Book Description

Excerpt from Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 68 During the year 1916 the author spent five months in archeological investigations in New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah, three of these months being given to intensive work on the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. An account of the result of the Mesa Verde work will appear in the Smithsonian Annual Report for 1916, under the title A Prehistoric Mesa Verde Pueblo and Its People. What was accomplished in June and October, 1916, before and after the work at the Mesa Verde, is here recorded. As archeological work in the Southwest progresses, it becomes more and more evident that we can not solve the many problems it presents until we know more about the general distribution of ruins, and the characteristic forms peculiar to different geographical locali ties. Most of the results thus far accomplished are admirable, though limited to a few regions, while many extensive areas have as yet not been explored by the archeologist and the types of architecture peculiar to these unexplored areas remain unknown. Here we need a reconnoissance followed by intensive work to supplement what has already been done. The following pages contain an account of what might be called archeological scouting in New Mexico and Utah. While the matter here presented may not shed much light on general archeology, it is, nevertheless, a contribution to our knowl edge Of the prehistoric human inhabitants of our country. Primarily it treats of aboriginal architecture. The author spent two months in searching for undescribed build ings concerning some of which comparatively nothing was known. During June, 1916, headquarters were made at Gallup, New Mexico: the Utah ruins, new to science, were visited from the Indian agency at Ouray, Utah. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.