198 ANTIQUITIES OF THE VERDE AND WALNUT CREEK [STH. Ann. 28 
of stone, but there are also fragments of adobe walls and sections of 
plastered clay floors adhering to the ledge and adjacent parts of the 
bowlder. As before stated, between cliff and bowlder is a crevice once 
bridged by the buildings. Two or three beams project from the top 
of the bowlder opposite the ledge, indicating that the space between 
the bowlder and the sides of the cliff was formerly floored or roofed, 
the ends of the supporting beams resting on the bowlder and the ledge. 
This floor was evidently supported in part by a stone wall built in the 
crevice, remains of which are shown in the ground plan. Possibly 
this wall formerly served as a partition between two small basal 
rooms occupying the crevice, the remaining walls of which are no 
longer traceable. 7 
A row of shallow pits cut im the surface and sides of the bowlder 
occupy approximately the position indicated in fig. 60; these served 
as footholds and apparently furnished the only means by which the 
inhabitants of this building could gain access thereto. 
LEDGE-HOUSES NEAR JORDAN’S RANCH 
The small cliff-dwellings near Jordan’s ranch, about 6 miles from 
Jerome, belong to the type known as ledge-ruins, i. e., natural caves 
of small extent having the fronts closed by walls of masonry. There 
are several similar ledge-ruins in the valley, but the Jordan ruins are 
probably the best preserved. Several ruins of this type are found in 
the cliffs below Montezuma Castle, as shown in plate 79. 
The Jordan ruins are situated in the cliffs on the right bank of the 
Verde about 50 feet above the river bottom and can be reached 
by an easy climb over fallen stones. There are several ledge-houses in 
this locality, three of which face east and the fourth north, all over- 
looking the river. The soft limestone composing the cliff is here 
stratified, the strata being slightly tilted and in places very much 
eroded; the formation is colored white and red. The cave walls are 
much blackened with smoke. It was possible to enter readily all but 
one of these houses; the trail leading to the fourth has been obliterated 
by erosion. 
The largest of the Jordan ruins (pls. 87, 88), which is 175 feet in 
length, extends approximately north andgouth. About half the front 
wall and two end walls are still intact but the intermediate section of 
the front wallis broken. The cliff shghtly overhangs the house, form- 
ing a roof; the walls extend from the edge of the cliff to the roof. The 
rear wall of the cliff forms the corresponding wall of the rooms, as 
indicated in the ground plan (fig. 61)—a characteristic feature of 
Verde Valley clifl-houses. 
On a lower level of the cliff, just beyond the Jordan ruins, are two 
rooms, with blackened walls, connected by an almost cylindrical 
