THE NATURALISTS' COMPANION. 
107 
ARCEMOLOGY. j 
This department is conducted by Joseph 
Wiggekswokth, Wilniing-ton. Del., to 
whom all articles pertaining- to the subject 
should, addressed. 
PREHISTORIC INDIANS. 
‘’Arclupolog'ic and ethnologic re¬ 
searches which have been prosecuted 
during the past four or live years,” 
says Captain Stevenson, of the Geol¬ 
ogical Survey Bureau, “in different 
localities on our continent, especially 
in our Southwestern Teriitories, have 
thrown much light and information 
not only upon the history of the pres¬ 
ent ahorigional inhabitants, but also 
predecessors, or the prehistoric races 
that inhabited that portion of our 
country. , As each year’s explorations 
are prosecuted, with the additional 
experience of the previous year, the 
web of information is broadened and 
a more comprehensive and definite 
knowledge of these people is obtained 
The bureau extended its researches 
into more remote and less known lo¬ 
calities during the past season with 
most gratifying results. One locality 
visited and explored by a party under 
the direction of Professor Powell last 
summer is worth}-^ of special mention. 
Near Flagstaff’, in Arizona, is a moun¬ 
tain called San Francisco Mountain. 
This mountain is of valcanoic origin, 
and around it, extending for many 
miles in all directions, are prominent 
volcanic cinder cones, ranging from 
five hundred to tw^o thousand feet in 
height. The outer crusts of these cones 
are quite hard, while beneath this 
crust is a compact body of cinders or 
tufa. The party visited a number of 
these cones, on which they found a 
series of ancient cave houses artificial- 
ly excaved by'^ a post of a rude charac¬ 
ter, which was evidenced by the im¬ 
plements and domestic utensils left in 
these caves. One of the most conspic¬ 
uous of these villages was found to oc- 
(‘U])v a large area, from the toj) far 
down tlie side of one of these moun¬ 
tains. The cave dwellings are of an 
oval shape, about twenty-five feet 
across the base, and perhaps fifteen 
feet iiigli. The entrance or doorway 
consists of a square hole cut in the 
crust, from which a shaft descends 
fifteen feet to the bottom. Alongside 
of the entrance shaft is a groove about 
one foot in depth, which served as a 
chimney. The dwellings were without 
windows and the occupants must have 
learned to grope their way through the 
dwellings in the dark. In many in¬ 
stances there are side shafts, which 
lead into connecting chambers. The 
party also found many small chambers 
excavated into the side of the dwelling, 
which were used to store away corn 
ami other food stuffs.” 
“In one cave, which was plastered,a 
small niche was discovered which had 
been hermetically sealed up and which 
contained several small objects or clay 
stands, in which were stuck fragments 
of a finely woven cotton fabric so nice¬ 
ly twisted up as to show that they 
were carefulR arranged and placed in 
this niche and sealed up for some sa¬ 
cred purpose; quantities of corn-cobs, 
charred beans and squash seeds and 
other objects of a vegetable character, 
also many stone implements of large 
and small size, some weighing two 
hundred pouds, all of wTich gave 
some idea of the people who made and 
used tliem. There are many^ of these 
cave villages situated on these volcan¬ 
ic cones. Professor Powell considers 
them the oldest and most primitive 
inhabitations on this continent. Not¬ 
withstanding this fact, he feels confi¬ 
dent from the evidences presented by^ 
these caves that the occupants were 
the direct ancestors of some of the 
Aleca dwelling tribes now inhabiting 
portions of Arizona and New Mexico 
and he also feels assured that future 
researches will clearly^ reveal the his¬ 
tory and relationship between these 
tribes that have passed away and those 
now living in that region.” 
