THK AXCIKNT PEOPLES. 39 



Verde that the most elaborate of these excavations are 

 found. A round opening was made in the face of the 

 cliff for the door and sufheient rock excavated to make 

 a good-sized living room twelve feet or more in its 

 dimensions and high enough for one to stand. Behind 

 this were storerooms usually of less size and height. 

 There are hundreds of such rooms in the canyon walls. 

 Natural Caves. A curious series of natural caves near 

 the headwaters of White River in eastern Arizona has 

 some time been inhabited. These caves vary in size 

 and open into each other by low and narrow passage- 

 ways which are also often steep since there is consider- 

 able change in level. In some places the rock may have 

 been excavated and there are a few masonr}^ walls 

 subdividing the larger rooms. The walls are black 

 with smoke and the floors are covered with dirt which 

 rises in dust since it is almost completely without 

 moisture. Several of these natural rooms have small 

 openings in the face of the cliff which admit air and 

 light. 



Means of Sustenance. 



That the ancient people were agriculturists we know 

 from the corn and beans found in the ruins. In the 

 Museum collections are specimens of corn in the ear, a 

 basket of shelled corn, and a bag of corn meal. Beans 

 are also found and squash and gourds are known to 

 have been raised. 



We know little of their method of tilling the land. 



