132 THE CLIFF RUINS OF CANYON DE CHELLY [ETH. ANN, 16 
apparently standing upright in thin slabs 2 to 6 inches thick. Access 
was had by aid of the rough projections of the slabs, aided where 
necessary by hand and foot holes pecked in the rock. At several 
places little platforms of masonry have been built. 
At the northern end of the upper ledge there are five small cells 
occupying its whole width, and whose front wall follows the winding 
ledge. The walls are about 5 feet high, and their tops bear the marks 
of the poles which carried the roof. There are no exterior openings, 
nor is there any evidence of a means of communication between the 
rooms; but in the second room from the south two stones project from 
the wall inside, near the southeastern corner, forming rude steps, 
doubtless to a trapdoor in the roof. These cells could hardly have 
been used as habitations. The floors are covered with many lumps 
of clay, which apparently formed part of the roof. 
To the south of this cluster of cells there was a large room of irreg- 
ular shape on a leyel about 8 feet higher. The remainder of the ledge, 
which is about on the same level as this large room, is almost covered 
with large bowlders, but at several points on it other remains of walls 
oceur. The largest room of all was near its center. It was built 
against the cliff, which formed one of its sides, and measured about 
16 by 6 feet. There are no evidences of any partitions or roof, the 
latter probably being formed by the overhanging rock. As the room 
was built partly on the sloping rock, the floor is very uneven. It could 
hardly have been used as a habitation, but may have been employed 
for the storage of water. 
The southern end of the lower ledge merges into the head of the 
talus, the northern part drops down by a sharply sloping and in places 
an almost vertical wall of about 30 feet; thence it descends to the 
bottom by a long slope of bare rock, generally passable on foot. The 
lower ledge is about 50 feet above the upper. Upon it are scattered 
the remains of a few rooms of the same general character as those 
above, but smaller. Many of these have been utilized for modern— 
Navaho burials, and perhaps some of them were constructed for that 
purpose. If these rooms were used as habitations, it must have been 
under very peculiar circumstances; moreover, the site is hardly suited 
for such a purpose, having the sunshine less than half of the day. In 
this respect it is anomalous. 
At the southern end of the ledge there is a large angular bowlder, one 
edge of which rests against the cliff wall and is free from the ground. 
Under this the walls of a small room can be seen. The cliff formed 
one side of the room and the bowlder acted as a roof. On the extreme 
northern end of the ledge, 200 feet distant from the nearest room, there 
are remains of a structure standing alone. The masonry is much 
rougher than that of the other rooms, and, although the walls are now 
about 6 feet high, there is no evidence of any doorway or opening into 
the room. 
