Antiquities of the Mesa Verde National Park: Cliff PalaceFewkes, Jesse Walter
History
Antiquities of the Mesa Verde National Park: Cliff Palace
Fewkes, Jesse Walter
Colorado -- Antiquities; Mesa Verde National Park (Colo.)
The excavations at Cliff Palace have revealed no specimens strikingly
different from those already described as from Spruce-tree House. We
would expect some variation in the symbols on pottery from the two
ruins, but the differences are not conspicuous in the few specimens that
have been compared. Nor is there any peculiarity in the form of the
pottery, as the ceramic objects from Cliff Palace practically duplicate
those from Spruce-tree House, already described, and probably are not
much unlike those still buried in Long House, Balcony House, and the
House with the Square Tower.
[Illustration: PLATE 29
BASKET HOPPER--SIDE AND BOTTOM VIEWS]
As many ceremonial objects, being highly prized, may have been removed
from Cliff Palace when the place was deserted by its inhabitants, the
few that remained present scant material from which to add to our
knowledge of the ceremonial life of the people. The existence of so many
kivas would point to many rites, although a large number of sacred rooms
does not necessarily indicate more complex or elaborate rites than a
smaller number: multiplicity of kivas does not necessarily mean
multiplicity of ceremonies, nor few kivas a limited ritual. In no pueblo
are there more complicated ceremonies than at Walpi, where there are
only five of these sacred rooms; but it must be remembered that many of
the religious rites of Walpi are performed in kihus, or secular rooms.
The same may have been true of Cliff Palace.
The writer's belief is that in historic times, by which is meant since
the advent of missionaries, altars have become more elaborate and rites
more complex at Walpi than in prehistoric times, and that through the
same influence the use of images or idols has also increased. This
increase in the complexity of rites may be traced to the amalgamation of
clans or to a substitution of the fraternities of priesthoods for simple
clan ancestor worship. The elaborate character of ceremonial
paraphernalia may likewise be due to acculturation,[65] which increases
in complication with the lapse of time.
[Footnote 65: For instance, the complicated reredos of many of the
modern Hopi altars is made of flat wooden slabs, the manufacture of
which would be very difficult for a people ignorant of iron. These
probably replaced painted stone slabs of simpler character, examples of
which have been found in ruins and indeed still survive in some of the
oldest rites.]
STONE IMPLEMENTS
The stone implements from Cliff Palace consist of axes, mauls, paint
grinders, pecking stones, metates, balls, flakes, spear and arrow
points, and various other articles (pls. 20-22). There is great
uniformity in these implements, the axes, for instance, being generally
single edged, although a good specimen of double-edged hatchet is in the
collection. A fragment of the peculiar stone implement called
_tcamahia_[66] by the Hopi was found.
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