As we move into Cliff Palace to spend a year with the inhabitants we must not forget the sources of our knowledge. First, we have the cultural background of the people, their rise from roving hunters to stable agriculturists; second, we have the great ruin itself and the things the people left in it; third, we have the interpretations of Indians who are descendants of the ancient people. All these will be added together to complete the picture. We must realize, however, that there are questions still unanswered: some problems will never satisfactorily be solved. But if we use the knowledge that has been gained and remain within the realm of plausibility we shall be able to follow the people very well as they go through their daily lives. Now we are ready to turn back the centuries. We are ready to walk into Cliff Palace and live with the people. How better can we see the life of the ancient city? We will follow the men, women and children, as they go through the daily round of life. Spring, summer, autumn and winter will pass. We will see the work, the play, the dreams, the desires, the happiness and the bitter disappointments in the lives of the people. We will take no part in the activities. We will merely watch. What year shall it be? [Illustration: Seven centuries ago Cliff Palace was a busy, happy city of about four hundred people] It makes no difference as long as it is a good year, a normal year, with an abundance of snow and rain. That was the most important factor because of its effect upon the harvests. Tree ring records show that 1261 and 1262 were normal years, also 1265, 1266, 1267, 1268, 1269, 1271 and 1272. All of those were good years and that was the time when Cliff Palace was at its height. The people had been living in the cave for many years and the great city was surely at its peak. Let’s take the year 1268. It is as good as any. It was a normal, happy year for the people of Cliff Palace. Let the centuries roll back—it is 1268 A.D. As we walk into Cliff Palace we find it at the very peak of its development. For generations it has been growing until now it fills the great sheltering cave. There are over two hundred one-room houses in the city; they fill the cave from end to end and rise in terraces to a height of three and even four stories. At the south end and again at the north end the terraced structures rise to touch the cave roof. Scattered about the city are twenty-three kivas, the underground ceremonial chambers. Their flat roofs serve as courts where many of the activities take place. The roofs of the terraced houses are also the scene of much activity and throughout the city many ladders lean against the walls, leading from one level to the next.