NO. 



SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I92O 



99 



tion of a possible site for exhaustive investigation and permanent 

 repair. 



The Chaco Canyon National IMonument was created by presi- 

 dential proclamation March ii, 1907, and includes 18 major ruins 

 of very great significance in the study of ancient Pueblo life. Unlike 

 the vast majority of cliff houses and other ruins found elsewhere, 

 each of these huge buildings was constructed along preconceived plans 



Fig. 114. — Grand Canyon of the Colorado from the lower 

 Toroweap valle}', southeast of Mt. Trumbull. Evidence of 

 prehistoric habitations were not lacking in this region but 

 the dwellings were widely separated and poorly preserved. 



and as a community enterprise. The studied arrangement of their 

 rooms and the perfection of their masonry rank them as the very 

 finest examples of prehistoric architectural accomplishment in the 

 United States. Not only did the ancient inhabitants of Chaco Canyon 

 excel as builders with stone, but the lesser objects, found in and about 

 the great communal dwellings, show that they had attained remarkable 

 skill as makers of pottery, ornaments and implements of various 



