The Cliff Ruins of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona: Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1894-95, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1897, pages 73-198Mindeleff, Cosmos
History
The Cliff Ruins of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona: Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1894-95, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1897, pages 73-198
Mindeleff, Cosmos
Arizona -- Antiquities; Chelly, Canyon de (Ariz.); Cliff-dwellings -- Arizona; Pueblo Indians -- Antiquities
Cliff outlooks are often found on sites whose restricted areas preclude
all possibility that they formed parts of larger settlements since
obliterated. The ruin just described is an example. Another instance
which occurs in Del Muerto is shown in figure 58. Here a deep cleft in
the rock was partly occupied by two or three rooms. There was room for
more, but apparently no more were built. There was not room, however,
for even a small village. There are several other examples in the canyon
almost identical with these, but this type is not nearly so abundant as
the succeeding. Figure 59 is a plan of a ruin near the mouth of Del
Muerto. It was a single room, situated on a ledge perhaps 30 or 40 feet
above the bottom land which it overlooked and of easy access. This is
the most common type of outlook or cliff ruin, and it might almost be
said that they number hundreds, sometimes consisting of one room alone,
sometimes of two or even three The general appearance of these outlooks
is shown in figure 60, which shows an example containing three rooms.
[Illustration: Fig. 60--Three-room outlook in Canyon del Muerto.]
[Illustration: Fig. 61--Plan of a two-room outlook.]
Figure 61 is a ground plan of an example containing two rooms, which
occurs below the large ruin described before (No. 31, page 119), and
figure 62 shows an example with one room, obscured and built over with
Navaho cists. This site is located in the upper part of the canyon, on
top of the talus, about 100 feet above the stream, and commands an
outlook over several areas of bottom land on both sides. The walls are
built about 10 feet high, and are composed of medium-size stones laid in
courses and carefully chinked with small spalls. The southwestern corner
of the room is broken down, but the eastern wall is still standing, and
shows a well-finished opening on that side. There are several Navaho
burial cists on this site.
[Illustration: Fig. 62--Plan of outlook and burial cists, No. 64.]
[Illustration: Plate LIV
Cliff Ruin No. 14]
[Illustration: Fig. 63--Plan of rectangular room No. 45.]
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