating ditch, which was constructed probably after the 

 original abandonment (for the canyon has been reoccupied during the 

 last century by both Mexicans and Americans) may have destroyed 

 that portion. At any rate, floods probably had nothing to do with 

 depopulating the canyons or the mesas. 



There seems no reason for supposing that these buildings were 

 shaken down by earthquakes. The walls do not present the appear- 

 ance of having been partially destroyed by earthquakes, and it seems 

 unlikely that the vertical cliffs, thoroughly fissured, at the base of 

 which were some of the buildings, could have withstood a severe 

 earthquake without huge blocks having been tumbled down. An 

 examination of both ruins and bluffs at El Rito de los Frijoles seems 

 to preclude the earthquake theory. Furthermore, experience of 

 other peoples in other regions has shown that even great disasters do 

 not drive them away permanently. People have been known to 

 swarm back to the slopes of volcanoes almost before the lavas of 

 destructive eruptions have had time to cool. 



Evidence of a general destruction or expulsion of the inhabitants 

 by war has not yet been discovered. In case of sudden abandonment 

 on account of an invasion or pestilence abundant evidence would have 

 been left behind. This of course does not forbid the conclusion that 

 the tribe may have been gradually weakened by war, pestilence, and 

 starvation until only a remnant was left to migrate to a more favor- 

 able locality. 



It is estimated that the ruins of the Frijoles canyon and the vicinity 

 have been abandoned for at least 800 or 1,000 years, perhaps longer. 

 They were in almost as poor a state of preservation as now when first 

 discovered by white men, and under present climatic conditions, 

 with very little frost afl'ecting most of the cliff dwellings, the destruc- 

 tion of the walls must have consumed a long period. Furthermore, 

 the abandonment itself was probably gradual, not sudden. Hence 

 it may be safely said that at least 1,000 to 1,500 years must have 

 elapsed since the most flourishing period of the occupancy of the 

 region by its ancient inhabitants. It is difficult of course even to 

 approximate the extent of that period of occupancy, but it must have 

 been at least some centuries. If progressive desiccation were the 



