Chapter II: Part 2

Scaffold House is about 300 feet long. The rooms, which are in fine condition, extend along the side of the cliff, those situated midway of the length of the ruin being fairly well preserved. There are not far from 56 rooms still to be traced, and at least two circular kivas, the walls of one of which are still in fair condition. The larger kiva measures about 15 feet in diameter; it is subterranean, with a deep bench or banquette on one side. There is no trace of the pilasters so conspicuous in the circular kivas of the Mesa Verde. The inner walls are smoothly plastered.

Enough of the roof of this kiva remains to show the method of construction, and as this is the first example of such a roof the writer has ever examined a brief description of it may prove to be instructive. (See pl. 14.) The supports or rafters are three in number, consisting of a large middle log laid across the center of the kiva halfway between the banquette and the opposite side, and of two smaller logs, parallel with it, resting on the top of the kiva wall, one across the banquette, and the other at about an equal distance on the opposite side. A number of smaller transverse beams, parallel with one another, are supported by the three logs already mentioned, and upon these lie the layers of sticks, bark, and adobe which cover the roof. No hatchway or place for a vertical opening was to be seen, but as the covering of the banquette is missing it is quite possible that the entrance to the kiva may have had some connection with this feature.

The top of a vertical stone slab, comparable in shape and position with a deflector, was seen projecting out of the débris that fills the lower part of the kiva, and rods in the wall near the roof represent pegs found at the tops of the pilasters in Mesa Verde kivas. There is a niche at one side for small objects, a constant feature in all kivas, circular and rectangular. The fire-hole was covered with débris.

The second circular kiva, which belongs to the same subtype, is situated not far from the one described, but is much more dilapidated, about half its walls having fallen. The roof of this kiva appears to have been supported in part by upright logs isolated from the walls, inside the chamber, three of which still stand in their original positions. This feature reminds one of kivas of the Rio Grande region as described by Castañeda, the historian of the Coronado expedition in 1540-42. In addition to the two circular kivas Scaffold House contains another room that may have been ceremonial in character, having all the essentials of the Betatakin rooms herein referred to as kivas. It lies near the western end of the ruin, its northwestern wall being bound by the vertical cliff. This room is rectangular, with a lateral entrance opposite which is a low bank, or deflector; the floor between the latter and the doorway is raised slightly above the general level. The fire-hole occupies a position on the other side, as in rooms of this kind in Betatakin. It was noticed that the sides of the doorway are considerably worn and that its lintel is made of split sticks.

In addition to the two circular subterranean kivas at Scaffold House there is at least one kihu in this ruin. This is situated near the western end, being built against the upright or rear wall of the cavern to which the two side walls are joined. The doorway is like those of the kihus in Betatakin and is situated opposite the cliff-wall. The roof has fallen in, but the beams and wattling remain in place as they fell. There is a fire-hole in the middle of the floor, and between it and the doorway is a deflector made of upright staves between which is adobe work; the whole is plastered with adobe. The threshold of the low doorway is slightly elevated above the floor, and between it and the base of the deflector is a raised platform. The lintels are made of sticks split with wedges, possibly of stone, as shown by their fibrous surfaces.

There are many pictographs on the cliff at Scaffold House, the most conspicuous of which represent human hands, snakes (one of them is 15 feet long), mountain sheep or other horned mammals, and nondescript figures representing tailed human beings.

The ruins at Bubbling Spring, a short distance from Scaffold House, are inconspicuous.

CRADLE HOUSE

This large ruin,[35] so named from the finding of the cradle described and illustrated herein, is situated in the side of a bluff rising above East canyon. It contains about 50 rooms and at least 3 circular kivas without pilasters, the front walls of which are considerably broken down.

The rooms of Cradle House as a rule extend along the rear of the cave, their back walls generally being formed by the vertical wall of the cliff, there being no recess behind them. The majority of the rooms lie about midway in the length of the ruin, the kivas being situated in front of the cluster. In two or three places rooms are found on levels below or above that of the main cluster, but only rarely are there rooms in front of others on the same level. On the upper ledge near the western end a small bin is found at the base of which is a considerable depression, probably artificial.

LADDER HOUSE

The more or less dilapidated walls of this ruin are to be seen from the left bank of East canyon, a few miles farther upstream. The position is indicated by an enormous butte which projects into the canyon and diverts the stream at that point. One side of this butte is eroded in such a way as to resemble in outline an elephant’s trunk, this erosion marking the initial process in the formation of a “natural bridge.” On the opposite side of this butte there is another large cliff-dwelling, which was not visited.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 50 PLATE 13

GROUND PLAN
OF THE
KEET SEEL RUIN
NAVAHO IND·RES·ARIZ
BY
W·B·DOUGLASS
U·S·EXAMINER OF SURVEYS
GENERAL LAND OFFICE
]

FOREST-GLEN HOUSE

The fine growth of trees at the base of a large cliff-house about 2 miles beyond Cradle House has suggested the name Forest-glen House. Some of the walls are in the form of concentric semicircles with the conspicuous representation of a head attached to one side. Many rocks have fallen on this ruin from the cave roof, especially at one end, but the rooms at the western end are still well preserved.

PINE-TREE HOUSE

About 8 miles up East canyon there is a large, almost inaccessible, ruin, which lies a short distance from the main canyon. A striking feature of this ruin is its division into three parts, of which the central section is somewhat lower than the one on each side. A large pine on the edge of the cliff above has suggested the name Pine-tree House. Deep below this ruin is a large basin, in which grow many trees and bushes; among these are a good spring and a small rivulet. This ruin has two very large circular kivas, without pedestals, 20 to 30 feet in diameter. A deep banquette is present on one side. This ruin exhibits no evidence of having been dug.

TRICKLING-SPRING HOUSE

After descending to Laguna creek from Marsh pass, crossing the stream, and following the bank about 2 miles, one comes to a ridge of copper-bearing rocks, beyond which the road crosses a deep ravine. On following the right bank this ravine is found to extend into the cliffs as a canyon. A few miles after entering the canyon a stream is encountered emerging from a spring and trickling over a cliff. High above this cliff, in a canyon 60 or 80 feet in size, the entrance to which is surrounded and more or less concealed by stately pines, spruces, and cedars, stands a cliff-ruin, possibly never before visited by white men, for which the name Trickling-spring House is suggested. Although this ruin is small, it is in several respects unique. The main architectural feature is a diminutive court or plaza, into which open a number of small rooms, having well-plastered walls and low entrances. In this, as in most of the other ruins in the Navaho National Monument, some of the house-walls are constructed of stone; but many are made of clay, plastered on sticks or wickerwork supported by upright logs. The masonry when present is poor as a rule, the component stones rarely being dressed into shape, but the surface plastering, especially on the kiva walls, is good. Many walls stand on rocks that have evidently fallen from the roof of the cave. A metate set in position in one of the smaller rooms indicates that this particular inclosure served as a milling room.

_A_, _B_, _C_, rooms; _D_, _D_, deflectors; _E_, doorway; _H_, _H_, hatchways; _M_, metate; _P_, plaza; _R_, _R_, rock fragments.]

Two squarish rooms, with lateral doorways and a deflector or wall before them, are identified as kihus. One of these has a platform or floor connecting the base of the ventilator and the doorway. The deflector is free from the kihu walls at both ends. The walls of a room with a deflector which opens into the plaza are very much blackened with smoke. No circular subterranean room was observed. There are several well-preserved hatchways in the roofs, showing that entrances of this kind were common in addition to lateral entrances with well-preserved sills and lintels. One or two of the small windows in the outer walls have a downward slant, as if to afford a better view of visitors approaching from below. One of these old doorways was closed with masonry, constructed possibly when the room was deserted. There are no signs of vandalism in this ruin.[36]

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF RUINS

The existence of recesses and of refuse heaps back of the buildings in caves is characteristic of Mesa Verde cliff-dwellings. In the cliff-houses of the Canyon de Chelly and Marsh Pass regions they rarely exist, the house walls being built against the rear wall of the cave, leaving very little space behind them for refuse or fallen débris. This latter feature, due to the geological character of the caves, is also prominent in the cliff-dwellings of the Red Rock country, at the headwaters of the Verde and its tributaries, and is likewise found in a few cliff-houses of the Gila visited by the writer. From one point of view the use of the wall or walls of the cave as house-walls marks a typical form of cliff-dwelling, or a dependent village, distinguished from a cliff-dwelling like Cliff Palace, the walls of which are independent or free on all sides from the cliffs.[37]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 50 PLATE 14

_a._ RELATION IN PARTS OF CIRCULAR AND RECTANGULAR KIVAS

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, banquettes with pilasters thereon; _C. O._ ceremonial opening; _F_, fire-hole; _S_, sipapû (symbolic opening into underworld); _V_, ventilator.

_b._ SCAFFOLD HOUSE

_A_, large banquette; _C_, adobe roof covering; _D_, deflector; _S_, stick construction supporting roof.

DIAGRAM SHOWING KIVA ROOF CONSTRUCTION]

The masonry of the Navaho Monument ruins is crude as compared with that found in the ruins of the Mesa Verde National Park, and walls made of adobe supported by upright sticks are more numerous. The character of the masonry may be due in part to the slab-like character of the building stones, and possibly to their greater hardness. The relative predominance of adobe walls supported by upright sticks was fostered by the ease with which they could be constructed and the quantity of clay available for building purposes. Comparison of the masonry of ruins in the Navaho Monument with that of the Black Falls region shows a resemblance much greater than that existing between either group and the cliff-houses of the Mesa Verde region.

There is no architectural feature in Southwestern ruins more distinctive than the ceremonial rooms, or kivas, but as these have never been recognized throughout a large area of Arizona, it is important to determine the character of the ceremonial rooms of the Navaho Monument ruins and to compare them with kivas at present used by the Hopi.

While as a rule there is great similarity in secular rooms in different culture areas of the Southwest, the more archaic ceremonial rooms of these regions vary considerably. The rooms ordinarily called kivas are of two distinct types, circular and rectangular. There are two kinds of circular kivas,[38] one having pilasters and banquettes to support the roof, the other without pilasters, apparently roofless, but surrounded by high walls as if for the purpose of obscuring the view from neighboring plazas. The circular kivas commonly do not form a part of the house mass, being separated some distance from the secular rooms. From all that can be learned it appears that the round kiva is an ancient type, its position in the rear of the cave in such cliff-dwellings as Spruce-tree House and Cliff Palace indicating that this form is as old as the building itself. The circular type, with pilasters, is confined wholly to the eastern region, having been reported from the Mesa Verde, the San Juan and many of its tributaries, Chaco canyon, and certain ruins west of the Rio Grande. Circular kivas somewhat modified are found also in many of the Rio Grande pueblos, where they are still in use. A subtype of circular kivas without pilasters but provided each with one large banquette is the common form of circular ceremonial room in the Navaho National Monument and the Canyon de Chelly. The modern representative of this subtype is the Snake kiva of the Hopi, which has become rectangular, the large banquette (_tuwibi_, pl. 14) being modified into the “spectators,” or elevated surface of the floor.

The corresponding ceremonial rooms at Zuñi and in the prehistoric Hopi pueblos are rectangular in form and of simpler architecture. Similarly shaped ceremonial rooms, not subterranean, are still in use in modern Hopi pueblos. As a good example of this archaic form of ceremonial room at Walpi may be mentioned that in which the Flute altar is erected and in which the Flute secret rites are performed.[39] This ancestral room of the clan is a rectangular chamber forming part of the second floor, and is entered from one side. The Flute clans came from a pueblo, now a ruin, in the north, but after union with the Ala, who lived at Tokónabi, they settled at the Snake pueblo, Walpi. So it may be supposed that their ancestors also had no special kiva, but celebrated their secret rites in an ordinary house.

The fraternity of Sun priests likewise erect their altar and perform their secret ceremonies in a room, not in a kiva; so do the Kalektaka, or warriors. None of these rooms is commonly regarded or enumerated as a kiva, but such chambers are believed to be the direct representatives of the ceremonial rooms built above ground as a part of the house, in the manner more characteristic of ceremonial rooms in Arizona ruins.

The ruins in the Navaho Monument have ceremonial rooms allied on one side to the kivas of the San Juan region, and on the other to rooms in the Little Colorado ruins that may have been built for ceremonial use. The latter are constructed above ground, inclosed by other houses, and are rectangular in shape, with lateral doorways. Some of these rooms, as at Betatakin, contain each a fire screen and a fire-hole, as in a circular kiva, the ventilator being replaced by a lateral doorway. It is possible that when the Snake people inhabited their northern homes, before they came to Walpi, their ceremonial rooms were not built, as at present, partly underground, and placed at a distance from the secular houses. The ceremonial rooms of this clan and of immediate relatives when living at Tokónabi or in the Navaho Monument region may have resembled those of the Black Falls cluster of ruins.[40] Their subterranean position and separation from other rooms may be regarded as modifications due to foreign influences after the clan arrived at Walpi.[41]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 50 PLATE 15

_a._ FOOD BOWL

Cat. No. 257781. Diameter, 4½ inches.

_b._ CLAY DISK WITH PERFORATED BORDER

Cat. No. 258330. Diameter, 5¼ inches.

_c._ DIPPER

Cat. No. 257779. Height, 4½ inches.

_d._ FOOD-BOWL WITH HANDLE

Cat. No. 257780. Diameter, 6 inches.

POTTERY FROM NAVAHO NATIONAL MONUMENT]

The sunken or subterranean situation of the ceremonial assembly room, or kiva, of the Pueblo region is an architectural survival of a people whose secular and ceremonial rooms were subterranean. This feature may not be autochthonous in this area, or limited to it geographically, having probably been derived from people of kindred culture of the West coast, as pointed out by Mr. Ernest Sarfert’s argument on this point, which would seem to be conclusive if subterranean kivas could be found in the Gila and Little Colorado regions.[42]

The forms of pueblo kivas, circular or rectangular, are not derived one from the other, but suggest different geographical origins. The circular form, confined to the eastern Pueblo area, bears evidence of having been derived from the culture of a people inhabiting a forested region; while the rectangular form strongly suggests a people with a treeless habitat. Both circular and rectangular subterranean assembly rooms existed in aboriginal California in historic and prehistoric times. The archaic or prehistoric culture of the Pueblo region is closely related to that of the West coast in other particulars also, that do not concern the subject of this article.

When the Snake clans lived at Tokónabi, and later at Wukóki (on the Little Colorado), so far as known they had no subterranean rooms isolated from the others for ceremonial purposes, but used rooms so closely resembling other apartments that they may be called “living rooms.” Even when they came to the Hopi mesas they may not have had at first a specialized ceremonial chamber. A study of Arizona ruins reveals no rooms identified as ceremonial that are isolated from the house masses. This is true of cliff-dwellings and pueblos, and it is probable that the differentiation and separation of kivas from secular houses, found in modern Hopi pueblos, are an introduced feature of comparatively late date. At Zuñi a rectangular room, not separated from the house mass, serves as a kiva, the custom in this respect approaching more closely that found among their kindred, the ancient people of the Little Colorado river, than among the more modified Hopi of the present time.

While some of the rooms identified as ceremonial in preceding pages are rectangular in shape and not isolated from secular rooms, the circular type seems also to have been found in Utah, and at Kitsiel and ruins near it. South of Marsh pass circular kivas are less abundant, and it appears that somewhere in this region is a line of demarcation between ruins with circular kivas and those with rectangular kivas. In prehistoric ruins from Marsh pass southward[43] to the Gila valley no rooms have ever been identified as kivas, although in the cavate ruins called Old Caves, near Flagstaff, are subterranean rooms entered from the floor of a room above, which may have served for the performance of religious rites.[44]

From a comparison of some features of the kivas in the cliff-dwellings of the San Juan and its tributaries with those of the Navaho Monument it would appear that while the ceremonial rooms of the latter in certain details are like those of the former, in some cases their form and position are different. So far as this resemblance goes, it may be reasoned that the San Juan ancients influenced by their culture the northern Arizona cliff-dwellers, but there is scant evidence of the reverse, that is, that the San Juan pueblos borrowed from the culture of the northern Arizonians any architectural features, especially in the form and construction of their kivas. The theory would be logical that the prehistoric migration of culture was down rather than up the river, and the symbolism of the pottery contributes interesting data supporting this conclusion.

FOOTNOTES:

[21] This ruin may be that called Tecolote, which appears on many old maps.

[22] Among other names cut on the walls of this ruin is that of Lieutenant Bell, 1859.

[23] A few broken-down walls of rooms stand at the side of the trail just before one reaches the dangerous part.

[24] No other rooms that could be called ceremonial were recognized in cliff-house B, but the writer’s examination of the ruin was not very thorough and their existence may have escaped him.

[25] Mr. Black informs me that it was in this ruin that he found the beautiful woven belt now at El Tovar Hotel, Grand Canyon.

[26] Rooms are concealed by this talus, the walls of which project in places out of the ground.

[27] Laguna creek is entered at this point on the right by a stream bifurcating into the Cataract and East tributaries, which flow through canyons of the same names. In or near East canyon are four large ruins: Ladder House, Cradle House, Forest-glen House, and Pine-tree House. The largest ruin in Cataract canyon is Kitsiel. The Navaho sometimes speak of the East canyon as the Salt, or Alkaline, _bokho_.

[28] Another geological feature of the sites of the large cliff-dwellings of the Navaho Monument is the almost constant presence of a vertical cliff-wall below the cave floor, the talus rarely extending to the base of the lowest rooms.

[29] According to Hopi legends, the Horn clans (animals with horns) are kin to the Snake, and formerly lived with the Snake clans at Tokónabi. Later they united with the Flute clans at Lengyanobi, and still later joined the Snake clans at Walpi. Lengyanobi (“Pueblo of the Flute”) is a large ruin north of the Hopi mesas.

[30] “Adobe bricks” with straw, according to Mr. W. B. Douglass, are found at Inscription House near the end of the White mesa. The writer has found adobe cubes in some of the walls of Cliff Palace, but these contain no straw.

[31] Although circular kivas are found in several ruins in the Navaho National Monument, as Kitsiel, Inscription House, Scaffold House, and others, they were not seen in Betatakin, which has the rectangular ceremonial room with side entrance above mentioned. Although such rooms possess some of the features of kivas, it is perhaps better to restrict that term to the circular chambers and adopt the word kihu to designate the rectangular rooms above ground. The ceremonial chambers of Betatakin suggest the Flute room at Walpi. This fact and the discovery of a flute in one of the rooms make it appear that Betatakin was inhabited by Flute clans, which, according to Hopi legends, lived in this region.

[32] For the accompanying view of the ruin (pl. 1), from photographs taken by Mr. William B. Douglass, the writer is indebted to the General Land Office.

[33] The kivas appear to be circular; one of them has the large banquette, like kiva M in Cliff Palace. No pilasters for supporting roofs have yet been reported.

[34] The two ruins Kitsiel and Betatakin are those about which extravagant statements as to size and character were made about two years ago by newspapers and otherwise reliable magazines.

[35] Like all ruins in East canyon, Cradle House is situated in a small side canyon on the left bank.

[36] Trickling-spring House is not located on the accompanying map and, so far as could be ascertained, had not been visited by archeologists previously to the writer’s visit. A young Navaho guided the writer to it a short time before he left the region.

[37] Of course some of the rooms in Cliff Palace, especially those at the western extension of the northern end, are dependent, the cliff forming their rear walls.

[38] Both kinds of circular kivas are found in the cliff-ruins at Casa Blanca and in Mummy cave in the Canyon de Chelly.

[39] These rites in all the Hopi pueblos are performed, as in ancient times, in rectangular rooms not called kivas. The Snake rites are performed now, as when the clan lived at Tokónabi in subterranean rooms (kivas), the present form of which is rectangular instead of circular, as at Tokónabi.

[40] It appears that in some of the ruins of the Navaho National Monument there were both circular subterranean kivas and rectangular rooms used for ceremonial purposes. At Wukóki the former do not exist, but two of the latter can be recognized, one of which has a construction like a ventilator.

[41] None of the five Walpi kivas is older than 1680, and one or two are of later construction.

[42] Haus und Dorf bei den Eingeborenen Nordamerikas, in _Arch. für Anthr._, N. F., Bd. VII, Heft 2 and 3, 1908.

[43] The circular kivas of Kükütcomo, the twin ruins on the mesa above Sikyatki, near Walpi, are the only ceremonial rooms of this form known from the Hopi mesas. These were the work of the Coyote clan and are of Eastern origin.

[44] There are two types of cavate ruins, or rooms artificially excavated in the tops or faces of cliffs, near Flagstaff. In one type, Old Caves, the entrance to the subterranean rooms is vertical; in the other, New Caves, it is from the side. In one type the walls of masonry are built above the caves; in the other in front of them. The common feature is the existence of chambers artificially excavated in the cliff. Both types differ essentially from pueblos built in the open or in natural caverns, although some of the kivas of the latter are excavated in the solid rock.

MINOR ANTIQUITIES

Notwithstanding the limited duration of the writer’s visit to the Navaho National Monument, a few specimens of stone, wood, pottery, and other objects were collected. The whole pieces of pottery, numbering 14 specimens (pls. 15-18), the majority of which came probably from Inscription House and other ruins near Red Lake, were presented to the Smithsonian Institution by Mr. Stephen Janus, Navaho agent at Tuba, who accompanied the writer on the trip to the Marsh Pass ruins. Fragments of pottery were picked up on the surface at Betatakin, Kitsiel, and several other ruins, and the most characteristic of these were brought back to Washington. No excavations were attempted, nor could all objects that were seen be brought away. Although up to within a few years these ruins were practically in the condition they were when abandoned, unfortunately of late they have been despoiled and many beautiful specimens have been taken from them. Many objects still remain which should be removed lest they fall into improper hands.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 50 PLATE 16

_a._ ROUGH VASE OF CORRUGATED WARE

Cat. No. 257777. Height, 7 inches.

_b._ VASE WITH CONSTRICTED NECK

Cat. No. 257778. Height, 8 inches.

POTTERY FROM NAVAHO NATIONAL MONUMENT]

POTTERY

The pottery collected consists of jars, vases, food bowls, and circular disks with a row of perforations about the margin. There are also dipper handles and broken ladles of the usual shape. Some of these specimens are of corrugated ware, others have smooth surfaces with painted decoration. The proportion of corrugated and indented ware found in the Navaho Monument ruins is about the same as in the Mesa Verde National Park. The finest coiled ware was obtained from the latter locality. Several fragments of flat dishes, perforated on their margins (pl. 15, _b_), or colanders having holes in the middle, form part of the collection.[45]

The most instructive form of pottery in the collection brought back from northern Arizona is a decorated globular vase of black-and-white ware (pl. 16, _b_). The decoration on this specimen is not confined to the exterior but is found also on the inner surface of the lip; it consists mainly of triangles so united as to form hour-glass figures. A unique design on this vessel consists of two parallel lines, each with dots on one side, suggesting similar bands in red on the inner wall of the third story of the square tower of Cliff Palace.

Three small bowls of crude ware are fluted on the outside, the ridge, or fluting, being raised somewhat above the surface of the bowl and having a zigzag course. One of the best of these unique ceramic forms has this fluting broken into S-shaped figures, as shown in the accompanying illustration (pl. 17, _a_).

The writer collected also several perforated clay disks which were possibly used as spindle whorls, although they may have been gaming implements. A similar disk made of mountain-sheep horn was found at Kitsiel.

The largest and one of the finest vases (pl. 18, _a_) from the neighborhood of Red Lake is also of black-and-white ware. The decoration is external and consists of black figures covering the neck and upper body. The base is rounded and the lip slightly flaring. This vase may have been used for containing water or possibly as a receptacle for prayer (corn) meal. The food bowls from Red Lake are chiefly of black-and-white ware, the red and yellow varieties being less numerous. A common feature in food bowls of this region is a handle on one side, as shown in plate 15, _d_. Some of these vessels, although of smooth ware, are without decoration on either the exterior or the interior.

The shallow, slightly concave clay disk[46] shown in plate 15, _b_, is characteristic in possessing a row of holes near the rim. This disk seems to represent a common type, as several fragments with similar holes were found on the surface of the ruins. The same or related forms appear to have been common in ruins near the Hopi pueblos. These are found in the collection of votive offerings now in the Peabody Museum at Cambridge, from Jedito spring, near Awatobi, and the writer has discovered specimens elsewhere in Hopi ruins, a brief mention of which occurs in a report on the archeological results of his expedition to Arizona in 1895.[47]

Several fragments of deep bowls, each having a handle (pl. 18, _b_) on the surface, were obtained in the sands below cliff-house B; these are commonly of red ware and have reddish-brown and black decorations. A small dish of black-and-white ware (pl. 15, _a_) has the rim slightly elevated and rounded on one side. The cups or mugs from this region are shaped unlike those from the Mesa Verde. Mugs from the latter region are cylindrical in form or the walls incline slightly inward so that the diameter of the opening is somewhat less than that of the base. The lip is thick and decorated. One of these cups, here figured, has a constricted neck, and a slightly flaring rim which is thin and undecorated. The decoration of another cup (pl. 15, _c_) suggests the designs on several mugs from the Little Colorado ruins. So far as form and decoration are concerned, this cup, or handled vase, might have come from Homolobi, Chevlon, or Chaves pass.[48]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 50 PLATE 17

_a_ _b_ _c_

_a._ BOWLS BEARING RELIEF ORNAMENTS

(From left to right): Cat. Nos. 257783, 257784, 257782. Heights, 2½ inches, 2 inches, 2¾ inches.

_b._ HANDLES OF FOOD-BOWLS

Cat. No. 258326.

_c._ STONE IMPLEMENTS

(From left to right): Cat. Nos. 258334, 258335, 258336, 258337. Dimensions, 6 x 4 x 1¾ inches; 5¼ x 3¾ x 2½ inches; 4½ x 3¾ x 2 inches; 4¾ x 2¾ x 2½ inches.

POTTERY AND STONE IMPLEMENTS FROM NAVAHO NATIONAL MONUMENT]

The designs on fragments of pottery found in ruins in northern Arizona are identical with or related to those from the Black Falls ruins, but differ somewhat from those on pottery from ruins higher up the Little Colorado river. If the history of the modification of ceramic symbols in any of the large composite pueblos of the Southwest be studied, it will be noticed that there are often radical changes, the later symbols not being modifications of earlier ones. Thus modern Zuñi pottery designs differ materially from those found in ruins in the same valley. The modern pottery from East mesa is wholly different from that of Sikyatki, a few miles away. Again, in so-called modern Hopi pottery, Tewa symbols derived from the Rio Grande have replaced old Hopi symbols dominant before the advent of Tewa clans. The changes in pottery symbols in every large composite pueblo are not due to evolution of the modern from the ancient, but reflect the history of the advent of new clans, powerful enough to substitute their designs for those formerly existing. One of the problems of the ethnologist is to determine symbols associated with certain clans, and by means of legends to identify clans with ruins. Having determined the symbols introduced by certain clans and the places where these clans halted in their migrations and built pueblos, the course of these prehistoric movements may be followed. Comparison of symbols on pottery from northern Arizona with those from Black Falls ruins support, so far as they go, the legends that the Snake people, who once lived at Wukóki near the Black Falls, lived also in cliff-houses now ruins near Marsh pass or the White mesa. The symbolism indicates the presence of the same clans, and tradition is thereby supported.

CLIFF-DWELLERS CRADLE

One of the most instructive specimens collected in the Navaho National Monument was found by Mr. W. B. Douglass in a ruin designated as Cradle House. This object is a cradle made of basket ware, open at one end and continued at the opposite end into a biped extension to serve for the legs. It is decorated on the outside with an archaic geometric ornamentation, the unit design of which is shown in the accompanying illustration. This specimen (pls. 19-21) may be regarded as one of the finest examples of prehistoric basketry from the Southwest; moreover, with one exception, it is the only known cradle of this form. A pair of infant’s sandals found with the cradle leaves no doubt as to its use, while the character and symbolism of the decoration refer it to the ancient cliff-house culture. The design (fig. 3) suggests that which characterizes certain specimens of the well-known black-and-white pottery found in the San Juan drainage. Evidences of long use and repair appear, especially on one side. Unfortunately, the specimen, although entire when found, later was broken across its middle.

The only other known cradle of this type was brought to the attention of ethnologists by Dr. W. J. McGee when in charge of the anthropological exhibit at the St. Louis Exposition. This was found in San Juan county, Utah, not far from the Colorado river.[49] This specimen is better preserved than that here figured, but the decoration is practically identical; so near, in fact, that the two might have been made by the same woman.

MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS

The stone implements (pl. 17, _c_) consist of axes, pounding stones,[50] and hatchets. On one of the roofs at Kitsiel there was picked up a curved stick[51] identical with those placed by the Walpi Snake priests about the sand-painting of their altar. A good specimen of a planting stick and a rod formerly used as a spindle were found near by; the latter is a perforated disk made of horn. A flute identical with those used at the present day by Flute priests at Walpi was found at Betatakin, thus tending to support the legend that the Flute clan once lived at the latter pueblo.

FOOTNOTES:

[45] These dishes resemble those sometimes used by the Hopi for sprinkling water on their altars as a prayer for rain. They may have been used also in sifting sand on the kiva floor, to form a layer upon which the sand picture is later drawn with sands of different colors.

[46] Small perforated clay disks are not rare here, as in other ruins. They were used in the same way as the horn disk mentioned on page 30.

[47] In _Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, pt. 2.

[48] Compare figures from these ruins, in the _Twenty-second Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_.

[49] The finder was Mr. E. B. Wallace. This specimen was owned at one time by Mr. J. T. Zeller, an architect of St. Louis. The writer has been informed that Mr. Zeller sold the cradle and that it is now in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

[50] A common feature of stone mauls is a raised ferrule above and one below the groove to which the handle is attached.

[51] These sticks, or “crooks” (_gnela_), found on the Antelope altar in the Walpi Snake ceremony are reported to have been brought to Walpi from Tokónabi.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The route chosen by the author for visiting the ruins of the Navaho National Monument is via Flagstaff and Tuba, the distance being not far from 200 miles to Marsh pass and 10 miles beyond to the largest cliff-dwellings. Although the wagon road is long, requiring a journey of at least five days, it may be traversed with carriage or buckboard, the sandy stretch between Tuba and Red Lake being the most difficult. The trail from Marsh pass to the great cliff-dwellings, although now passable only on horseback, could be made into a wagon road at small expense.

The nature of the cliffs in which the ruins of the Navaho Monument are situated favored the construction of cliff-dwellings rather than of open pueblos in this region. These cliffs are full of caverns, large and small, presenting much the same condition as the cliffs of the red sandstone elsewhere in the Southwest, as the Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, the Red Rocks south of Flagstaff, and other sections where caverns abound. Fragments of fallen rocks present good plane surfaces for walls of masonry, and there is abundant clay for plastering. Trees suitable for rafters and beams are not wanting. In short, all conditions are favorable for stone and adobe houses in the cliffs. The neighboring Sethlagini mesa is of different geological formation; in it are no caverns, the mesa top is broad, and ruins thereon are necessarily open pueblos. The effect of difference in geological structure is nowhere more evident than in these adjacent formations.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 50 PLATE 18

_a._ LARGE BLACK-AND-WHITE VASE

Cat. No. 257774. Height, 17 inches.

_b._ LARGE VASE WITH HANDLE

Cat. No. 257787. Height, 8½ inches.

POTTERY FROM NAVAHO NATIONAL MONUMENT]

If environment has had so marked an influence on the character of building, we can readily see how it has affected arts and crafts. We can hardly imagine a people living any length of time in this region without being mentally influenced by the precipitous cliffs that rise on all sides. The summits of these heights are eroded into fantastic shapes resembling animals or grotesque human forms. The constant presence of these marvelous forms, of awe-inspiring size and weird appearance, exerted a profound influence on the supernatural ideas of the inhabitants. Here were born many conceptions of earth gods and the like, survivals of which still remain among the Hopi.

As a rule the cliff-houses are not situated in sight of the main stream, but are hidden away in secluded side canyons, approached by narrow entrances, their sites having been determined no doubt by the position of the springs with their constant water supply.

Almost every side canyon, even in a dry season, has its spring of water which, trickling out of the rocks, follows the canyon bed until it is finally drunk up by the thirsty sands. Often water seeps out of a soft stratum of rock in the cave itself, where it was gathered in artificial reservoirs that in ancient times furnished an adequate supply for the inhabitants. One feature of these side canyons is that they enlarge into basins surrounded on all sides by lofty cliffs. Many of these basins are so hidden that they can be discovered only by following dry stream-beds from their junction with the creeks. How many of these basins are still undiscovered no one can yet tell. In these basins now covered with bushes the aboriginal farms were probably situated.

As the width of the valley of Laguna creek from Marsh pass to the point where the stream receives its largest branches on the left bank varies, the amount of arable land is greater in some places than in others. In stretches where the stream almost washes the bases of the ruins there could have been no extensive farming lands. The creek meanders through the soft clay and sand which fill the valley to the depth of many feet, forming treacherous banks that are continually falling and changing the course of the stream, so it is quite possible that the present configuration of the valley is very different from what it was when the cliff-dwellings were inhabited. If the occupants once had farms within its limits all traces of them would have long since been obliterated. Although too much credence should not be given to Navaho traditions, it is not unreasonable to believe that in one particular at least they are correct. These state that, before the introduction of sheep, grass was much higher in the level part of the valley than at present, and formerly game (at least the mountain sheep and the antelope) may have been more abundant. This condition would have exerted a marked influence on the life of the cliff-dwellers. Pictographs show that the ancient people, either here or in their former homes, were familiar with these animals, and various objects of bone and horn are significant in this connection.

The Navaho National Monument (see sketch map, pl. 22) contains two kinds of ruins,[52] cliff-dwellings and pueblos. Most of the latter are situated on promontories or on low hills. The structural features of the cliff-dwellings are characteristic, their walls being constructed of stone or adobe built against, rarely free from, vertical faces of the cliff.

There are two types of kivas, one circular and subterranean, allied to those of the Mesa Verde, the other rectangular, above ground, entered from the sides.

The masonry of these northern ruins is crude, resembling that of modern Walpi. The component stones are neither dressed nor smoothed, but the walls are sometimes plastered. There is a great similarity in architecture. No round towers[53] relieve the monotony or impart picturesqueness to the buildings. The walls of ruined pueblos in this region and the ceramic remains closely resemble those at Black Falls on the Little Colorado. A prominent feature of the walls is a _jacal_ construction in which the mud is plastered on wattling between upright poles. The ends of many of these supports project high above the ground, constituting a characteristic feature of the ruins. This method of wall construction is unknown at Black Falls or at Walpi, but survives in modified form in one or more Oraibi kivas and in one at least of the Mesa Verde ruins.[54] It has been described by Mr. Cosmos Mindeleff as common to several ruins in the Canyon de Chelly.

The key to the culture of the people from which the cliff-dweller culture was derived is probably the kiva, which furnishes also a good basis for the classification of the Pueblos and cliff-dwellers into subordinate groups.

Architecturally the kiva reached its highest development in the Mesa Verde region, where it is a circular subterranean room with pilasters and banquettes, ventilators and deflectors, fireplaces and ceremonial openings, the features of which have been described elsewhere. As we follow the San Juan down to its junction with the Colorado we find a gradual simplification of the circular type of kiva by the elimination of pilasters, ventilators, and other features, the round kiva being here represented by rooms in which almost the only architectural feature remaining is the large banquette. The question naturally arising in this connection is, whether the circular kiva in the eastern region is a development of that simpler form existing in the western or whether the latter is a degenerate form of the eastern. In other words, does the evidence show that this particular modification spread from the east down the San Juan or from the west up the river to the east? In this connection it may be urged that originally the form of circular kiva lacking pilasters extended along the entire course of the San Juan and that the kivas of the Mesa Verde became highly specialized forms in which pilasters were developed, while those lower down the river remained the same. We can not definitely answer either of these questions, but taken with other evidence it would seem that the circular form of kiva originated in the eastern section and gradually extended westward.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 50 PLATE 19

CLIFF-DWELLERS CRADLE—FRONT

Dimensions: length, 22 inches; breadth, 9 inches; diameter, 6 inches.]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 50 PLATE 20

CLIFF-DWELLERS CRADLE—REAR]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 50 PLATE 21

CLIFF-DWELLERS CRADLE—SIDE]

The modern Hopi rectangular form of ceremonial room situated underground seems in some instances to have derived certain features from the circular subterranean kiva.

The chief kiva at Walpi, that used by the Snake fraternity, is rectangular and subterranean, while that used by the Flute priests, which is practically a ceremonial room, is a chamber entered by a side doorway. It is suggested that the Snake kiva at Walpi was derived from the circular subterranean kiva of Tokónabi, the former home of the Snake clan in northern Arizona, and that the Flute chamber was developed from the rectangular rooms in the same ruins. The old question, so often considered by Southwestern archeologists, whether the circular subterranean kiva was derived from the rectangular or _vice versa_, seems to the writer to be somewhat modified by the fact that ceremonial rooms of both forms exist side by side in many ancient cliff-dwellings. From circular subterranean kivas in some instances developed square kivas, but the latter are sometimes the direct development of square rooms; the determination of the original form can best result from a study of clans and their migrations.[55]

Naturally the questions one asks in regard to these ruins are: Why did the inhabitants build in these cliffs? Who were the ancient inhabitants? When were these dwellings inhabited and deserted?

It is commonly believed that the caves were chosen for habitations because they could be better defended than villages in the open. This is a good answer to the first question, so far as it goes, although somewhat imperfect. The ancients chose this region for their homes on account of the constant water supply in the creek and the patches of land in the valley that could be cultivated. This was a desirable place for their farms. Had there been no caves in the cliffs they would probably have built habitations in the open plain below. They may have been harassed by marauders, but it must be borne in mind that their enemies did not come in great numbers at any one time. Defense was not the primary motive that led the sedentary people of this canyon to utilize the caverns for shelter. Again, the inroads of enemies never led to the abandonment of these great cliff-houses, if we can impute valor in any appreciable degree to the inhabitants. Fancy, for instance, the difficulty, or rather improbability, of a number of nomadic warriors great enough to drive out the population of Kitsiel, making their way up Cataract canyon and besieging the pueblo. Such an approach would have been impossible. Marauders might have raided the Kitsiel cornfields, but they could not have dislodged the inhabitants. Even if they had succeeded in capturing one house but little would have been gained, as it was a custom of the Pueblos to keep enough food in store to last more than a year. In this connection the question is pertinent, While hostiles were besieging Kitsiel how could they subsist during any length of time? Only with the utmost difficulty, even with aid of ropes and ladders, can one now gain access to some of these ruins. How could marauding parties have entered them if the inhabitants were hostile? The cliff-dwellings were constructed partly for defense, but mainly for the shelter afforded by the overhanging cliff, and the cause of their desertion was not due so much to predatory enemies as failure of crops or the disappearance of the water supply.

The writer does not regard these ruins as of great antiquity; some of the evidence indicates that they are of later time. Features in their architecture show resemblances derived from other regions. The Navaho ascribe the buildings to ancient people and say that the ruined houses existed before their own advent in the country, but this was not necessarily long ago. Such evidence as has been gathered supports Hopi legends that the inhabitants were ancient Hopi belonging to the Flute, Horn, and Snake families.

There is no evidence that cliff-house architecture developed in these canyons, and rude structures older than these have been found in this region. Whoever the builders of these structures were, they brought their craft with them. The adoption of the deflector in the rectangular ceremonial rooms called kihus implies the derivation of these rooms from circular kivas, and all indications are that the ancient inhabitants came from higher up San Juan river.

Many of the ruins in Canyon de Chelly situated east of Laguna creek show marked evidence of being modern, and they in turn are not so old as those of the Mesa Verde. If the ruins become older as we go up the river the conclusion is logical that the migration of the San Juan culture was down the river from east to west, rather than in the opposite direction. The scanty traditions known to the author support the belief in a migration from east to west, although there were exceptional instances of clan movements in the opposite direction. The general trend of migration would indicate that the ancestral home of the Snake and Flute people was in Colorado and New Mexico.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 50 PLATE 22

SKETCH MAP
OF THE
·NAVAHO NATL·MONUMENTS·
FROM OFFICIAL REPORTS BY
W·B·DOUGLASS
U·S·GENL· LAND OFFICE
1910
]

It is evident from the facts here recorded that the ruins in the Navaho National Monument contain most important, most characteristic, and well-preserved prehistoric buildings, and that the problems they present are of a nature to arouse great interest in them. Having suffered comparatively little from vandalism, these are among the best-preserved monuments of the cliff-dwellers’ culture in our Southwest, and if properly excavated and repaired they would preserve most valuable data for the future student of prehistoric man in North America. It is not necessary to preserve all the ruins within this area, but it would be well to explore the region and to locate the sites of the ruins that it contains.

FOOTNOTES:

[52] The writer was not able to determine the exact site of the traditional Tokónabi, but believes one is justified in considering the ruins visited to be prehistoric houses of the Snake (Flute), Horn, and other Hopi clans whose descendants now live in Walpi.

[53] While circular subterranean kivas are found in some of the ruins, none of these have the six pilasters so common higher up on the San Juan, nor have these rooms ventilators like those of Spruce-tree House. Some of the ruins have rectangular kivas, above ground, entered from one side.

[54] The best example of walls of this kind is found in an undescribed cliff-ruin in the canyon southwest of Cliff Palace.

[55] It is generally the custom to speak of the rectangular subterranean rooms of Walpi as kivas, while the square or rectangular rooms above ground, in which equally secret rites are performed, are not so designated. Both types are ceremonial rooms, but for those not subterranean the term _kihu_ (clan ceremonial room), instead of kiva, is appropriate.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The writer has the honor to recommend that one of the largest two cliff-dwellings in the Navaho National Monument, either Betatakin or Kitsiel, be excavated, repaired, and preserved as a “type ruin” to illustrate the prehistoric culture of the aborigines of this section of Arizona; also that this work be supplemented by excavation and repair of Inscription House, an ancient cliff-dwelling in West canyon.

He also recommends that one or more of the ruins in West canyon be added to the Navaho National Monument and be permanently protected by the Government.