28 TWO summers' WORK IN PUEBLO RC^INS [eth. ann. 22 



eercnioiiial i)r;u'tices. It would lianlly seem [lossible that birds 

 wliose featliei's were thus used would be eaten, althougli parallels 

 t-o such a usage occur in the religious rites of many peoples. We 

 know that their bones were made into needles and bodkins, and there 

 is every prol)al)ility that the wild turkey's flesh was eaten." 



lieeause of the poor results of the early e.xcavations at Iloniolobi 

 the author (let ennined to abandon the work at this ruin. A .search 

 for the bui'ial places was not successful, although he carefully 

 exannned the .sandy hillocks a few hundred feet away, expecting that 

 they would be found thei-e if anywhere. Meanwhile a half dozen 

 IIo])! Indians who had been sent for canu» to Wiiislow, and the author 

 set thein at work, having discharged the Mexicans. On the first day 

 thej' discovered the cemeteries of Homolobi, after which it was only 

 a question of time before a large collection was obtained.'' 



The burial places at Ilomolobi were close to the outer wall of the 

 pueblo, so near to it in fact that the skeletons in somv instances 

 touched the outer face of the wall. These places of burial were litei-- 

 ally "under the ladders " of the town, if we believe, as we l(»gilimately 

 maj", that llic inhabitants formerly mounted to the hou.se tops by 

 ladders. 



The outer slope of the mound was thus found to be crowded with 

 the dead, and with them were multitudes of mortuary pottery offer- 

 ings of all kinds. The.se cemeteries were found on the east'' side, 

 opposite the river bank, and although it is jjossible that in ancient 

 times burials may have been made on the side of the mound toward 

 the river, if they ever were there the overflow of the stream has 

 washed them awa>" or covered them up. 



The burial places were sometimes recognized by flat stones set on 

 edge pro,jecti7ig above the surface of the soil. These stones had 

 often fallen in over the grave, and were sometimes buried many feet 

 below the surface. In many of these there was a small, round hole 

 about the size of a broom handle; in others this hole was large and 

 square. In one or two instances traces of pigment were detected on 

 these burial stones, but in the majority the figures wei-e not legible. 

 The reason assigned b}' some of the Ilopi workmen for these perfora- 

 tions was for the escape of the soul ; others regarded them as sym- 

 bols of the sipapii, openings in the kiva floors which they closely 

 resemble. In the pavement of one of the larger rooms which was exca- 

 vated two slabs were found, one of which was perforated with a single 



" The eagles whifh are kept in the Moki towns to-day for the feathei-s used in ceremonie.s are 

 buried at death in certain oemeterie.s with ceremonies of a simple character. 



''In the winter of 1897 Dr G. A. Dorsey, of the Field Columbian JIuseum, made some archeo- 

 logical studies of Homolobi, and he informs the author that he found many interments with 

 beautiful mortuary pottery not far from the trenches made in 1896. Others have dug many 

 specimens from the same ruin, 



'■ While as a general thing the cemeteries to the east of a ruin are the largest, places of burial 

 are not confined to that side of a ruin. 



