Antiquities of the Jemez plateau, New Mexico / by Edgar L. Hewett.

  • Hewett, Edgar L. (Edgar Lee), 1865-1946.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Antiquities of the Jemez plateau, New Mexico / by Edgar L. Hewett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The leading topographical features of the entire area are mountains, characterized by massive rounded contours, the highest peak attaining an altitude of 11,200 feet; flat mesa lands of an altitude of 7,000 to 8,000 feet, cut up by innumerable canyons from 100 to 1,500 feet deep, the mesas sloping gently from the mountains to the valleys, on whose borders they terminate in bold perpendicular escarpments (pi. i); and narrow sandy valleys at altitudes ranging from 6,000 to 7,000 feet. The mountains are for the most part well forested with pine, spruce, fir, and aspen. No peaks extend above the timber line, as is popularly supposed, the baldness of their tops having been caused by fires. The mesas are rather thinly covered with pinon, juniper, and cedar inter- spersed with many small open parks. The valleys naturally produce sage, chaparral, and cactus, and can be adapted to agriculture and fruit-growing by means of irrigation. There are but few permanent streams throughout this area. Pre- cipitation ranges from 10 to 15 inches annually. There are a high percentage of cloudless weather, little snow except in the high moun- tains, excessive evaporation, summers never excessively hot or win- ters very cold, an atmosphere of marvelous clearness and dryness, and generally speaking, a climate unsurpassed for salubrity. The country is poor in game and fish, nor are wild fruits or other natural food products abundant. This region became the seat of a considerable population in prehis- toric times and almost innumerable ruins of the ancient civilization are distributed through the Pajarito plateau, the Chama drainage, and the Jemez valley. The culture that developed here was evidently molded largely by the physiographic conditions above described. Being deficient in game and other natural food supply, the country did not offer an inviting prospect to a nomadic people, while, on the other hand, the adaptability of soil and climate to agriculture, and the natural protec- tion from enemies afforded by cliffs and canyons rendered it attrac- tive to a people of sedentary inclinations. The selection and prepa- ration of ground for agriculture naturally tended to permanency of abode, and the peculiar geological conditions as naturally determined the character and construction of the dwellings of the people. ARCHEOLOGICAL REMAINS The ruins of prehistoric habitations, occurring in vast numbers throughout the Jemez plateau, are of two general classes, cliff- dwellings and pueblos. The cliff-dwellings of this district are quite generally of the exca- vated type, whence is derived the term ^^cavate dwellings,” which is sometimes applied to them. This type embraces a wide range of domiciles. The most primitive is the natural open cave, formed principally by wind erosion and only slightly, if at all, enlarged and