The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished RacesAllen, Emory Adams
History
The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished Races
Allen, Emory Adams
Archaeology; Indians; Prehistoric peoples
Entering the cañon, Mr. Jackson continues: “Grouped along in
clusters, and singly, were indications of former habitations,
very nearly obliterated, and consisting mostly, in the first four
or five miles, of the same mound-like forms noticed above, and
accompanied always by the scattered, broken pottery. Among them
we find one building of squared and carefully laid sandstone, one
face only exposed of three or four courses, above the mass of
_debris_ which covered every thing. This building lay within a
few yards of the banks of the stream, was apparently about ten
feet by eight, the usual size, as near as we could determine, of
nearly all the separate rooms or houses in the larger blocks,
none larger, and many not more than five feet square. The stones
exposed are each about seven by twelve inches square, and four
inches thick, those in their original position retaining correct
angles, but, when thrown down, worn away by attrition to
shapeless bowlders.”
“As we progressed down the cañon the same general characteristics
held good. The great majority of the ruins consisting of heaps of
_debris_ a central mass considerably higher and more massive than
the surrounding lines of sub-divided squares. Small buildings,
not more than eight feet square, were often found standing alone
apparently, no trace of any other being detected in their
immediate neighborhood.” We would call especial attention in this
description to the character of the ruins, the central, higher
mass surrounded by other ruins; also to the houses found
occasionally standing alone. We notice they are of the same
general character as the ruins at Aztec Springs.
We are finding abundant evidence that this section was once
thickly settled. Going back to the triple-walled tower on the
McElmo, Mr. Jackson says of the immediate vicinity: “On the mesa
is group after group upon the same general plan, a great central
tower and smaller surrounding buildings. They cover the whole
breadth and length of the land, and, turn which way we would, we
stumbled over the old mound and into the cellars, as we might
call them, of these truly aborigines.” We believe, however, that
no excavation for cellar purposes are found in the entire region
covered by these ancient ruins.
“Starting down the cañon (the McElmo), which gradually deepened
as the table-land rose above us, we found upon either hand very
old and faint vestiges of the homes of a forgotten people, but
could give them no more attention than merely noting their
existence.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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