38 TWO summers' work in pueblo ruins [F.TH. ANN. 22 



From the west the ascent to the mountain, thougli steep, is not dif- 

 ficult, the trail passing stunted cedars growing on a mass of cinders. 

 In tlie depression between the two hills which form the crescent we 

 find rows of volcanic breccia fragments arranged in rectangular and 

 other forms, suggesting a reservoir. From this point the ascent be- 

 comes more difficult, and as one reaches the top of the higher hill he 

 finds himself on the rim of a former crater. On the east the rim rises 

 almost jjerpendicularly, and its walls on that side are outcroppings of 

 exceedingly rough cinde?' conglomerate. In this almost perpendicular 

 wall, facing what maj^ have been the middle of the former crater, tier 

 upon tier of cavate rooms (plates il, lli), irregularlj^ arranged and 

 very difticult of approach, have been excavated. The crest of this, as 

 well as of the adjacent lower section of the crater rim, is capped by 

 artificial walls of considerable height, indicating former houses. The 

 whole aspect of the place is one of desolation, and the lava apiiears 

 as if it had been molten but a few generations ago. It maj' have 

 been great stress of danger which drove the aborigines to seek homes 

 iu this forl)idding locality. 



Turkey Tank Caves 



About half a mile west of Turkej' tanks (about 15 miles east of 

 Flagstatt') there is a collection of cavate rooms with lateral entrances 

 arranged in tiers. These eaves, although not so numerous as the New 

 caves, are comparatively well jjreserved. They are situated a short 

 distance to the left of the road from Flagstaff on the uplifted out- 

 crop of what appears to be an old volcanic blowhole, and are con- 

 fined to the northern side of the depression which marks the former 

 place of eruption (see plate iv). 



The outcrop on this side of the depression is composed of alternate 

 layers of hard lava and volcanic breccia. The former would tend to 

 resist any working with primitive implements, but the latter could 

 readily be excavated with stone tools. The average thickness of the 

 layers is about 8 feet. Bj' the excavation of the breccia the layer of 

 harder lava above it has been undermined and has now fallen in 

 places, filling the rooms or closing their entrances so that the form 

 and dimensions are no longer determinable. As the layers are 

 uplifted, vertical entrances into these cavate chambers are absent, 

 the doorways entering horizontall,y from the side of the cliff. There 

 are at least three tiers of these rooms, corresj)onding with the strata 

 of volcanic breccia. 



In some of these cavate rooms there is a combination of stone walls 

 and excavated chambers, the rooms having been sej)arated laterally 

 by a plastered wall of small bowlders brought from the bottom of the 

 adjacent depression. Ajiparently, also, walls formerly existed in 

 front of the entrances to the caves, but of these the greater jjai't have 

 fallen, and their outlines are difficult to trace except in small sections. 



