80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 51 



kivas. If, ^s is suspected, a larger imiiiber of kivas indicates rela- 

 tivel}'^ greater age, the explanation may be sought in the amalgama- 

 tion of clans and the development of religious fraternities. Hypo- 

 theticallj'', in early days each clan had its own men's room, or kiva, 

 but when clans were united by marriage and secret ceremonies Avere 

 no longer limited to indi^^idual clans, the participants belonging to 

 several clans, a religious fraternity was developed and several clan 

 kivas consolidated or were enlarged into fraternity kivas such as we 

 find among the Hopi and other Pueblos. 



From a study of kivas the conclusion is that Spruce-tree House is 

 more modern than Cliif Palace. This conclusion is borne out also by 

 the fact that the water supply at Spruce-tree House is more abundant 

 than that at Cliff Palace. 



In one or tw^o architectural features Cliflf Palace is unique, although 

 sharing with other cliff-houses of the ]\Iesa Verde National Park many 

 minor characters. The first difference between Cliff Palace and 

 Spruce-tree House, outside of the disparity in their size and the rela- 

 tively large proportion of secular to ceremonial rooms in the latter, is 

 the existence in the former of terraces and retaining walls. Spruce- 

 tree House is built on one level, above which rise the secular houses 

 while below are the ceremonial rooms or kivas. The contrast of 

 this simple condition with that of Cliff Palace, with its three ter- 

 races and the complicated front wall at several levels thereby necessi- 

 tated, is apparent. 



There are several other ruins in the Mesa Verde Park in whicn tne 

 configuration of the rear of the cave led to the construction of the 

 cliff-house in terrace form. This is well exemplified in the Spring 

 House, where buildings on an upper level occupy much the same 

 relation to those below as the ledge houses to the main ruin, and in 

 ruins in the Canyon de Chelly, like those in Mummy Cave, where 

 this relation of the buildings on the ledge to those on top of the talus 

 is even more pronounced. Architectural features in cliff -houses arc 

 due to the geological structure of the cave in which they are situated 

 rather than to cultural differences. 



Nothing was found to indicate that Cliff Palace was inhabited 

 during the historic period. The inhabitants were not acquainted with 

 metals brought by white men to the Southwest. The absence of glass 

 and of glazed pottery is also significant. No sheep, horses, or other 

 beasts of burden paid them tribute. In fact, there is no evidence 

 that they had ever heard of white men. These ruins belong to the 

 stone age in x\merica and show no evidence of white man's culture. 



Except that it is prehistoric, the period at which Cliff Palace was 

 inhabited is therefore largely a matter for archeological investigation 

 to detemiine, and thus far no decisive evidence bearing on that point 

 has been produced. It has been held that Cliff Palace is five hundred 



