The science of archeology has contributed to our knowledge some of
the most fascinating chapters in culture history, for it has brought
to light, from the night of the past, periods of human development
hitherto unrecorded. As the paleontologist through his method has
revealed faunas whose like were formerly unknown to the naturalist, the
archeologist by the use of the same method of research has resurrected
extinct phases of culture that have attained a high development and
declined before recorded history began. No achievements in American
anthropology are more striking than those that, from a study of human
buildings and artifacts antedating the historic period, reveal the
existence of an advanced prehistoric culture of man in America.
The evidences of a phase of culture that had developed and was on the
decline before the interior of North America was explored by Europeans
are nowhere better shown than in southwestern Colorado, New Mexico,
Arizona, and Utah, the domain of the Cliff-dwellers, or the cradle of
the Pueblos. There flourished on what is now called the Mesa Verde
National Park, in prehistoric times, a characteristic culture unlike
that of any region in the United States. This culture reached its
apogee and declined before the historic epoch, but did not perish
before it had left an influence extending over a wide territory, which
persisted into modern times. Through the researches of archeologists
the nature of this culture is now emerging into full view; but much
material yet remains awaiting investigation before it can be adequately
understood. The purpose of this article is to call attention to new
observations bearing upon its interpretation made by the author, under
the auspices of the Bureau of American Ethnology, on brief trips to
Colorado and Utah in 1917 and 1918.
The peculiar cliff-dwellings and open-air villages of the Mesa Verde
are here shown to be typical of those found over a region many miles
in extent. They indicate a distinct culture area, which is easily
distinguished from others where similar buildings do not exist, but
not as readily separated from that of adjacent regions where the
buildings are superficially similar but structurally different. In
order to distinguish it from its neighbors and determine its horizon,
we must become familiar with certain architectural characteristics. As
our knowledge of the character of buildings in this area is incomplete,
the intention of the author is to define the several different types of
buildings that characterize it.
When, in 1915, there was brought to light on the Mesa Verde National
Park, Colorado, the mysterious structure, Sun Temple, the author
recalled well-known descriptions of towers and other related buildings
that have been recorded from other localities in southwestern Colorado
and Utah. The published descriptions of these structures did not seem
to him adequate for comparisons, and he planned an examination of these
great houses and towers, hoping to gather new data that would shed some
light on his interpretation of Sun Temple. During the field work in
1917, thanks to an allotment from the Bureau of American Ethnology for
that purpose, he undertook a reconnoissance in the McElmo district,
where similar buildings are found and where he believed cultural
relatives of the former inhabitants of Mesa Verde once lived. In 1918
he extended his field work still farther. He investigated ruins as far
as the western tributaries of the Yellow Jacket Canyon, penetrating a
short distance beyond the Colorado border into Utah. The object of the
following pages is to make known the more important results of this
visit, and interpret the evidence they present as a contribution to
our knowledge of the extension in prehistoric times of the Mesa Verde
culture area.