Aboriginal Remains in Verde Valley, Arizona: Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1891-92, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1896, pages 179-262Mindeleff, Cosmos
History
Aboriginal Remains in Verde Valley, Arizona: Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1891-92, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1896, pages 179-262
Mindeleff, Cosmos
Pueblo Indians -- Antiquities; Verde River Valley (Ariz.) -- Antiquities
Cavate lodges are distributed generally over the whole northern portion
of the region here treated. At many points throughout this region there
are outcrops of a calcareous sandstone, very soft and strongly laminated
and therefore easily excavated. This formation often appears in the
cliffs and small canyons bordering on the streams, and in it are found
the cavate lodges. The best examples are found some 8 miles south of
Verde, in a small canyon on the eastern side of the river, and it is
noteworthy that in this case stone villages occur in conjunction with
and subordinate to the cavate lodges, while elsewhere within this region
and in other regions the cavate lodges are found either alone or in
conjunction with and subordinate to stone villages. To this latter type
belong a number of cavate lodges on the northern side of Clear creek,
about 4 miles above its mouth. The cavate lodges of the Verde differ in
some particulars from those found in other regions; they are not
excavated in tufa or volcanic ash, nor are the fronts of the chambers
generally walled up. Front walls are found here, but they are the
exception and not the rule.
Bowlder-marked sites are scattered over the whole region here treated
although they are more abundant in the southern part than in the
northern. They are so abundant that their locations could not be
indicated on the accompanying map (plate XI). These constitute a
peculiar type, not found elsewhere in the experience of the writer, and
present some points of interest. They vary in size from one room to
considerable settlements, but the average size is two or three rooms.
They are always located with reference to some area, generally a small
one, of tillable land which they overlook, and all the data now
available support the inference that they mark the sites of small
farming or temporary shelters, occupied only during the farming season
and abandoned each winter by the inhabitants, who then return to the
main pueblo--a custom prevalent today among the pueblos. These sites are
found on the flat bottom lands of the river, on the upper terraces
overlooking the bottoms, on points of the foothills, in fact everywhere
where there is an area of tillable land large enough to grow a few hills
of corn. They often occur in conjunction with irrigating ditches and
other horticultural works; sometimes they are located on small hillocks
in the beds of streams, locations which must be covered with water
during the annual floods; sometimes they are found at the bases of
promontories bordering on drainage channels and on the banks of arroyas,
where they might be washed away at any time. In short, these sites seem
to have been selected without any thought of their permanency.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account