NO. 12 



SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I9I7 



131 



to conclude that the Mesa A'erde pueblos were deserted earlier than 

 the McElmo, or that the latter were constructed later, either of which 

 suppositions has a bearing- on the chronology of the prehistoric 

 culture in the San Juan \'alley. By the same reasoning the consoli- 

 dated villages of pure type like Aztec would be regarded as more 

 modern than the pueblos of the jNIesa \'erde. 



Another feature in the Yellow Jacket Canyon ruin, as compared 

 with the Chaco and other great pueblos situated near the horizon of 

 the pure tvpe in Xew Mexico, may be significant. Castellate buildings 

 referable to the " great house '' type have not been recorded south of 



Fig. 136. — Cliff-dwelling, Hackberry group. Photograph by J. Wirsnla. 



the San Juan ; towers are found, but they are less numerous. These 

 types in the San Juan region, each specialized for specific purposes, 

 when contrasted with the uniformity in the architecture of historic 

 pueblos in New Mexico, are likewise significant. The " great house," 

 like the " pure type," is prehistoric ; nothing comparable to it has 

 been identified in modern pueblos. 



It is pretty generally believed that, in order to support the large 

 population implied by the number and size of these McElmo- Yellow 

 Jacket ruins, their farms on neighboring mesas were formerly better 

 watered. The conclusion is sometimes reached that there has been 

 a climatic change or desiccation that has driven out the aboriginal 

 dry farmer. Attention, however, should be called to the fact that 

 American dry farmers are now successfully cultivating these pre- 



