562 THE CLIFF VILLAGES OF THE RED ROCK COUNTRY. 



which ouce found shelter in them. There are evidences that the num- 

 ber was large, and warrant the conclusion that the caves were once 

 alive with these troglodytes. The makers of these caverns chose for 

 their work a soft tufa rock, which was easily excavated, rarely, if ever, 

 attempting to excavate the hard lava or red sandstone. The aborig- 

 inal people riddled the hills in places with their burrowiugs,- some- 

 times choosing caverns which they walled up, and when driven by 

 exigencies, such as the hardness of the rock, plastered their commu- 

 nal dwellings like wasp nests to the face of the cliff which overhung 

 them like great protecting roofs. The plan of the cavate rooms may be 

 indicated by the selection of a typical form, shown in the accompany- 

 ing cut. Some of these dwellings are simpler ; others more complicated, 

 but a marked feature of all are lateral platforms raised a few inches 

 above the floor of a central chamber. It is instructive to note that 

 this feature is paralleled in the construction of the floor of a modern 

 kiva or sacred room, in which a raised dais or spectator's platform is a 

 constant feature. 



From the character of the archaeological objects which were gath- 

 ered from the rooms of these troglodytes, it is probable that they were 

 of the same cultus stage as the cliff people of not distant mesas, or of 

 extensive villages, the ruins of which now dot the Yerde Valley or 

 crown the hills at various points in this region. We do not have to go 

 far for evidences that this is so, for even the promontories in which the 

 cavate chambers are carved are surmounted with the remains of well- 

 laid walls of dwellings, identical with those of the river valley. 



The new ruins which I have discovered in the Eed Eock country 

 belong to the type called cliff houses, and are the largest of this kind 

 already reported from the valley of the Rio Yerde or its tributaries. So 

 far as I know, these ruins have never been described, and one of the 

 largest had never been visited by white men. 



For convenience in my descriptions, I have given to the more impor- 

 tant of these ruins the names Palatki and Honanki, Red House, and 

 Bear House. The former would, at a low estimate, accommodate, when 

 restored, 50 people; the latter, about 300. 



Historical sources shed no light on their age, but I think there is 

 hardly a doubt that they are older than the invasion of Arizona by the 

 Spaniards early in the sixteenth century, while their general appear- 

 ance speaks of a much greater antiquity. 



The ruins of the Red Houses consist of two communal dwellings, sit- 

 uated a few hundred feet apart, about 6 miles west of Court House 

 Rock, a prominent pinnacle overlooking the left bank of Oak Creek. 

 These ruins lie in a box canyon on the south side of the Red Eocks, 

 and are perched on the top of a talus of fallen debris from a perpendic- 

 ular cliff to which they are plastered like chimney-swallow nests. The 

 cliff rises precipitately behind the houses, and arching far above affords 

 protection from falling rain which, so far as appearance goes, has never 

 flooded their floors. 



