224 ABORIGINAL REMAINS IN VERDE VALLEY. [eth.ann.13 



south many stone tlwelliugs have been built of the basaltic anil cinder-like rocks. 

 Between the ridge on the south and another on the northwest there is a low saddle 

 in which other buildings have been erected, and in which a great plaza was found, 

 much like the one previously described. But the most interesting part of this vil- 

 lage was on the cliff which rose on the northwest side of the crater. In this cliff 

 are many natural eaves, and the caves themselves were utilized as dwellings by 

 inclosing them in front with walls made of volcanic rocks and cinders. These clitf 

 dwellings are placed tier above tier, in a very irregular wav. lu many cases nat- 

 ural caves were thus utilized; in other cases cavate chambers were made; that is, 

 chambers have been excavated in the friable cinders. On the very summit of the 

 ridge stone buildings were erected, so that this village was in part a cliff village, in 

 part cavate, and in part the ordinary stone pueblo. The valle.v below, especially to 

 the southward, was probably occupied by their gardens. In the chambers among 

 the overhanging cliffs a great many interesting relics were found, of stone, bone, 

 and wood, and many potsherds. 



It will be seen tliat the first group described bears a remarkably 

 close resemblance to the cavate lodges on the Eio Verde. The lodges 

 themselves are smaller, but the arrangement of main apartment and 

 attached back rooms is quite similar. It will be noticed also that in 

 the second gioup described village ruins are again associated on the 

 summit of the clifif or ridge. Major Powell ascertained that these 

 cavate lodges were occupied by the Havasupai Indians now living in 

 Cataract canyon, who are closely related to the Walapai, and who. it is 

 said, were driven from this region by the Spaniards. 



The cavate lodges on the Rio Grande, in New Mexico, in the vicinity 

 of the modern pueblo of Santa Clara, were also visited in 188.5 by Major 

 Powell and are thus described by him : ' 



The cliff's themselves are built of volcanic sands and ashes, and many of the strata 

 are exceedingly liglit and friable. The specific gravity of some of these rocks is so 

 low that they will float on water. Into the faces of these cliff's, in the friable aud 

 easily worked rock, many chambers have been excavated; for mile after mile the 

 cliff's are studded with them, so that altogether there are many thousands. Some- 

 times a chamber or series of chambers is entered from .a terrace, but usually they 

 were excavated many feet above any landing or terrace below, so that they could 

 be reached only by ladders. In other places artificial terraces were built by con- 

 structing retaining walls and filling the interior next to the cliff's with loose rock 

 and sand. Very often steps were cut into the face of a cliff and a rude stairway 

 formed by which chambers could l)e reached. The chambers were very irregularly 

 arranged and very irregular in size and structure. In many cases there is a central 

 chamber, which seems to have been a general living room for the people, back of 

 which two, three, or more chambers somewhat smaller are found. The chambers 

 occupied liy one family are siunetimes connected with those occupied by another 

 family, so that two or three or four sets of chambers have iuterior communication. 

 Usually, however, the communication from one system of chambers to another was 

 by the outside. Many of the chambers had evidently been occupied as dwellings. 

 They still contained fireplaces and evidences of fire; there were little caverns or 

 shelves in -which various vessels were placed, and many evidences of the handicraft 

 of the people were left in stone, bone, horn, and wood, and in the chambers and 

 about the sides of the cliffs potsherds are abundant. On more careful survey it was 

 fouud that many chambers had lieen used as stables for asses, goats, and sheep. 

 Sometimes they had been filled a few inches, or even 2 or .3 feet, with the excrement 



'Seventh Ann. Kep. Bur. Eth., op. cit., p. xxu. 



