The isolation of these ruins and the impossibility of obtaining
workmen, combined with the brief visit which I was able to make to
them, rendered it impossible to collect very many specimens of ancient
handiwork. The few excavations which were made were limited almost
wholly to Honanki, and from their success I can readily predict a rich
harvest for anyone who may attempt systematic work in this virgin
field. We naturally chose the interior of the rooms for excavation,
and I will say limited our work to these places. Every chamber was
more or less filled with débris--fragments of overturned walls,
detached rock from the cliff above, dry alkaline soil, drifted sand,
dust, and animal excreta. In those places where digging was possible
we found the dust and guano so dry and alkaline that it was next to
impossible to work for any length of time in the rooms, for the air
became so impure that the workmen could hardly breathe, especially
where the inclosing walls prevented ventilation. Notwithstanding this
obstacle, however, we removed the accumulated débris down to the floor
in one or two chambers, and examined with care the various objects of
aboriginal origin which were revealed.
In studying the specimens found in cliff-houses due attention has not
always been given to the fact that occupants have oftentimes camped in
them subsequently to their abandonment by the original builders. As a
consequence of this temporary habitation objects owned by unrelated
Indians have frequently been confused with those of the cliff-dwellers
proper. We found evidences that both Honanki and Palatki had been
occupied by Apache Mohave people for longer or shorter periods of
time, and some of the specimens were probably left there by these
inhabitants.
The ancient pottery found in the rooms, although fragmentary, is
sufficiently complete to render a comparison with known ceramics from
the Verde ruins. Had we discovered the cemeteries, for which we
zealously searched in vain, no doubt entire vessels, deposited as
mortuary offerings, would have been found; but the kind of ware of
which they were made would undoubtedly have been the same as that of
the fragments.
No pottery distinctively different from that which has already been
reported from the Verde valley ruins was found, and the majority
resembled so closely in texture and symbolism that of the cliff houses
of the San Juan, in northern New Mexico and southern Utah, that they
may be regarded as practically identical.
The following varieties of pottery were found at Honanki:
I. Coiled ware.
II. Indented ware.
III. Smooth ware.
IV. Smooth ware painted white, with black geometric figures.
V. Smooth red ware, with black decoration.
By far the largest number of fragments belong to the first division,
and these, as a rule, are blackened by soot, as if used in cooking.
The majority are parts of large open-mouth jars with flaring rims,
corrugated or often indented with the thumb-nail or some hard
substance, the coil becoming obscure on the lower surface. The inside
of these jars is smooth, but never polished, and in one instance the
potter used the corrugations of the coil as an ornamental motive. The
paste of which this coiled ware was composed is coarse, with
argillaceous grains scattered through it; but it was well fired and is
still hard and durable. When taken in connection with its tenuity,
these features show a highly developed potter's technique. A single
fragment is ornamented with an S-shape coil of clay fastened to the
corrugations in much the same way as in similar ware from the ruins
near the Colorado Chiquito.
The fragments of smooth ware show that they, too, had been made
originally in the same way as coiled ware, and that their outer as
well as their inner surface had been rubbed smooth before firing. As a
rule, however, they are coarse in texture and have little symmetry of
form. Fragments identified as parts of bowls, vases, jars, and dippers
are classed under this variety. As a rule they are badly or unevenly
fired, although evidently submitted to great heat. There was seldom an
effort made to smooth the outer surface to a polish, and no attempt at
pictorial ornamentation was made.
The fragments represented in classes IV and V were made of a much
finer clay, and the surface bears a gloss, almost a glaze. The
ornamentation on the few fragments which were found is composed of
geometric patterns, and is identical with the sherds from other ruins
of Verde valley. A fragment each of a dipper and a ladle, portions of
a red bowl, and a rim of a large vase of the same color were picked up
near the ruin. Most of the fragments, however, belong to the first
classes--the coiled and indented wares.
There was no evidence that the former inhabitants of these buildings
were acquainted with metals. The ends of the beams had been hacked off
evidently with blunt stone axes, aided by fire, and the lintels of the
houses were of split logs which showed no evidence that any metal
implement was used in fashioning them. We found, however, several
stone tools, which exhibit considerable skill in the art of stone
working. These include a single ax, blunt at one end, sharpened at the
other, and girt by a single groove. The variety of stone from which
the ax was made does not occur in the immediate vicinity of the ruin.
There were one or two stone hammers, grooved for hafting, like the ax.
A third stone maul, being grooveless, was evidently a hand tool for
breaking other stones or for grinding pigments.
[Illustration: FIG. 251--Stone implement from Honanki]
Perhaps the most interesting stone implement which was found was
uncovered in the excavation of one of the middle rooms of the western
part of the ruin, about three feet below the surface. It consists of a
wooden handle rounded at each end and slightly curved, with a
sharpened stone inserted midway of its length and cemented to the wood
with pitch or asphaltum. The stone of this implement would hardly bear
rough usage, or sustain, without fracture, a heavy blow. The edge is
tolerably sharp, and it therefore may have been used in skinning
animals. Judging from the form of the handle, the implement is better
suited for use as a scraper than for any other purpose which has
occurred to me (figure 251).
The inhabitants of the two ruins of the Red-rocks used obsidian
arrowpoints with shafts of reeds, and evidently highly regarded
fragments of the former material for knives, spearheads, and one or
two other purposes.
The stone metates from these ruins are in no respect characteristic,
and several fine specimens were found in place on the floors of the
rooms. One of these was a well-worn specimen of lava, which must have
been brought from a considerable distance, since none of that
material occurs in the neighborhood. The existence of these grinding
stones implies the use of maize as food, and this evidence was much
strengthened by the finding of corncobs, kernels of corn, and charred
fragments at several points below the surface of the débris in the
chambers of Honanki. One of these grinding stones was found set in the
floor of one of the rooms in the same way that similar metates may be
seen in Walpi today.
Of bone implements, our limited excavations revealed only a few
fragments. Leg bones of the turkey were used for awls, bodkins,
needles, and similar objects. In general character the implements of
this kind which were found are almost identical in form with the bone
implements from Awatobi and Sikyatki, which are later figured and
described. Although the bone implements unearthed were not numerous,
we were well repaid for our excavations by finding an ancient
fireboard, identical with those now used at Tusayan in the ceremony of
kindling "new fire," and probably universally used for that purpose in
former times. The only shell was a fragment of a bracelet made from a
_Pectunculus_, a Pacific coast mollusk highly esteemed in ancient
times among prehistoric Pueblos. The majority of the wooden objects
found showed marks of fire, which were especially evident on the ends
of the roof and floor beams projecting from the walls.
[Illustration: FIG. 252--Tinder tube from Honanki]
A considerable collection of objects made of wickerwork and woven
vegetal fiber was found in the alkaline dust and ashes of the Red-rock
cliff houses, and while there is some difficulty here as elsewhere, in
deciding whether certain specimens belonged to the original builders
or to later temporary occupants, there is little doubt that most of
them were the property of the latter.
There were many specimens of basketry found on the surface of the
rubbish of the floors which, from the position of their occurrence and
from their resemblance to the wickerwork still used by the Apache,
seem without doubt to have been left there by temporary occupants of
the rooms. There were likewise many wisps of yucca fiber tied in knots
which must probably be regarded as of identical origin. The _Yucca
baccata_ affords the favorite fiber used by the natives at the present
time, and it appears to have been popular for that purpose among the
ancients.
Several specimens of sandals, some of which are very much worn on the
soles, were found buried at the floor level. These are all of the same
kind, and are made of yucca leaves plaited in narrow strips. The mode
of attachment to the foot was evidently by a loop passing over the
toes. Hide and cloth sandals have as yet not been reported from the
Red-rock ruins of Verde valley. These sandals belonged to the original
occupants of the cliff houses.
Fabrics made of cotton are common in the ruins of the Red-rocks, and
at times this fiber was combined with yucca. Some of the specimens of
cotton cloth were finely woven and are still quite strong, although
stained dark or almost black. Specimens of netting are also common,
and an open-mesh legging, similar to the kind manufactured in ancient
times by the Hopi and still worn by certain personators in their
sacred dances, were taken from the western room of Honanki. There were
also many fragments of rope, string, cord, and loosely twisted bands,
resembling head bands for carrying burdens.
A reed (figure 252) in which was inserted a fragment of cotton fiber
was unlike anything yet reported from cliff houses, and as the end of
the cotton which projected beyond the cavity of the reed was charred,
it possibly was used as a slow-match or tinder-box.
Several shell and turquois beads were found, but my limited studies of
the cliff-houses revealed only a few other ornaments, among them being
beads of turkey-bone and a single wristlet fashioned from a
_Pectunculus_. One or two fragments of prayer-sticks were discovered
in a rock inclosure in a cleft to the west of the ruin.