38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 51 



own milling room, with one or more metatakis, according to neces- 

 sity. Although many metates without metatakis occur in Cliff 

 Palace, that in itself is not evidence that they were moved from 

 place to place by the inhabitants. These milling rooms were ap- 

 parently roofed, low, and one-storied, possibly in some instances open 

 on top, but generally had a small peephole or window for the entrance 

 of light or for permitting the grinders to see passers-by. 



Granaries 



Under the general name of granaries are included storage rooms, 

 some of which are situated below living rooms." Here corn for con- 

 sumption was stacked, and if we may follow Hopi customs in our 

 interpretation of cliff'-dv. ellers' habits, the peojjle of Cliff Palace no 

 doubt had a supply sufficient to prevent famine by tiding over a 

 failure of crops for two or more years. Many of these chambers 

 Avere without doorways or windows; they were not limited to storage 

 of corn, but served for the preservation of any food products or valu- 

 able cult paraphernalia. Each clan no doubt observed more or less 

 secrecy in the amount of corn it kept for future use, and on that ac- 

 count the storage rooms were ordinarily hidden from view. 



The droppings of chipmunks and other rodents show that these 

 commensals were numerous, and their presence made necessary the 

 building of storage rooms in such manner that they would be proof 

 against the ravages of such animals. The three cists constructed of 

 stone slabs placed verticall}^ situated back of the Speaker-chief's 

 House, sometimes called *•' eagle houses," were probably storage bins; 

 in support of this hypothesis may be mentioned the fact that the cobs, 

 tassels, and leaves of corn are said to have been abundant in them 

 when Cliff' Palace was first visited by white men. 



Although eagle bones are found in the refuse in the unoccupied 

 part of the cave back of the houses, their abundance does not necessa- 

 rily prove that eagles were confined in them by the inhabitants of 

 Cliff Palace. Perhaps the eagle nests in the canyon were owned by 

 different clans and were visited yearly or whenever feathers were 

 needed, and the dead eagles were i)r()bably buried ceremonially in 

 these places, which therefore may be called eagle cemeteries, as among 

 the Hopi.^ 



Crematories 



As is well known to students of the Southwest, the tribes of 

 Indians dwelling along the lower Colorado river disposed of their 

 dead "by cremation, and evidences of burning the dead are found 



« Genetically the room for storage of property was of earliest construction. This 

 custom, wliich was necessary amonR- agriculturists whose food supply was bulky, may 

 have led to the choice of caves, natural or artifichil, for habitation. 



''See Property Rights in Eagles, American A nthropohtf/ist, vol. ii, pp. 690 707, 1907. 



