Prehistoric villages, castles, and towers of southwestern ColoradoFewkes, Jesse Walter
History
Prehistoric villages, castles, and towers of southwestern Colorado
Fewkes, Jesse Walter
Colorado -- Antiquities; Mesa Verde National Park (Colo.) -- Antiquities; Pueblo Indians -- Antiquities
The following towers can be identified from his figures:[7]
1. “Square building opposite mouth of Dawson Creek.”
Prudden, pl. xviii, fig. 2. (This building is not
square, but semicircular.)
2. Cannonball Ruin. Prudden, pl. xxi [xxii].
3. “Small tower-like structure ... at the head of Ruin
Canyon, in the Yellow Jacket group.” Prudden, pl.
xxiii, fig. 2. (This building is not in Ruin Canyon,
but in Holly Canyon.)
4. “Tower ... about the head of Ruin Canyon.” Prudden,
pl. xxiii, fig. 1. (This is the most eastern of the
Twin Towers, but not about the head of the canyon.)
5. Sand Canyon Tower. Prudden, pl. xxiv, fig. 2.
Although mainly devoted to descriptions of the cliff-houses of the
Mesa Verde, Baron G. Nordenskiöld’s “Cliff-Dwellers of the Mesa Verde”
discusses in so broad a manner the relationship of pueblo ruins and
cliff-houses that no student can overlook this epoch-making work. In
fact, Nordenskiöld laid the foundations for subsequent students of
pueblo morphology, although some of his comparisons and generalizations
were premature because based on imperfect observations which have been
superseded by later investigations.
The partial excavation of the excellent ruin at the head of Cannonball
Canyon by S. G. Morley[8] sheds considerable light on the morphology
of prehistoric buildings in the McElmo district. Unfortunately
no attempt was made by him to repair the walls of this ruin for
permanent preservation, but it is not too late still to prevent
their further destruction and preserve them for future students and
visitors. Morley’s description of the buildings is accompanied by
good photographs and a ground plan. He brought to light in this ruin
examples of the characteristic unit type kiva.
[7] Amer. Anthrop., n. s. vol. v, no. 2, 1903.
[8] The Excavation of the Cannonball Ruins in Southwestern Colorado.
Amer. Anthrop., n. s. vol. x, no. 4, 1908.
The latest work on the McElmo Ruins, one part of which has already
appeared, is a joint contribution by Morley and Kidder.[9] In this
publication accurate dimensions and sites of ruins in the McElmo and
Square Ruin Canyons are given, with other instructive data. Morley
and Kidder have designated the ruins by Arabic numbers, and in a few
instances by names. The author has preserved these numbers so far as
possible in his account.
The following ruins in Ruin Canyon and neighboring district covered by
this reconnoissance are described by Morley and Kidder:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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