20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bill. 51 



Many newspaper and magazine accounts of the Mesa Verde ruins 

 appeared about the time Mr. Chapin's description was published, but 

 the majority of these are somewhat distorted and more or less ex- 

 aggerated, often too indefinite for scientific purposes. References to 

 them, even if here quoted, could hardly be of great yalue to the 

 reader, as in most cases it would be impossible for him to consult files 

 of papers in which they occur even if the search were worth while. 

 Much that they record is practically a compilation from previous 

 descriptions. 



The activity in photographing Cliff Palace has done much to make 

 knoAvn its existence and structure. Many excellent photographs of 

 the ruin have been taken, among wdiich may be mentioned those of 

 Chapin, Nordenskiold, Vreeland, Nusbaum, and others. Oil paint- 

 ings, some of which are copied from photographs, others made from 

 the ruin itself, adorn the Avails of some of our museums. Almost 

 every visitor to the Mesa Verde carries with him a camera, and many 

 good postal cards with views of the ruin are on the market. Xega- 

 tives of Cliff Palace taken before its excavation and repair will be- 

 come more valuable as time passes, because they can no longer be 

 duplicated. From a study of a considerable number of these photo- 

 graphs it seems that very little change has taken place in the condi- 

 tion of the ruin between the time the first pictures were made and 

 the repair work was begun. 



SITE OF CLIFF PALACE 



Cliff Palace is situated in a cave in Cliff-palace canyon, a branch of 

 Cliff canyon, Avhich is here about 200 feet deep. It occujiies practi- 

 cally' the whole of the cave, the roof of which overhangs about tAvo- 

 thirds of the ruin, projecting considerably beyond its middle. This 

 cave is much more capacious than that in Avhich Spruce-tree House is 

 situated, as shoAvn by comparing illustrations and descriptions of 

 the latter in the former report. The configuration of Spruce-tree 

 House cave and that of Cliff Palace, and the relation of its floor to 

 the talus, also differ. The canyon in Avhich Cliff Palace lies is 

 thickly wooded, having many cedars and a fcAv pines and scrub 

 oaks; the almost total failure of Avater at certain seasons of the year 

 at Cliff Palace renders floral life in the vicinity less exuberant than 

 in Spruce-tree canyon, a branch of Navaho canyon (fig. 1). On the 

 level plateau above the ruin there are many trees — pines and cedars — 

 but even this area is not so thickly Avooded as the summit of the 

 mesa above Spruce-tree House." 



« Clearings in the forest indicate the positions of the former farms of the inhabitants 

 of Cliff Palace. 



