Archeological investigations have shown that the later cultures 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 are homogeneous.
[Illustration: A Mesa Verde surface ruin. Far View House.]
Four and a half miles north of Spruce Tree Camp the park road passes
through 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, although in the spring of
the year water is still conducted thereto by the drainage ditches
constructed by the early cowmen in the park in their efforts to impound
sufficient water for their stock. And, again, mummies are never found
where the least dampness occurs.
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 birdseye 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 inhabited. 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 dwelling in Spruce Tree House.
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 belong
to the 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.