ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT 23 



the excavation of a ruin pre\'iously located by him, as de- 

 scribed in Bulletin 35 of the bureau (p. 59). This site was 

 thought to contain evidence of pit dwellings exclusively, 

 but excavations showed that an area of about 40 acres 

 contained circular, semisubterranean houses in which no 

 stone was used for construction. Seven of the pits were 

 cleared, and it was ascertained that many more existed 

 beneath the surface, dug in the sandy substratum of the 

 region. Burnt sections of roofing clay showed that these 

 houses were roofed with beams, poles, brush, and mud, as 

 in present pueblo construction. The roof was svipported 

 by wooden posts, charred remains of which were found. 

 Nothing was ascertained respecting the construction of the 

 sides of the dwellings or in regard to the height of the roofs. 

 On the floor of each of the pits uncovered were a rude metate, 

 grinding stones, slabs of stone, and the outline of an other- 

 wise undefined fireplace not quite in the center of the cham- 

 ber. A bench about a foot high and a few feet in length was 

 cut in the wall of some of the pits, and in one of the pits, 

 against the wall, was a fireplace with raised sides of clay. 

 Another type of structures adjoined the pits; these were 

 rectangular, open-air houses with mud roofs, in which 

 mealing and culinary work was carried on. Here were 

 numerous metates, manos, rubbing stones, pottery, etc.; 

 some of the metates were set up on three round stones. 

 Near the pit was a cemetery in which infants were buried, 

 the burials being associated with clay hearths and much 

 charcoal, and near the bodies were placed small pottery 

 vessels. Scrapers of flint and bones of deer were also found 

 among the burials. So far as ascertained, the people who 

 used the circular semisubterranean houses had a limited 

 range. Traces of their culture have not been found below 

 an elevation of 7,000 feet in the mountain valley, and it 

 appears probable that their culture was associated with an 

 environment of lakes which once existed in these valleys. 

 It is evident in some cases that the pit dwellings were dis- 

 placed by houses of stone. In most instances artifacts are 

 different from those of the stone-house builders, and the 

 latter have more points of resemblance to, than of differ- 



