Archeological investigations have shown that the inhabitants of the
Mesa Verde built compact pueblo-style structures on the open mesa land
separating the deep canyons. Lacking natural protection of the caves
and cliffs of the canyons, a closely knit and compact structure was
necessary for defensive purposes. Not having to conform to the
irregular contours of the cave as in the cliff-house type, the
structure assumed a roughly rectangular shape in the open, with the
kivas within protected by the adjacent outside living and storage
rooms. The roofed-over kivas formed small open courts within the
higher outside walls. Structurally, there is but little difference
between the cliff house and the pueblo; undoubtedly they belong to the
same culture and period.
[Illustration: A MESA VERDE SURFACE RUIN. FAR VIEW HOUSE]
Four and a half miles north of Spruce Tree Camp the park road passes
near 16 major and many minor mounds. This is the so-called Mummy Lake
group, a misnomer, since the walled depression at the crest of the
slope above the group was never used as a reservoir, also since
mummies are never found where the least dampness occurs. In the spring
of the year water is still conducted to the depression by the drainage
ditches which the early cowmen in the park constructed in their
efforts to impound sufficient water for their stock.
The first unit of this group to be excavated was named Far View House
because of the wonderful panorama of diversified terrain that is
visible in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona from the walls of the
ruin. At the beginning of the work, this mound appeared very much as
any of the other adjacent major mounds, no sign of standing wall
appearing above the even contour of the ruin. Heavy growths of
sagebrush covered the whole area. Three months' time was devoted to
the excavation in revealing the rectangular pueblo, 100 by 113 feet in
size, now seen. The slow crumbling of the heavy dirt-covered roofs and
the walls, together with the annual deposit of wind-blown sand from
the San Juan country early each spring, gradually filled the rooms to
the level of the standing walls, after which destructive elements and
forces can little change the contour of any ruin.
The external features of Far View House are apparent as we approach
its walls; mounting to the top of the highest wall we can best observe
the general plan. This pueblo is rectangular in shape, consisting of
concentrated rooms with a court surrounded by a wall annexed to the
south side. On its southeast corner, a little less than 100 feet away,
lies the cemetery from which have been taken a number of skeletons
with their offerings of food bowls and other objects, such as was the
custom of these people to deposit in the graves of their dead.
At its highest point on the north wall the pueblo had three stories,
but on the southern side there was but a single story. This building
was terraced, one tier of rooms above another. In the corner of the
interior of the highest room may still be seen the ancient fireplaces
and stones for grinding corn, set in their original positions as used
by the former inhabitants. There are no external windows or passages,
except on the south side where midway in length is a recess in which
was placed a ladder in order to be hidden from view. The inhabitants
evidently used the roof of the lowest terrace for many occupations. A
bird's-eye view shows that all the rooms, now roofless, fall into two
groups.
In the center of this mass of rooms is a kiva 32 feet in diameter, and
around it are three smaller kivas. The size of the large kiva is
noteworthy. In the cliff dwellings the kivas were necessarily small
because of the limited floor space, but in the surface villages, where
unlimited space was available, they were often large. This arrangement
of one large kiva and several small ones is common. It might indicate
that each clan had a small kiva of its own but that in the major
ceremonies, when all of the clans worked together, the large
ceremonial room was used. The structural details of the large kiva are
identical with those of the smaller ones. The only variation is in
the size.
The rooms surrounding these circular ones vary somewhat in form but
are, as a rule, rectangular, the shapes of those near the kivas being
triangular to fill the necessary spaces. The contents of the
rectangular rooms show that they were living rooms. Artifacts were
found and indications of various industries as well as marks of smoke
from their fireplaces appear on the walls. From the nature of this
evidence there is no doubt that Far View House was once inhabited by
the people living the same way as those who used the cliff dwellings.
The court added to the pueblo on its south side is enclosed by a low
wall. Here were probably performed, in ancient times, the many
religious dances and festivals.
Far View House is but one of the 16 pueblos in the Mummy Lake group,
and at the period of maximum development could have housed a large
population. To the north and east, where the two branches of Soda
Canyon join, another large village or group has been located, and one
can almost trace the trail across the west fork of Soda Canyon to the
neighboring village and imagine the dusky visitors going from one to
the other in prehistoric times. Each narrow tonguelike mesa of the
Mesa Verde has its ruins of either isolated pueblo structures, or
adjacent groups, denoting the widespread distribution of the mesa
pueblo builders.
Pottery is the best index as to the chronological sequence of the
ruins in the Southwest, and in examining the pottery of some of the
mesa-type pueblos it is found that some contain pottery antedating
that of the cliff-house culture, while others contain similar types.
Undoubtedly, they were simultaneously inhabited, in part at least, and
the transitory period was of long duration; but the period in
prehistoric time when they were built and later deserted has not been
determined. We cannot say from data now at hand when this took place,
documentary history affording no help.
The aborigines who lived near these ruins when discovered in 1874 were
Utes, a Shoshonean stock who disclaimed all knowledge of the people
who constructed these buildings. They avoided them as uncanny and even
now can only with difficulty be induced to enter them. They have dim
legends of conflicts between the earliest Utes and cliff dwellers.
Unfortunately, however, such legendary evidence is not reliable, as
the general mythology of these people has been much distorted due to
foreign contacts and the passage of time.