SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 51
ANTIQUITIES OF THE MESA VERDE
NATIONAL PARK
CLIFF PALACE
BY
JESSE WALTER FEWKES
[Illustration]
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1911
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY,
_Washington, D. C., May 14, 1910_.
SIR: I have the honor to submit the accompanying manuscript, entitled
"Antiquities of the Mesa Verde National Park: Cliff Palace," by Dr.
Jesse Walter Fewkes, with the recommendation that it be published,
subject to your approval, as Bulletin 51 of this Bureau.
Yours, very respectfully,
F. W. HODGE,
_Ethnologist in Charge_.
DR. CHARLES D. WALCOTT,
_Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution_,
_Washington, D. C._
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 9
Cliff Palace a type of prehistoric culture 11
Recent history 13
Site of Cliff Palace 20
Prehistoric trails to Cliff Palace 23
General features 23
Destruction by the elements 23
Vandalism 24
Repair of walls 25
Major antiquities 25
General plan of Cliff Palace 26
Terraces and retaining walls 27
Tower quarter 27
Plaza quarter 28
Old quarter 28
Northern quarter 28
Masonry 29
Adobe bricks 30
Plastering 31
Paintings and rock markings 32
Refuse heaps 33
Secular rooms 33
Doors and windows 34
Floors and roofs 35
Fireplaces 36
Living rooms 36
Milling rooms 37
Granaries 38
Crematories 38
Ledge rooms 40
Enumeration of the rooms in Cliff Palace 40
Secular rooms 40
Kivas 48
Kivas of the first type 49
Kiva A 51
Kiva B 52
Kiva C 53
Kiva D 53
Kiva E 53
Kiva F 54
Kiva G 54
Kiva H 55
Kiva I 55
Kiva J 56
Kiva K 57
Kiva L 57
Kiva N 57
Kiva P 58
Kiva Q 58
Kiva S 59
Kiva T 59
Kiva U 60
Kiva V 60
A subtype of kivas (Kiva M) 61
Kivas of the second type 62
Kiva O 63
Kiva R 63
Kiva W 63
Minor antiquities 64
Stone implements 65
Pounding stones 66
Grinding stones 66
Miscellaneous stones 66
Pottery 67
Relations as determined by pottery 70
Symbols on pottery 71
Pottery rests 72
Basketry 72
Sandals 72
Wooden objects 73
Drills 74
Bone implements 74
Turquoise ear pendants and other objects 75
Seeds 75
Textiles 76
Human burials 77
Conclusions 78
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
PLATE 1. Cliff Palace, from the Speaker-chief's house to the
southern end 9
2. Cliff Palace, from the opposite side of the canyon 11
3. The southern end, after and before repairing 12
4. Central part before repairing 15
5. The round tower, from the north. General view of the
ruin, before repairing 16
6. Central part, after repairing 19
7. Southern end, after repairing 20
8. Ground plan 22
9. Main entrance. Southern end, showing repaired terraces 24
10. Tower quarter, after repairing. Terraces at southern
end, after repairing 27
11. Tower quarter 29
12. The square tower, before and after repairing 31
13. Details of Cliff Palace 33
14. Square tower, after repairing. Old quarter 34
15. Speaker-chief's house, after repairing 36
16. Northern part, from the Speaker-chief's house to the
western end 39
17. Details of kiva A 41
18. Kiva H, before repairing 43
19. Southeastern wall of kiva Q, before repairing 45
20. Axe with original handle 47
21. Stone hatchets 48
22. Stone objects 50
23. Various objects from Cliff Palace 52
24. Food bowls 55
25. Vases and food bowls 56
26. Pottery 58
27. Pitch balls and vase 60
28. Rests for jars 63
29. Basket hopper--side and bottom views 64
30. Sandals 66
31. Sandals 66
32. Sandals 66
33. Wooden objects 73
34. Bone implements 74
35. Bone implements 76
FIG. 1. View down Navaho canyon 21
2. Coil of basket plaque 73
3. Planting sticks 74
4. Woven forehead band 76
[Illustration: PLATE 1
PHOTOGRAPHED BY F. K. VREELAND
CLIFF PALACE, FROM THE SPEAKER-CHIEF'S HOUSE TO THE SOUTHERN END]
ANTIQUITIES OF THE MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK
CLIFF PALACE
By JESSE WALTER FEWKES
INTRODUCTION
In the summer of 1909 the writer was detailed by the Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution, at the request of the Secretary of the
Interior, to continue the excavation and repair of ruins in the Mesa
Verde National Park, Colorado. This work was placed under his sole
charge and continued through the months May to August, inclusive. In
that time the writer was able to repair completely this great ruin and
to leave it in such condition that tourists and students visiting it may
learn much more about cliff-dwellings than was possible before the work
was undertaken.
The force of laborers, numbering on an average 15 workmen, was from
Mancos, Colorado. Many of them had worked on Spruce-tree House during
the previous year and had become expert in repairing ruins. By their aid
it was possible to accomplish more and at less expense than was
expected. It has fallen to the writer to prepare the report on the work
which he had the honor to direct, and he is conscious how difficult it
is to put it into a form that will adequately express the devotion with
which those under him have accomplished their respective tasks.
A report on the general results accomplished at Cliff Palace was
published by the Secretary of the Interior in 1909; the following
account considers in a more detailed way the various scientific phases.
The purpose of the present paper is to present a more accurate account
of Cliff Palace than was possible before the excavation and repair work
was done, and to increase existing knowledge by directing attention to
the scientific data revealed by excavations of this largest, most
picturesque, and most typical cliff-dwelling in the Southwest. In order
to give this account a monographic form there have been introduced the
most important descriptions of Cliff Palace previously published. There
is also included a description of the few minor antiquities brought to
light in the progress of the work. These specimens are now in the United
States National Museum, where they form the nucleus of a collection
from Cliff Palace. The increasing interest, local and national, in the
prehistoric culture of the Southwest and the influence of these
antiquities in attracting visitors to localities where they exist,
furnish a reason for considering in some detail various other questions
of general interest connected with cliff-dwellings that naturally
suggest themselves to those interested in the history of man in America.
The method of work in this undertaking has been outlined in the report
on Spruce-tree House published by the Secretary of the Interior.[1] The
primary thought has been to increase the educational value of Cliff
Palace by attracting tourists and students of archeology.
[Footnote 1: In his Annual Report for 1908. See also _Bulletin 41 of the
Bureau of American Ethnology_.]
The reader is reminded that from the nature of the work at Cliff Palace
very few specimens can be expected from it in the future, and that so
far as the minor antiquities are concerned the objective material from
this ruin is now all deposited in public museums or in private
collections. Additional specimens can be obtained, however, from other
ruins near it which will throw light on the culture of Cliff Palace. It
is appropriate, therefore, to point out, at the very threshold of our
consideration, that a continuation of archeological work in the Mesa
Verde National Park is desirable, as it will add to our knowledge of the
character of prehistoric life in these canyons. The next work to be
undertaken should be the excavation and repair of a Mesa Verde pueblo.
The extensive mounds of stone and earth on the promontory west of Cliff
Palace have not yet been excavated, and offer attractive possibilities
for study and a promise of many specimens. Buried in these mounds there
are undoubtedly many rooms, secular and ceremonial, which a season's
work could uncover, thus enlarging indirectly our knowledge of the
cliff-dwellers and their descendants.[2]
[Footnote 2: A few holes that have been dug here and there in these
mounds have brought to light sections of walls with good masonry, but no
excavations that could be called extensive or scientific have yet been
attempted on this site. The excavation of these mounds might reveal a
pueblo like Walpi, and a comparison of objects from them with those from
Cliff Palace would be important in tracing the relationship of
cliff-dwellings and pueblos.]
The writer considers it an honor to have been placed in charge of the
excavation and repair of Cliff Palace, and takes this occasion to
express high appreciation of his indebtedness to both the Secretary of
the Smithsonian Institution and the Secretary of the Interior for their
confidence in his judgment in this difficult undertaking.
Maj. Hans M. Randolph, superintendent of the Mesa Verde National Park,
gave assistance in purchasing the equipment, making out accounts, and in
other ways. During the sojourn at Cliff Palace the writer was
accompanied by Mr. R. G. Fuller, of the Peabody Museum of Harvard
University, a volunteer assistant, who contributed some of the
photographs used in the preparation of the plates that accompany this
report. The writer is indebted also to Mr. F. K. Vreeland, of Montclair,
New Jersey, for several fine photographs of Cliff Palace taken before
the repairing was done.
[Illustration: PLATE 2
CLIFF PALACE, FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE CANYON]
CLIFF PALACE A TYPE OF PREHISTORIC CULTURE
In the following pages the walls and other remains of buildings and the
objects found in the rooms have been treated from their cultural point
of view. Considering ethnology, or culture history, as the comparative
study of mental productions of groups of men in different epochs, and
cultural archeology as a study of those objects belonging to a time
antedating recorded history, there has been sought in Cliff Palace one
type of prehistoric American culture, or rather a type of the mental
production of a group of men in an environment where, so far as external
influences are concerned, caves, mesas, and cliffs are predominant and
aridity is a dominant climatic factor. Primarily archeology is a study
of the expression of human intelligence, and it must be continually
borne in mind that Cliff Palace was once the home of men and women whose
minds responded to their surroundings. It is hoped that this monograph
will be a contribution to a study of the influence of environment on the
material condition of a group of prehistoric people. The condition of
culture here brought to light is in part a result of experiences
transmitted from one generation to another, but while this heritage of
culture is due to environment, intensified by each transmission, there
are likewise in it survivals of the culture due to antecedent
environments, which have also been preserved by heredity, but has
diminished in proportion, pari passu, as the epoch in which they
originated is farther and farther removed in time from the environment
that created them. These survivals occur mostly in myths and religious
cult objects, and are the last to be abandoned when man changes his
environment.
It is believed that one advantage of a series of monographic
descriptions of these ruins is found in the fact that the
characteristics of individual ruins being known, more accurate
generalizations concerning the entire culture will later be made
possible by comparative studies. There is an individuality in Cliff
Palace, not only in its architecture but also in a still greater measure
in the symbolism of the pottery decoration. These features vary more or
less in different ruins, notwithstanding their former inhabitants were
of similar culture. These variations are lost in a general description
of that culture.
The reader is asked to bear in mind that when the repair of Cliff Palace
was undertaken the vandalism wrought by those who had dug into it had
destroyed much data and greatly reduced the possibility of
generalizations on the character of its culture. The ruin had been
almost completely rifled of its contents, the specimens removed, and its
walls left in a very dilapidated condition. Much of the excavation
carried on under the writer's supervision yielded meager scientific
results so far as the discovery of specimens was concerned; throughout
the summer earth was being dug over that had already been examined and
cult objects removed. Had it been possible to have begun work on Cliff
Palace just after the ruin was deserted by the aboriginal inhabitants,
or, as that was impossible, at least anticipated only by the destruction
wrought by the elements, these explorations might have illumined many
difficult problems which must forever remain unsolved.
The present monograph is the second in a series dealing with the
antiquities of the Mesa Verde National Park and opening with the account
of the excavation and repair of Spruce-tree House.[3] An exhaustive
account of all known antiquities from Cliff Palace is not intended, and
no reference is made even to many objects from that ruin now in museums.
Discussion of details is not so much aimed at as brevity in the
statement of results and a contribution to our knowledge of a typical
form of Southwestern culture. Believing that modern Pueblo culture is
the direct descendant of that of cliff-dwellers, the writer has not
hesitated to make use of ethnology, when possible, in an interpretation
of the archeological material.
[Footnote 3: _Bulletin 41 of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]
Although the name Cliff Palace is not altogether an appropriate one for
this ruin, it is now too firmly fixed in the literature of
cliff-dwellings to be changed. The term "palace" implies a higher social
development than that which existed in this village, which undoubtedly
had a house chief similar to the village chief (_kimongwi_) of the Hopi,
who occupied that position on account of being the oldest man of the
oldest clan; but this ruin is not the remains of a "palace" of such a
chief.
The population of Cliff Palace was composed of many clans, more or less
distinct and independent, which were rapidly being amalgamated by
marriage; so we may regard the population as progressing toward a
homogeneous community. Cliff Palace was practically a pueblo built in a
cave; its population grew from both without and within: new clans from
time to time joined those existing, while new births continually
augmented the number of inhabitants.
There was no water at Cliff Palace[4] when work began, but a good supply
was developed in the canyon below the ruin, where there is every reason
to believe the former inhabitants had their well. In a neighboring
canyon, separated from that in which Cliff Palace is situated by a
promontory at the north, there is also a meager seepage of water which
was developed incidentally into a considerable supply. In the cliff
above this water is a large cave in which was discovered the walls of a
kiva of the second type, but the falling of a large block of rock upon
it--which occurred subsequent to the construction of this kiva--led to
its abandonment. This cave is extensive enough for a cliff-house as
large as Cliff Palace; but for this accident it might have developed
into a formidable rival of the latter.
[Footnote 4: All potable water for camp had to be brought from
Spruce-tree House, about 2 miles away.]
[Illustration: PLATE 3
PHOTOGRAPHED BY R. G. FULLER
THE SOUTHERN END, AFTER AND BEFORE REPAIRING]
RECENT HISTORY
It is remarkable that this magnificent ruin (pl. 1) so long escaped
knowledge of white settlers in the neighboring Montezuma valley. Cliff
Palace is not mentioned in early Spanish writings, and, indeed, the
first description of it was not published until about 1890.
Efforts to learn the name of the white man who discovered Cliff Palace
were not rewarded with great success. According to Nordenskiöld it was
first seen by Richard Wetherill and Charley Mason on a "December day in
1888," but several residents of the towns of Mancos and Cortez claim to
have visited it before that time. One of the first of these visitors was
a cattle owner of Mancos, Mr. James Frink, who told the author that he
first saw Cliff Palace in 1881, and as several stockmen were with him at
that time it is probable that there are others who visited it the same
year. We may conclude that Cliff Palace was unknown to scientific men in
1880, and the most we can definitely say is that it was first seen by
white men some time in the decade 1880-1890.[5]
[Footnote 5: It is generally stated by stockmen and others who claim to
have seen Cliff Palace "years ago," that the walls of the buildings were
much higher in the early eighties than they are at present.]
While there is considerable literature on the cliff-dwellings of the
Mesa Verde, individual ruins have not been exhaustively described. Much
less has been published on Spruce-tree House than on Cliff Palace, which
latter ruin, being the largest, has attracted more attention than any
other in the Park. As every cliff-house has its peculiar architectural
features it is well in describing these buildings to refer to the ruins
by names. This individuality in architecture pertains likewise to
specimens, the majority of which in museums unfortunately are labeled
merely "Mancos" or "Mesa Verde." A large number of these objects
probably came from Spruce-tree House and Cliff Palace, but it is now
impossible to determine their exact derivation.
The first extended account of Cliff Palace, accompanied with
illustrations, which is worthy of special mention, was published by Mr.
F. H. Chapin, and so far as priority of publication is concerned he may
be regarded as the first to make Cliff Palace known to the scientific
world. Almost simultaneously with his article there appeared an account
of the ruin by Doctor Birdsall, followed shortly by the superbly
illustrated memoir of Baron Gustav Nordenskiöld. All these writers adopt
the name Cliff Palace, which apparently was first given to the ruin by
Richard Wetherill, one of the claimants for its discovery.
Nordenskiöld's work contains practically all that was known about Cliff
Palace up to the beginning of the summer's field work herein described.
Mr. Chapin[6] thus referred to Cliff Palace in a paper read before The
Appalachian Mountain Club on February 13, 1890:
[Footnote 6: _Appalachia_, VI, 28-30, May, 1890, Boston, 1892.]
After a long ride we reached a camping-ground at the head of a
branch of the left-hand fork of Cliff Cañon. Hurriedly
unpacking, we hobbled the horses that were the most likely to
stray far, and taking along our photographic kit, wended our
way on foot toward that remarkable group of ruins of which I
have already spoken, and which Richard has called "the
Cliff-Palace." At about three o'clock we reached the brink of
the cañon opposite the wonderful structure. Surely its
discoverer had not overstated the beauty and magnitude of this
strange ruin. There it was, occupying a great oval space under
a grand cliff wonderful to behold, appearing like an immense
ruined castle with dismantled towers. The stones in front were
broken away, but behind them rose the walls of a second story;
and in the rear of these, in under the dark cavern, stood the
third tier of masonry. Still farther back in the gloomy recess,
little houses rested on upper ledges. A short distance down the
cañon are cosey buildings perched in utterly inaccessible
nooks. The neighboring scenery is marvelous; the view down the
cañon to the Mancos is alone worth the journey to see. We
stopped to take a few views, and then commenced the descent
into the gulf below. What would otherwise have been a hazardous
proceeding, was rendered easy by using the steps which had been
cut in the wall by the builders of the fortress. There are
fifteen of these scouped-out hollows in the rock, which covered
perhaps half of the distance down the precipice. At that point
the cliff had probably fallen away; but luckily for our
purpose, a dead tree leaned against the wall, and descending
into its branches we reached the base of the parapet. In the
bed of the cañon is a secondary gulch, which required care in
descending. We hung a rope or lasso over some steep, smooth
ledges, and let ourselves down by it. We left it hanging there
and used it to ascend by on our return.
Nearer approach increased our interest in the marvel. From the
south end of the ruin, which we first attained, trees hide the
northern walls, yet the view is beautiful. We remained long,
and ransacked the structure from one end to the other.
According to Richard's measurements, the space covered by the
building is 425 feet long, 80 feet high in front, and 80 feet
deep in the centre. One hundred and twenty-four rooms have been
traced on the ground floor, and a thousand people may have
lived within its confines. So many walls have fallen that it is
difficult to reconstruct the building in imagination; but the
photographs show that there must have been many stories. There
are towers and circular rooms, square and rectangular
enclosures; yet all with a seeming symmetry, though in some
places the walls look as if they were put up as additions in
later periods. One of the towers is barrel-shaped; other
circles are true. The diameter of one circular room, or estufa,
is sixteen feet and six inches. There are six piers, which are
well plastered. There are five recess-holes, which appear as if
constructed for shelves. In several rooms we observed good
fireplaces. In another room, where the outer walls have fallen
away, we found that an attempt had been made at ornamentation:
a broad band had been painted across the wall, and above it is
a peculiar decoration which shows in one of our photographs.
The lines are similar to embellishment on pottery which we
found. We observed in one place corn-cobs imbedded in the
plaster in the walls, showing that the cob is as old as that
portion of the dwelling. The cobs, as well as kernels of corn
which we found, are of small size, similar to what the Ute
squaws raise now without irrigation. We found a large stone
mortar, which may have been used to grind the corn. Broken
pottery was everywhere; like specimens in the other cliff
houses, it was similar in design to that which we picked up in
the valley ruins near Wetherill's ranch, convincing us of the
identity of the builders of the two classes of ruins. We also
found parts of skulls and bones, fragments of weapons, and
pieces of cloth. One nearly complete skeleton lies on a wall
waiting for some future antiquarian. The burial-place of the
clan was down under the rear of the cave.
[Illustration: PLATE 4
PHOTOGRAPHED BY F. K. VREELAND
CENTRAL PART, BEFORE REPAIRING]
Dr. W. R. Birdsall,[7] who in 1891 gave an account of the
cliff-dwellings of the canyons of the Mesa Verde, which contains
considerable information regarding these buildings, thus refers
specially to Cliff Palace:
[Footnote 7: _Jour. Amer. Geog. Soc._, XXIII, no. 4, 598, New York,
1891.]
Richard Wetherill discovered an unusually large group of
buildings which he named "The Cliff Palace," in which the
ground plan showed more than one hundred compartments, covering
an area over four hundred feet in length and eighty feet in
depth in the wider portion. Usually the buildings are
continuous where the configuration of the cliffs permitted such
construction.
In the following account Baron Nordenskiöld has given us the most
exhaustive description of Cliff Palace yet published:[8]
[Footnote 8: In The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde (a translation in
English from the Swedish edition, Stockholm, 1893), (pp. 59-66),
unfortunately not accessible to most readers on account of the limited
edition and the cost. For this reason the description is here reproduced
in extenso. (The references to illustrations and the footnotes in this
excerpt follow Nordenskiöld.)]
In a long, but not very deep branch of Cliff Cañon, a wild and
gloomy gorge named Cliff Palace Cañon, lies the largest of the
ruins on the Mesa Verde, the Cliff Palace. Strange and
indescribable is the impression on the traveller, when, after a
long and tiring ride through the boundless, monotonous piñon
forest, he suddenly halts on the brink of the precipice, and in
the opposite cliff beholds the ruins of the Cliff Palace,
framed in the massive vault of rock above and in a bed of
sunlit cedar and piñon trees below (Pl. XII). This ruin well
deserves its name, for with its round towers and high walls
rising out of the heaps of stones deep in the mysterious
twilight of the cavern, and defying in their sheltered site the
ravages of time, it resembles at a distance an enchanted
castle. It is not surprising that the Cliff Palace so long
remained undiscovered. An attempt to follow Cliff Palace Cañon
upward from Cliff Cañon meets with almost insurmountable
obstacles in the shape of huge blocks of stone which have
fallen from the cliffs and formed a barrier across the narrow
water course, in most parts of the cañon the only practicable
path between the steep walls of rock. Through the piñon forest,
which renders the mesa a perfect labyrinth to the uninitiated,
chance alone can guide the explorer to the exact spot from
which a view of Cliff Palace is possible.
The descent to the ruin may be made from the mesa either on the
opposite side of the cañon, or on the same a few hundred paces
north or south of the cliff-dwelling. The Cliff Palace is
probably the largest ruin of its kind known in the United
States. I here give a plan of the ruin (Pl. XI) together with a
photograph thereof, taken from the south end of the cave (Pl.
XII). In the plan, which represents the ground floor, over a
hundred rooms are shown. About twenty of them are estufas.
Among the rubbish and stones in front of the ruin a few more
walls, not marked in the plan, may possibly be distinguished.
Plate XIII, as I have just mentioned, is a photograph of the
Cliff Palace from the south. To the extreme left of the plate a
number of much dilapidated walls may be seen. They correspond
to rooms 1-12 in the plan. To the right of these walls lies a
whole block of rooms (13-18), several stories high and built on
a huge rock which has fallen from the roof of the cave. The
outermost room (14 in the plan; to the left in Pl. XIII) is
bounded on the outside by a high wall, the outlines of which
stand off sharply from the dark background of the cave. The
wall is built in a quadrant at the edge of the rock just
mentioned, which has been carefully dressed, the wall thus
forming apparently an immediate continuation of the rock. The
latter is coursed by a fissure which also extends through the
wall. This crevice must therefore have appeared subsequent to
the building operation. To the right of this curved wall (still
in Pl. XIII) lie four rooms (15-18 in the plan), and in front
of them two terraces (21-22) connected by a step. One of the
rooms is surrounded by walls three stories high and reaching up
to the roof of the cave. The terraces are bounded to the north
(the left in Pl. XIII) by a rather high wall, standing apart
from the remainder of the building. Not far from the rooms just
mentioned, but a little farther back, lie two cylindrical
chambers (21 _a_, 23). The wall of 21 _a_ is shown in Pl. XIII
with a beam resting against it. The beam had been placed there
by one of the Wetherills to assist him in climbing to an upper
ledge, where low walls, resembling the fortress at Long House
(p. 28), rise almost to the roof of the cave. The round room 23
is joined by a wall to a long series of chambers (26-41), which
are very low, though their walls extend to the rock above them.
They probably served as storerooms. These chambers front on a
"street," on the opposite side of which lie a number of
apartments[9] (42-50), among them a remarkable estufa (44)
described at greater length below. In front of 44 lies another
estufa (51), and not far from the latter a third (52).
[Footnote 9: The room marked 48 in the plan is visible in Pl. XIII.
Almost in the center of the plate, but a little to the right, two small
loopholes may be seen, and to their right a doorway, all of which belong
to room 48; the walls of 49 and 50 are much lower than those of 48.
Behind 48 the high walls of 43 may be distinguished.]
The "street" leads to an open space. Here lie three estufas
(54, 55, 56), partly sunk in the ground. Much lower down is
situated another estufa (57) of the same type as 44. It is
surrounded by high walls.[10] South of the open space lie a few
large rooms (58-61). A tower (63 in the plan; the large tower
to the right in Pl. XIII) is situated still farther south,
beside a steep ledge. This ledge, north of the tower (to the
left in the plate), once formed a free terrace (62), bounded on
the outside by a low wall along the margin. South of the tower
is an estufa (76) surrounded by an open space, southeast of
which are a number of rooms (80-87). In most of them, even in
the outermost ones, the walls are in an excellent state of
preservation. The wall nearest to the talus slope is 6 metres
high and built with great care and skill.[11] South of these
rooms and close to the cliff lies a well-preserved estufa (88),
and south of the latter four rooms are situated, two of them
(90, 92) very small. The walls of the third (91) are very high
and rise to the roof of the cave. At one corner the walls have
fallen in. This room is figured in a subsequent chapter in
order to show a painting found on one of its walls. Near the
cliff lies the last estufa (93), in an excellent state of
preservation. The rooms south of this estufa are bounded on the
outer side by a high wall rising to the rock above it. An
excellent defense was thus provided against attack in this
quarter.
[Footnote 10: They are shown in the plate just to the left of the fold
at its middle, rather low down.]
[Footnote 11: A part of this wall may be seen to the extreme right of
Pl. XIII, and also in Fig. 34 behind and to the right of the tower.]
[Illustration: PLATE 5
PHOTOGRAPHED BY F. K. VREELAND
THE ROUND TOWER, FROM THE NORTH
GENERAL VIEW OF THE RUIN, BEFORE REPAIRING]
Two of the estufas in the Cliff Palace deviate from the normal
type. This is the only instance where I have observed estufas
differing in construction from the ordinary form described in
Chapter III. The northern estufa (44 in the plan) is the better
preserved of the two. To a height of 1 meter from the floor it
is square in form (3×3 m.) with rounded corners (see figs. 35
and 36). Above it is wider and bounded by the walls of the
surrounding rooms, a ledge (_b_, _b_) of irregular shape being
thus formed a few feet from the floor. In two of the rounded
corners on a level with this ledge (a little to the right in
fig. 36) niches or hollows (_d_, _d_; breadth 48 cm., depth 45
cm.) have been constructed, and between them, at the middle of
the south-east wall, a narrow passage (breadth 40 cm.), open at
the top. At the bottom of one side of this passage a
continuation thereof was found, corresponding probably to the
tunnel in estufas of the ordinary type. At the north corner of
the room the wall is broken by three small niches (_e_, _e_,
_e_) quite close together, each of them occupying a space about
equal to that left by the removal of two stones from the wall.
The sandstone blocks of which the walls are built are carefully
hewn, as in the ordinary cylindrical estufas. Whether the usual
hearth, in form of a basin, and the wall beside it, had been
constructed here I was unfortunately unable to determine, more
than half of the room being filled with rubbish. I give the
name of estufas to these square rooms with rounded corners,
built as described above, because they are furnished with the
passage characteristic of the round estufas in the
cliff-dwellings. Perhaps they mark the transition to the
rectangular estufa of the Moki Indians. Besides the estufas
there are some other round rooms or towers (21 _a_, 23, 63),
which evidently belonged to the fortifications of the village.
They differ from the estufas in the absence of the
characteristic passage and also of the six niches. Furthermore,
they often contain several stories, and in every respect but
the form resemble the rectangular rooms. The long wall just
mentioned, built on a narrow ledge above the other ruins, and
visible at the top of Pl. XIII was probably another part of the
village fortifications. The ledge is situated so near the roof
of the cave that the wall, though quite low, touches the
latter, and the only way of advancing behind it is to creep on
hands and knees.
A comparison between Pl. VIII and Pl. XIII shows at once that
the inhabitants of the Cliff Palace were further advanced in
architecture than their more western kinsfolk on the Mesa
Verde. The stones are carefully dressed and often laid in
regular courses; the walls are perpendicular, sometimes leaning
slightly inwards at the same angle all round the room--this
being part of the design. All the corners form almost perfect
right angles, when the surroundings have permitted the builders
to observe this rule. This remark also applies to the doorways,
the sides of which are true and even. The lintel often consists
of a large stone slab, extending right across the opening. On
closer observation we find that in the Cliff Palace we may
discriminate two slightly different methods of building. The
lower walls, where the stones are only rough-hewn and laid
without order, are often surmounted by walls of carefully
dressed blocks in regular courses. This circumstance suggests
that the cave was inhabited during two different periods. I
shall have occasion below to return to this question.
The rooms of the Cliff Palace seem to have been better provided
with light and air than the cliff-dwellings in general, small
peep-holes appearing at several places in the walls. The
doorways, as in other cliff-dwellings, are either rectangular
or T-shaped. Some of the latter are of unusual size, in one
instance 1.05 m. high and 0.81 m. broad at the top. The
thickness of the walls is generally about 0.3 m., sometimes, in
the outer walls, as much as 0.6 m. As a rule they are not
painted, but in some rooms covered with a thin coat of yellow
plaster. At the south end of the ruin lies an estufa (93) which
is well-preserved (fig. 37). This estufa is entered by a
doorway in the wall, one of the few instances where I have
observed this arrangement. In most cases, as I have already
mentioned, the entrance was probably constructed in the roof.
The dimensions of this estufa were as follows: diameter 3.9 m.,
distance from the floor to the bottom of the niches 1.2 m.,
height of the niches 0.9 m., breadth of the same 1.3 m., depth
of the same 0.5 to 1.3 m., height of the passage at its mouth
0.75 m., breadth of the same 0.45 m. Five small quadrangular
holes or niches were scattered here and there in the lower part
of the wall.
I cannot refrain from once more laying stress on the skill to
which the walls of Cliff Palace in general bear witness, and
the stability and strength which has been supplied to them by
the careful dressing of the blocks and the chinking of the
interstices with small chips of stone. A point remarked by
Jackson in his description of the ruins of Southwestern
Colorado, is that the finger marks of the mason may still be
traced in the mortar, and that those marks are so small as to
suggest that the work of building was performed by women. This
conclusion seems too hasty, for within the range of my
observations the size of the finger marks varies not a little.
Like Sprucetree House and other large ruins the Cliff Palace
contains at the back of the cave extensive open spaces where
tame turkeys were probably kept. In this part of the village
three small rooms, isolated from the rest of the building,
occupy a position close to the cliff; two of them (103, 104),
built of large flat slabs of stones, lie close together, the
third (105), of unhewn sandstone (fig. 38), is situated farther
north. These rooms may serve as examples of the most primitive
form of architecture among the cliff people.
In the Cliff Palace, the rooms lie on different levels, the
ground occupied by them being very rough. In several places
terraces have been constructed in order to procure a level
foundation, and here as in their other architectural labours,
the cliff-dwellers have displayed considerable skill.
One very remarkable circumstance in the Cliff Palace is that
all the pieces of timber, all the large rafters, have
disappeared. The holes where they passed into the walls may
still be seen, but throughout the great block of ruins two or
three large beams are all that remain. This is the reason why
none of the rooms is completely closed. At Sprucetree House
there were a number of rooms where the placing of the door
stone in position was enough to throw the room into perfect
darkness, no little aid to the execution of photographic work.
It is difficult to explain the above state of things. I
observed the same want of timber in parts of other ruins (at
Long House for example). In several of the cliff-dwellings it
appears as if the beams had purposely been removed from the
walls to be applied to some other use. Seldom, however, have
all the rafters disappeared, as in the Cliff Palace. There are
no traces of the ravages of fire. Perhaps the inhabitants were
forced, during the course of a siege, to use the timber as
fuel; but in that case it is difficult to understand how a
proportionate supply of provisions and water was obtained. This
is one of the numerous circumstances which are probably
connected with the extinction or migration of the former
inhabitants, but from which our still scanty information of the
cliff-dwellers cannot lift the veil of obscurity.
[Illustration: PLATE 6
PHOTOGRAPHED BY R. G. FULLER
CENTRAL PART, AFTER REPAIRING]
In addition to his description Nordenskiöld gives a ground plan of Cliff
Palace[12] (pl. XI); a magnificent double page view of the ruin from the
west (pl. XIII); a fine picture of Speaker-chief's House (pl. XII); a
view of the Round Tower (fig. 34); a figure and a plan of an estufa of
singular construction (T); a view of the interior of Kiva C and of a
small room at the back of the main rows of rooms. No specimens of
pottery, stone implements, and kindred antiquities from Cliff Palace are
figured by Nordenskiöld. In various places throughout his work this
author refers to Cliff Palace in a comparative way, and in his
descriptions of other ruins the student will find more or less
pertaining to it.
[Footnote 12: The illustrations referred to in this paragraph are in
Nordenskiöld's work.]
In his book The Cliff Dwellers and Pueblos,[13] Rev. Stephen D. Peet
devotes one chapter (VII) to Cliff Palace and its surroundings,
compiling and quoting from Chapin, Birdsall, and Nordenskiöld. No new
data appear in this work, and the illustrations are copied from these
authors.
[Footnote 13: As stated in a note (Peet, p. 133) Chapter VII is a
reprint of Doctor Birdsall's article in the _Journal of the American
Geographical Society_, op. cit.]
Dr. Edgar L. Hewett[14] briefly refers to Cliff Palace as follows (p.
54):
[Footnote 14: In Les Communautés Anciennes dans le Désert Américain. In
this work may be found a ground plan of Cliff Palace by Morley and
Kidder, the interior of kiva Q (pl. VIII, _e_), and a large view of the
ruin taken from the north (pl. I, _b_). (Plate and figure designations
from Hewett.)]
Il suffira de décrire les traits principaux d'un seul
groupement de ruines, et nous choisirons Cliff Palace, qui en
est le spécimen le plus remarquable (pl. I _b_). Il est situé
dans un bras de Ruin Canyon. La vue présentée ici est prise
d'un point plus élevé, au sud, d'où l'on contemple les ruines
d'une ville ancienne, avec des tours rondes et carrées, des
maisons, des entrepôts pour le grain, des habitations et des
lieux de culte. Le Cliff Palace remplit une immense caverne
bien défendue et à l'abri des ravages des éléments. Un sentier
conduit aux ruines. Le plan (Fig. 2) représente les restes de
105 chambres au plain-pied. On ne sait combien il y en avait
dans les 3 étages supérieurs, mais il est probable que
Cliff-Palace n'abritait pas moins de 500 personnes.
Nous remarquons à Cliff-Palace de grands progrès dans l'art de
la construction. Les murs sont faits de grès gris, taillé avec
des outils de pierre, dont on voit encore les traces. Lorsqu'on
se servait de pierres irrégulières, les crevasses étaient
remplies avec des fragments ou des éclats de grès, puis on
plâtrait les murs avec du mortier d'adobe. On prenait de
grosses poutres pour les plafonds et les planchers, et l'on
peut voir que ces poutres étaient dégrossies avec des
instruments peu tranchants.
Many newspaper and magazine accounts of the Mesa Verde ruins appeared
about the time Mr. Chapin's description was published, but the majority
of these are somewhat distorted and more or less exaggerated, often too
indefinite for scientific purposes. References to them, even if here
quoted, could hardly be of great value to the reader, as in most cases
it would be impossible for him to consult files of papers in which they
occur even if the search were worth while. Much that they record is
practically a compilation from previous descriptions.
The activity in photographing Cliff Palace has done much to make known
its existence and structure. Many excellent photographs of the ruin have
been taken, among which may be mentioned those of Chapin, Nordenskiöld,
Vreeland, Nusbaum, and others. Oil paintings, some of which are copied
from photographs, others made from the ruin itself, adorn the walls of
some of our museums. Almost every visitor to the Mesa Verde carries with
him a camera, and many good postal cards with views of the ruin are on
the market. Negatives of Cliff Palace taken before its excavation and
repair will become more valuable as time passes, because they can no
longer be duplicated. From a study of a considerable number of these
photographs it seems that very little change has taken place in the
condition of the ruin between the time the first pictures were made and
the repair work was begun.
SITE OF CLIFF PALACE
Cliff Palace is situated in a cave in Cliff-palace canyon, a branch of
Cliff canyon, which is here about 200 feet deep. It occupies practically
the whole of the cave, the roof of which overhangs about two-thirds of
the ruin, projecting considerably beyond its middle. This cave is much
more capacious than that in which Spruce-tree House is situated, as
shown by comparing illustrations and descriptions of the latter in the
former report. The configuration of Spruce-tree House cave and that of
Cliff Palace, and the relation of its floor to the talus, also differ.
The canyon in which Cliff Palace lies is thickly wooded, having many
cedars and a few pines and scrub oaks; the almost total failure of water
at certain seasons of the year at Cliff Palace renders floral life in
the vicinity less exuberant than in Spruce-tree canyon, a branch of
Navaho canyon (fig. 1). On the level plateau above the ruin there are
many trees--pines and cedars--but even this area is not so thickly
wooded as the summit of the mesa above Spruce-tree House.[15]
[Footnote 15: Clearings in the forest indicate the positions of the
former farms of the inhabitants of Cliff Palace.]
[Illustration: PLATE 7
PHOTOGRAPHED BY R. G. FULLER
SOUTHERN END, AFTER REPAIRING]
The geological formation of the cave in which Cliff Palace is situated
is similar to that at Spruce-tree House, consisting of alternating
layers of hard and soft sandstone, shale, and even layers of coal. Both
canyons and caves appear to have been formed by the same processes. In
past ages the elements have eroded and undermined the soft layers of
sandstone or shale to such an extent that great blocks of rock, being
left without foundations, have broken away from above, falling down the
precipice. Many of these great bowlders remained on the floor of a cave
where it was broad enough to retain them. The surface of the roof
arching over Cliff Palace cave is perhaps smoother than that of
Spruce-tree House. The progress of cave erosion was greatly augmented by
the flow of water from the mesa summit during heavy rains, as
hereinafter described.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--View down Navaho Canyon.]
To understand the general plan of Cliff Palace it is necessary to take
into consideration the method of formation and the configuration of the
cave floor on which the ruin stands. This cave, as already stated, was
formed by erosion or undercutting the softer rock at a lower level than
the massive sandstone, leaving huge blocks of stone above the eroded
cavities. Naturally these blocks, being without support, fell, and in
falling were broken, the larger fragments remaining on the floor
practically in the places where they fell, but many of the smaller
stones were washed out of the cave entrance, forming a talus extending
down the side of the cliff. The floor of the cave was thus strewn with
stones, large and small, resting on the same general level which is that
on which the foundations of the buildings were constructed. The level of
the cave floor was interrupted by the huge blocks of stone forming its
outer margin; and the buildings constructed on these fallen rocks were
lofty, even imposing. The talus composed of fallen rock and débris,
piled against the canyon side in front of these buildings and below
these huge blocks of stone, extends many feet down the cliff in a
gradual slope, covering the terraced buildings and burying their
retaining walls from sight.[16] A great part of this talus is composed
of fallen walls, but considerable earth and small stones are contained
in it, probably precipitated over the rim of the cave roof by the
torrents of water which sometimes fall during heavy rains. It is
probable also that the foresting of the talus has been due more or less
to bushes and small trees washed over the cliff from the mesa summit.
[Footnote 16: Access to Cliff Palace from the bottom of the canyon,
although difficult, is possible, and a pathway might be constructed down
its sides or along the top of the talus to several other
cliff-dwellings. In the vicinity of Cliff Palace there are at least 20
ruins, large and small.]
Three terraces or tiers containing rooms, as shown in the accompanying
ground plan, were revealed by excavations in this talus. At the western
extension, where the second and third terraces cease, the tops of large
rocks begin at the level of the fourth terrace, and on the southern end
the first terrace is absent. At the western extremity, the large blocks
of rock having dropped down entire from the side of the cliff, fill the
interval elsewhere occupied by the lower terraces, and their tops now
form a ledge upon which rest the foundations of rooms level with the
plaza. It is thus evident that whereas the front wall of Spruce-tree
House is simple, the level of the kiva roofs and floors of buildings
above ground being continuous, the front of Cliff Palace is complicated,
being at different levels, consisting of terraces in the talus. As one
approached Cliff Palace, when inhabited, it must have presented, from
below, an imposing structure, the lower terraces being occupied by many
large kivas above which rose lofty buildings arranged in tiers, several
being four stories high. Although the height was much increased by the
presence of huge foundation blocks of sandstone, from the lowest terrace
to the highest room there were seven floor levels, including those of
the kivas in the terraces.
An examination of Cliff Palace cave shows that from the southern end to
the section over the main entrance its roof arches upward and that the
part over the rear of the ruin is lower than that over its front.
Between the lower and upper roof levels there is a sharp break formed by
a vertical cleavage plane. Where this plane joins the upper level there
is a shelf forming a recess in which has been constructed a row of ledge
rooms.[17]
[Footnote 17: One of these rooms had been chosen by eagles for their
nests, but both nests and eggs were abandoned by the birds after the
repair work was begun.]
The great rock roof arching over Cliff Palace is broken about midway
between the vertical plane above mentioned and the rim by another and
narrower vertical plane where no ledge exists. Here multitudes of
swallows had made their home, and there are wasps' nests in several
places.
[Illustration: PLATE 8
FROM SURVEY BY R. G. FULLER
GROUND PLAN]
PREHISTORIC TRAILS TO CLIFF PALACE