Arizona Sketches by J. A. (Joseph Amasa) Munk
page 96 of 134 (71%)
page 96 of 134 (71%)
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implements of the stone age, but are of sufficient variety to
indicate a succession of races that were both primitive and cultured and as widely separated in time as in knowledge. The cliff dwellings were not only the abodes of their original builders, but were occupied and deserted successively by the chipped stone implement maker, the polisher of hard stone, the basket maker and the weaver. Among the relics that have been found in the ruins are some very fine specimens of pottery which are as symmetrical and well finished as if they had been turned on a potter's wheel, and covered with an opaque enamel of stanniferous glaze composed of lead and tin that originated with the Phoenicians, and is as old as history. Can it be possible that the cliff dwellers are a lost fragment of Egyptian civilization? The cliff ruins in Arizona are not only found in the canons of the Colorado river, but also in many other places. The finest of them are Montezuma's Castle on Beaver creek, and the Casa Blanca in Canon de Chelly. Numerous other ruins are found on the Rio Verde, Gila river, Walnut Canon and elsewhere. The largest and finest group of cliff dwellings are those on the Mesa Verde in Colorado. They are fully described in the great work[5] of Nordenskiold, who spent much time among them. The different houses are named after some peculiarity of appearance or construction, like the Cliff Palace, which contains more than one hundred rooms, Long House, Balcony House, Spruce Tree House, etc. |
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