Z BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



ized pothunter. The method adopted by some institutions 

 of burying the walls after objects have been extracted from 

 the rooms, while intended as a means of preservation, is not 

 satisfactory. The Bureau of American Ethnology, however, 

 when the walls are not so mutilated that they can not be 

 repaired, has endeavored to preserve them for future students. 



SYSTEMATIC RESEARCHES 



The chief of the bureau has headed an expedition to 

 determine the western extension of the pueblo area in Ari- 

 zona, where comparatively little attention had been given 

 to the character of the sedentary Ufe of the Indians in pre- 

 historic tunes. This includes the region west of the Little 

 Colorado River which is archeologicaUy a terra incognita. 

 The site chosen by the chief to be excavated is situated 

 about 6 miles from Flagstaff on the National Old Trails 

 Highway. The work was begun on May 27 and was 

 unfinished at the close of the fiscal year. 



As a result of tliis excavation there has emerged from the 

 ground near Elden Mountain a rectangular building meas- 

 uring 145 by 125 feet, containing nearly 40 rooms and a 

 large kiva, from a study of wliich a good idea can be obtained 

 of the aboriginal architecture of this neighborhood. The 

 building was a compact community house, in places two 

 stories high, whose upper walls, judging from the amount of 

 stones found in the rooms, were formerly 4 or 5 feet higher 

 than at present. No walls were visible when the work began, 

 but the earth has been removed and they now rise to a height 

 of from 4 to 10 feet. 



The rooms are comparatively large and compactly united 

 without any visible outside entrances, being formerly entered 

 by ladders and a hatchway in the roof. No windows or 

 lateral doorways are visible in the walls now standing. In 

 order to protect this large building from the elements its 

 walls have been repaired where necessary and their tops 

 covered with Portland cement to prevent erosion. 



The most striking result of the work has been the accu- 

 mulation of a large collection of characteristic pottery from 

 the two cemeteries which were discovered a short distance 



