6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bpll. 41 



three stories and up to the roof of the cave ; within the wall lies a series of 

 five rooms on the gronnd tioor ; behind these rooms the large open space men- 

 tioned above (28) occupies the depths of the cavern. Here the beams are all 

 that remains of the floors of the upper stories, their ends projecting a foot or 

 two beyond the wall between the second and third stories, where support was 

 probably afl'orded in this manner to a balcony, as an easier means of com- 

 nninication between the rooms of the upper stories. In front of this part of 

 the building, but not visible in the photograph, lie two estufas and outside the 

 latter is a long wall. To judge by the ruins, the roofs of these estufas once 

 lay on a level with the floors of the adjoining i-ooms, so that over the estufas, 

 which were sunk in the ground, only the roofs being left visible, the inhabitants 

 had an oijen space, bounded on the outside by the said long wall, which formed 

 a rampart at the edge of the talus. The same method of construction is em- 

 ployed by the Moki Indians in their estufas; but these x-ooms are rectangular 

 in form.— Farther north lies another estnfa. Its site, nearest to the cliff wall, 

 would seem to indicate that it is the oldest. The walls in the north of the ruin 

 still rise to a height of G metres. 



The south part of the ruin is similar in all respects to the north. Its only 

 singularity is a room of elliptical shape (axes 3.6 and 2.9 m.) ; fi-om this room 

 a wall runs south, enclosing a small open space (16) whei'e, as at the corre- 

 .^ponding place in the north of the ruin, the ground Is covered with bird drop- 

 pings mixed with dust and refuse. At one end there are two semicircular 

 enclosures (17, 18) of loose stones forming low walls. In a pentagonal room (8) 

 south of this open space one corner contains a kind of closet (height 1.2 m., 

 length and breadth 0.9 m.) composed of two large upright slabs of stone, with 

 a third slab laid across them in a sloping position and cemented fast (see 

 flg. 29). Of the use to which this "closet" was put, I am ignorant. Farther 

 south some of the rooms are situated on a narrow ledge, along which a wall 

 has been erected, probably for purposes of defense. 



Plate X : 1 is a photograph of Sprucetree House from the opposite side of 

 the canon. The illustrations give a better idea of the ruin's appearance than 

 any description could do. 



Our excavations in Sprucetree House lasted only a few days. This ruin will 

 certainly prove a rich field for future researches." Some handsome baskets and 

 pieces of pottery were the best finds made during the short period of our excava- 

 tions. In a room (69) belonging to the north part of the ruin we found the 

 skeletons of three children who had been buried there. 



A circumstance which deserves mention, and which was undoubtedly of 

 great importance to the inhabitants of Sprucetree House, is the presence at the 

 bottom of the canon, a few hundred paces from the ruin, of a fairly good spring. 



Near Sprucetree House there are a number of very small, isolated rooms, 

 situated on ledges most difficult of access. One of these tiny clifl;-dwellings 

 may be seen to the left in fig. 27. It is improbable that these cells, which are 

 sometimes so small that one can hardly turn in them, were really dwelling 

 places; their object is unknown to me, unless it was one of defense, archers 

 being posted there when danger threatened, so that the enemy might have to 

 face a volley of arrows from several points at once. In such a position a few 

 men could defend themselves, even against an enemy of superior force, for an 

 assailant could reach the ledge only by climbing with hands and feet. Another 

 explanation, perhaps better, was suggested to me by Mr. Fewkes. He thinks 



» Since this was written, a well-preserved mummy has been found by Wetherill in the 

 open space (28) at the very back of the cave. This is a further example of the burial of 

 the dead in the open space between the village and the cliff wall behind it (see p. 47). — 

 [NordenskiOld.] 



