The remains of 14 infants were found in a slab-lined cist used earlier as a storage bin. Below the infants were the bodies of four other children packed in an enormous basket. None showed any signs of violence, and it is thought that some disease must have swept through the cave, killing many children in a short time. The unique “Burial of the Hands” was discovered in another part of Big Cave. This burial consisted of just a pair of arms and hands lying side by side on a bed of grass. The elbows touched the wall of the cave in a way that suggested that the rest of the body had not been removed at a later time. Three necklaces of abalone shell pendants were wrapped around the wrists, and two pairs of exceptionally fine, unworn sandals, patterned in black and red, were lying beside the hands, as was a small basket half full of white shell beads. Another basket nearly 2 feet in diameter covered the burial. No satisfactory explanation of this burial has ever been advanced. [Illustration: Excavations at Big Cave in Canyon del Muerto yielded valuable artifacts of the Basketmaker period.] [Illustration: Mummy Cave, bathed in sun with its flanking ruins almost hidden in shadows.] MUMMY CAVE [Illustration: This fretwork design decorates a kiva in Mummy Cave.] [Illustration: The central tower structure at Mummy Cave shows strong Mesa Verde affiliations and was constructed in A.D. 1284.] One of the most beautifully situated ruins in the national monument is Mummy Cave in Canyon del Muerto 21 miles northeast of park headquarters. This dwelling, the largest in the canyons, was built in two adjacent caves about 300 feet up a talus slope from the streambed. The largest part of the structure, about 55 rooms and 4 kivas, was built in the eastern cave. The western cave, with about 20 rooms, is now accessible only by a ledge from the east cave, although traces of an eroded hand-and-toe trail can be seen leading directly from the top of the talus to the ruin. Along the ledge connecting the two caves are 15 rooms, including a “tower” house; these are the best preserved of all the ruins here. Much original plaster in several colors remains on inner and outer walls throughout the village. Especially notable is the white clay plaster on the interior of the third story of the tower house and the red-painted fret design on white plaster in the large kiva of the east cave. [Illustration: A Navajo family has settled below the ruins of the ancient ones in Canyon del Muerto.] The People of Canyon de Chelly Though the stunning sheer red cliffs of Canyon de Chelly are easily the national monument’s most spectacular feature, the area was set aside for its importance to the study of prehistoric peoples in the Southwest. The architecture, tools, clothing, ceramics, and other decorative or useful objects found here contain a comprehensive record of many hundreds of years of human activity.