In 1923 Roy Henderson and A. B. Hardin discovered the largest and
finest watchtower that had yet been found. The tower was circular, 25
feet in height and 11 feet in diameter. Loopholes at various levels
commanded the approach from every exposed quarter.
During the winter of 1924 the north refuse space of Spruce Tree House
was excavated. Two child burials were found, one partially mummified,
the other skeletal only. With one was found a mug, a ladle, a digging
stick, and two ring baskets that had held food. Several corrugated
jars were found, together with miscellaneous material. A layer of
turkey droppings a foot thick indicated the space had been used as a
turkey pen.
During January and February of 1926, when snow was available as a
water supply, excavations were carried on in Step House Cave, by
Superintendent Jesse L. Nusbaum. In 1891 Nordenskioeld had found many
fine burials in this cave and it had suffered greatly from pothunting.
The cliff dweller refuse at the south end of the cave had not been
thoroughly cleaned out, however, and it was under this layer of trash
that the important discovery was made. Three of the Late Basket Maker
pit houses were found, giving the first evidence that these people had
used the caves before the cliff dwellers. Very few artifacts were
found because of the earlier pothunting. In 1926 also a low, deep cave
opposite Fire Temple was excavated, and a small amount of Basket Maker
material found. Most interesting were two tapered cylinders of
crystallized salt that still bore the imprint of the molder's hands.
While bracing a slipping boulder in Cliff Palace, Fred Jeep found, in
1916, a sandal of the Early Basket Maker type that indicates a former
occupancy of the cave by the first group of Agricultural Indians in
this region.
In 1927 Bone Awl House was excavated. A series of unusually fine bone
awls was found that suggested the name for the ruin. Much
miscellaneous material was also found. Another small cliff dwelling
nearby was cleaned out. One baby mummy and an adult burial were found,
as well as some pottery and bone and stone tools. This ruin is reached
by a spectacular series of 104 footholds that the cliff dwellers had
cut in the almost perpendicular canyon wall.
During March of 1928 and the winter of 1929 restricted excavations
were conducted in ruins 11 to 19, inclusive, on the west side of
Wetherill Mesa.
Several burials were found, all in poor condition because of dampness.
Outstanding was an unusual bird pendant of hematite with crystal eyes
set into drilled sockets with pinon gum. Forty-two bowls were
reconstructed from the sherds found.
In the summer of 1929 Mr. and Mrs. Harold S. Gladwin and associates of
Gila Pueblo, Globe, Ariz., assisted by Deric Nusbaum, conducted an
archeological survey of small-house ruins on Chapin Mesa and in the
canyon heads along the North Rim. The survey covered 250 sites. One
hundred sherds were collected from each site and studied to identify
the pottery types, the sequence of their development, and their
relationship to pottery types of other southwestern archeological
areas.
The forest fire of 1934 revealed many hitherto unknown ruins. Two
splendid watchtowers were found on the west cliff of Rock Canyon. In a
small area at the head of Long Canyon 10 new Early Pueblo ruins were
located and no doubt scores of others will be found upon more careful
search. In the heads of the small canyons many dams and terraces were
noted.
In the stabilization program that was carried on in 1934-35 a number
of artifacts were found. A certain amount of debris had to be moved in
order that the weakened walls and slipping foundations might be
strengthened and varied finds resulted. Axes, bone awls, sandals,
pottery, planting sticks, and similar articles were most common, but a
few burials were also found.
In August 1934 the undisturbed skeleton of an old woman was found on
the bare floor of a small ruin just across the canyon from the public
campgrounds. This skeleton, of particular importance because of fusion
of the spinal column, had apparently remained exposed and undisturbed
through more than seven centuries.
Because of the fact that no detailed, comprehensive survey has ever
been made of the archeological resources of the park, the findings of
new ruins, artifacts, and human remains are more or less regularly
reported at the park museum.