USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Madisonville > Indian Village Site and Cemetery Near Madisonville, Ohio > Part 14
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Fortunately, however, the trench was run much deeper than usual and entered Cist 7 from the side. The section thus exposed showed the top to be filled to a depth of 1 foot with a compactly tamped mass exactly like the hard-pan in which the cist itself was
PEABODY MUSEUM PAPERS
VOL. VIII, No. 2, PLATE 1
a
SOUTH COMB a, White Dog Cliff and Navajo Hogan; b, South Comb, near White Dog Cave.
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excavated (figure 3). That the infant burials in Cists 11 and 12 remained undiscovered through the period of Cliff-dweller occu- pancy is remarkable, since they were covered by hardly more than 3 inches of the cave earth; the Cliff-dweller rubbish here was also very thin. A possible explanation may be that this part of the cave was used by the Cliff-dwellers for storage or for sleeping places, and was thus in a measure protected from the random dig- ging to which the more open portions were exposed.
Had the Cliff-dwellers, the final tenants of the cave, been more persistent in their search, there would have remained no trace of the Basket-maker period except the cists, empty or refilled with Cliff-dweller rubbish. Attention is called to this for the sake of emphasis, as further on in this report, caves are described where all evidence of Basket-maker occupancy other than the empty cists has been effaced.
Goat Cave. This site was located by the expedition of 1915. It lies about two miles north of Sunflower Cave at the foot of a steep incline leading to the top of the Comb (see figure 1). The approach is through a narrow ravine choked with great rocks, among which a thick growth of large old cedars has found root. These trees screen the place from view except at a few points in the ravine. The cave is a deep shelter at the west end of which is an even deeper recess. As shown in the plan (figure 4) there are two levels: a front or lower one, extending the entire length of the cave; and a higher rear level, consisting of the whole floor of the inner recess and of a narrow gallery running all along the back of the more open part of the cave. The whole upper level is formed of the original hard-pan fill; along the gallery or terrace this breaks away in a vertical bank. The walls and roof of the cave are much blackened by smoke. At one point in the rear of the cave the floor is covered by a thick layer of ashes and charcoal. In the recess and on the end of the gallery next to it, are a number of partly fallen walls (plate 2, a, b).
Room 1, five feet in diameter, the walls 2 feet 4 inches high, is built of upright slabs of stone.
Room 2, from the foundations that remain, appears to have been oval in shape. From front to back it measured 8 feet, its length could not be determined as the end wall had disappeared. The foundation is of thick stone slabs of uniform size set on end, on
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these small stones were laid flat (plate 2, a), but little of the uppe :: course remained in place. Joints between the foundation slab. were closed with adobe mortar. The upper courses appear to hay been chinked with the same material. Back of this room are re mains of two curved walls built of coursed masonry in the usus Cliff-dweller manner. Stone apparently from these walls was use to construct a small cairn on the opposite side of the recess.
ROOM
CROSS-SECTION A-D
2
-
GALLERY
ROOM
OVERHANG
SULLY
CET
FIGURE 4
Plan and Cross-section of Goat Cave, South Comb.
resembles monuments built by the Navajo to mark water or trails; nothing was found beneath it. Directly in front of the cairn is a heap of rocks fallen from the roof of the cave.
On the lower level in front of the gallery are two roughly circular rooms which we at first wrongly thought to be Cliff-dweller kivas, but they were found to contain none of the special features of ceremonial rooms. Both were built against the steep bank of the terrace which had been cut away to form their rear walls.
Room 3, the less well-preserved of the two, measured 15 feet across its greatest diameter; the wall stood 4 feet at its highest
PEABODY MUSEUM PAPERS
VOL. VIII, No. 2, PLATE 2
GOAT CAVE a, Slab foundation of Room 2; b, General view, Room 3 in foreground.
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Point. The masonry is interesting and unusual; medium-sized flat stones are laid up without any mortar in such a way as to produce an even surface on the interior (plate 2, b), the exterior being left irregular and rough. So carefully are the stones placed that in spite of the absence of mortar the construction is firm and solid. In clearing this room a slab cist was uncovered, measuring 4 feet in diameter at the top, 3 feet at the bottom, and 2 feet deep; in the bottom was a 2-inch layer of ashes and charcoal and over this 2 inches of cedar bark. It was very similar to Basket-maker slab cists found in Cave 1, 1915.1 The original floor of Room 3 was so ill-defined that we could not determine exactly the relation of the cist to the floor, but as near as could be judged the upright slabs had been sunk into it a depth of about 8 inches.
Cached in the loose filling of the room, at the point indicated in the plan (figure 4; note also its position in the cross-section) was a black corrugated olla. It was covered with a thin flat stone, but contained only drift sand.
Room 4. The general shape of this room is shown in the plan. Its greatest diameter, measured inside, is fourteen feet, from back to front eleven feet. The highest point in the wall, five feet, is probably the original height, as no loose building stones were noticed here. No trace of roofing remains. The masonry wall has no sharp corners. The back wall is cut in the face of the gallery and has a slight bend or angle. The stones are laid to produce a smooth face on the inside as in Room 3, and with considerable skill, since they are still firmly in place though there is no trace of adobe mortar in the joints. In excavating the room we found quantities of charcoal and scattered bundles of cedar bark, but no artifacts. Two rude cists lined with cedar bark were also opened. As in Room 3 the floor was not well-defined.
In the floor of the gallery were several jar-shaped cists dug in the hard-pan (see figure 4). These were exactly like the burial cists found in the Sayodneechee burial cave, 1914.ª At a point back of Room 3 where the terrace wall had caved off carrying with it one half a cist (see section in figure 4) the exposed cross-section showed plainly the marks of digging sticks in the side of the cist thus brought to view. Two of the cists contained a few human bones;
1 Kidder-Guernsey, 1919, p. 77 and plate 27.
? Ibid., p. 28 and figure 8.
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while other portions of skeletons, some bleached by long exposure, were found in the loose sand covering the floor of the terrace. These were, no doubt, plundered Basket-maker burials.
The authors wish to call particular attention to the rooms un- covered in this cave. Their masonry, with the exception of the single wall in the recess, is quite different from that of the cliff- dwellings.
White Dog Cave. This was by far the most prolific site dis- covered by the Museum's expeditions to northeastern Arizona. Its position is most inconspicuous and the first view of it was ob- tained during a climb high up among the rocks of the Comb, the only place in fact, from which it could be seen from any dis- tance. It might easily have escaped notice altogether, for a rider passing along the valley below would not be tempted to explore the narrow ravine leading up to it, particularly as the cliff in which it is located is apparently in full view and seems to be entirely un- broken (see plate 1, a). One short section of the cliff is, however, out of sight from the flat land, and just there is tucked away the cave. The above conditions are described thus at length in order to show the absolute necessity of a careful search on foot among all the little side canyons of this broken country.
The approach is up a tortuous ravine. Arriving below it the visitor is astonished that so great a cavern should be so effectively hidden. It occupies a commanding position in the rounded front of a buttress-like swell of the cliff. The huge portal, 120 feet across the base and at least 125 feet high, seems carved by nature to conform to the dome-shaped top of the cliff above it. The accom- panying photograph (plate 3), aside from having in it no familiar objects by which relative proportions may be judged, shows so clearly the process of formation and general aspect that further description is unnecessary.
Reaching the cave after a stiff climb of 100 feet up a steep talus, one enters a spacious chamber measuring approximately 70 feet from back wall to line of shelter and 120 feet across the opening. The ceiling is high and arched, the floor rises at an easy grade from front to back. Somewhat more than half the floor space is covered by large rocks fallen from the roof, one of which measures 20 feet in length, 12 feet in width and 10 feet thick (figure 5 and plate 11, a). This and other rocks near it we found later had fallen since the
PEABODY MUSEUM PAPERS
VOL. VIII, No. 2, PLATE 3
WHITE DOG CAVE.
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cave was occupied. The unencumbered portion of the floor was composed of clean sand and small broken stones. Although we subsequently unearthed considerable accumulations of ashes and charcoal in different parts of the cave, the walls and ceilings showed not a trace of soot, having been scoured clean by wind- blown sand. A demonstration of this process was furnished one day when a high wind from the proper quarter created a veritable
O
POO
8
00
FIGURE 5 Plan of White Dog Cave, South Comb.
whirlwind in the cave, gathering up the surface sand and swirling it about in such quantities that we were forced to abandon work while it continued. A piece of paper released at the back would sometimes make as many as three complete circuits of the cave clinging close to the wall except as it passed across the front. On mentioning this to Mrs. Wetherill we were told by her that the place was known to the Navajo as the Cave of Winds.
The first examination of the cave for traces of occupation showed at the back against the wall the tops of several sand-filled cists, dug in the hard-pan. Searching the surface, a few bleached
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human bones were seen and a small handful of Cliff-dweller pot- sherds was picked up. Digging at random with a trowel, a few fragments of basketry and some bone beads were found. Near the center of the cave the ends of two upright stakes were noticed projecting from 2 to 3 inches above the surface. Not until ou second and more thorough examination did we discover on the west side a low foundation wall mudded on to the sloping rock floor of the cave. This was apparently the beginning of a small Cliff- dweller storage room or bin. As a "prospect" the cave fulfilled every requirement. Its exploration yielded a collection which fully represents most phases of the material culture of the Basket- makers.
Across the front of the cave where work was commenced there was found a natural ridge of coarse débris, back of which the sand fill had accumulated above the hard-pan floor to a depth of from 5 to 7 feet. Toward the back this deposit grew shallower until along the rear wall the hard-pan cropped to the surface.
The fill carried no refuse pockets or well-defined rubbish layers such as are found marking floor levels in Cliff-dweller caves. In general it was made up of a surface layer 6 inches to 1 foot deep of drift sand, below which it was composed of sand and bits of stone mixed with straw, pieces of bark, and particles of charcoal.
Occasionally there appeared thin strata of coarse charcoal and in certain areas there were encountered quite extensive accumulations of ashes and charcoal. In the general digging a number of speci- mens were found at various depths. They consisted mainly of basket sherds, fragments of fur-string blankets and tattered bits of woven bags; a mummified foot and other fragments of human remains were also recovered. All other objects were taken from cists.
In the plan, figure 5, are indicated a large number of cists grouped along the east wall; there were no cists on the west and north sides. The majority of these were jar-shaped excavations in the hard-pan ranging in size from small pot-holes 1 foot in diameter and of about the same depth, to examples 5 feet deep and 4 feet 6 inches in diameter. Some burials were found in this type of cist but for the most part they were empty, save for sand or sometimes cedar bark and grass at the bottom. Most of the burials were in the front half of the cist area. A few, as was just stated, were in
PEABODY MUSEUM PAPERS
VOL. VIII, No. 2, PLATE 4
a
d
C
e
h
g
WHITE DOG CAVE E. Cradle bundle as found. The other figures show cradle and contents unwrapped. a, Woven cloth; b, f, Fur cloth blankets; c, Mummy of child; d, Umbilical pad; e, Absorbent bark; i, Cradle. (About 1/12.)
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Cists completely excavated in the hard-pan, others were in shallow excavations in the hard-pan with one or two stone slabs so placed zas to hold back the loose sand, and a single burial was in a cist (51) Of the stone slab type described in the previous report.1 Some of the burials had been previously disturbed,? but a number were found intact, the remains and mortuary offerings in a remarkably fine state of preservation.
In the account of the excavations which follows, certain cists and burials are described in detail. The intention is to present the salient features of the more typical ones, hence many small objects found in the cists or concealed among the wrappings of the mum- mies are not enumerated. They are, however, described in detail in another section.
Cist 6 (figure 6, a). The first burial cist to be encountered measured 3 feet in diameter, 2 feet in depth and was 4 feet below the surface. It represents a type that was evidently constructed primarily for sepulchre. At one side was an upright stone slab. Although the cist had been relieved of a good portion of its con- tents by ancient diggers we obtained from it a collection which required 51 catalogue numbers to record. In the upper part were the scattered bones of three infants; at the bottom a few bones from the skeleton of an adult. In the loose fill were several bunches of human hair (plate 32, c, d). A quantity of human hair evidently from the head of a mummy & that had been pulled from the cist was also found in the loose fill. One small strand was wrapped about with a leather thong. Later we found in another cist a mummy with coiffure intact, having a queue-like strand wrapped in the same manner. These were practically all the human remains that were left. At the bottom against one side were a quantity of piñon nuts, the rotted remains of woven bags, loose beads, basket sherds, pieces of woven bags and fur-string robes.
Cist 13, a shallow bowl-shaped excavation, contained the re- mains of two infants. One, a very young child wrapped in two fur-string blankets and a fragment of woven cloth, was lashed
1 Kidder-Guernsey, 1919, p. 77 and plate 27.
" This grave looting so commonly found in Basket-maker cave cemeteries is not modern. Although we have no direct evidence in its support, our theory is that it was the work of the Cliff-dwellers. See Kidder-Guernsey, 1919, p. 84.
' The mummies were, of course, not artificially preserved in any way; they are merely desiccated bodies.
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tightly to a small reed-backed cradle; an umbilical pad was i place and the dried umbilical cord was tied to one of the blanket This mummy bundle as found, and also unwrapped so that all it parts can be seen, is shown in plate 4. The second body, that ( a child about 4 years of age, was completely encased in a wove bag 1 (plate 30, f). It was also shrouded in a fur-string rob Beneath this bundle were pieces of a cedar-bark mat, and Ove it was spread a fur-string blanket (plate 16, a) which was in turn covered by an
Sand.
Hard-pan
Hard-pan
b
FIGURE 6
White Dog Cave: a, Cross-section of Cist 6; b, Cross-section of Cist 22.
inverted tray basket. At one side of the cist was a bowl-shaper basket also inverted. In the fill some 8 inches above the tray basket was a skin bag containing shelled corn (plate 15). A one side of the cist lay an atlatl in perfect condition save tha before being placed in the cist it had been bent nearly double This and the baskets are illustrated in situ in plate 10, e.
Cist 22 contained the bodies of three individuals. Its shape wa roughly circular, the greatest diameter being 5 feet 2 inches, dept] 2 feet 10 inches; the top was 5 feet 6 inches below the surface Each body occupied a shallow depression scooped out of the botton of the cist as shown in figure 6, b. The remains were partly mum mified though not in a good state of preservation. The heads
1 The design on this bag is shown in color in plate 28.
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however, retained their hair and much of the dried tissue of the face. Each body had been wrapped in a fur-string blanket and sewed up in woven bags, all of which were in an advanced state of decay.
Number 1, the body of a young female, lay on its right side, knees drawn up and hands between the thighs. A skein-like rope of human hair was wound around the left forearm, passed between the thighs and made fast about the right leg below the knee. At the waist were fragments of a string apron. Some portions of bags that had been used to cover the body remained. A fragment at the feet was of very fine weave while pieces adhering to the knees were much coarser. Covering the whole were two tray baskets. Number 2 was a female. Three baskets were used to cover the body. It rested on its back with head and legs inclined to the left; the feet were drawn up close to the body; the upper legs, bent at the hips, were at right angles to the torso. The hands were in front of the lap, and were bound together at the wrists by fourteen turns of a tightly twisted cord of human hair. This cord was then knotted to a skein-like rope of human hair and both rope and cord passed through between the thighs and about the lower legs above the ankles. At the waist were remains of a string apron and on the breast lay a disk-shaped pendant of shell, ornamented with incised lines. About the neck were beads of olivella shells and thin disk-beads cut from shell, together with part of the leather string by which they had been suspended. In the bottom of the cist under the body were a number of dice-like stones and a single corn cob. Number 3 (male, 20 to 25 years of age) rested on its left side, limbs loosely flexed, hands between thighs. Two tray baskets covered the body. At the right side lay a grooved club, at the feet were a pair of badly rotted square-toed sandals with leather tie- strings and a quantity of small deer or antelope hoofs. Near the hoofs were two handle-like bone objects with small stones attached to their ends. About the neck was a string of shell beads. Among the objects found under the body was a fine chipped knife blade (plate 35, k) and its shrunken wooden haft.
Cist 24 held the mummies of two adults, one male and one female, each accompanied by the remains of a dog, and an unusual number of mortuary offerings. The remarkably fine state of preservation of everything in this cist is due to the fact that the burials were surrounded by dry sand. The excavation in the hard-pan made
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BASKET-MAKER CAVES
to receive the bodies was a shallow hole just deep enough to hold them. As in Cist 22, each individual occupied a scooped-out place in the bottom of the cist. At the back was an upright stone slab; as none were used at the front or sides, its purpose was evidently to hold back the loose sand while the hard-pan was being excavated. Just in front of the slab was a stout log 3 feet in length, the ends and sides charred by fire. This reached to the surface and was one of the stakes observed when the cave was entered (see upper right center, plate 6, a); whether or not it was so placed at the time the burials were made we were unable to tell. It may have been a marker, but we have found no other burials indicated in this way.
Mummy 1 (female) lay on its right side, limbs loosely flexed. Two large woven bags split down the side encased the remains, one drawn over the head, the other over the feet; the tops met at the middle of the body and were sewn together with yucca leaves (plate 7, a). As usual the corpse was wrapped in a fur- string robe. Over it were inverted two baskets, a bowl-shaped one covering the feet; the other a large carrying basket with tump- line attached covering the head and upper part of the body. The baskets and the manner in which a number of digging sticks were disposed in the grave is shown in plate 6, a. The planting stick at the front with one end resting on the edge of the cist was evi- dently placed to hold the basket upright. The cedar bark that appears in the upper left hand corner is from another cist. On re- moving the carrying basket, a small dog was found lying below it on the left side of the mummy. Under the bowl-shaped basket was a substance resembling meal. On lifting the body from the cist there was found beneath it a thick bed of fur and feathers compacted by decay into a mass that was taken out unbroken. On examination at the Museum this proved to have embedded in it bundles of feathers, skin containers and skin bags; these and their contents are described under Material Culture. On the bottom of the cist was a badly shrunken, but complete atlatl and near it, but not in contact with it, was a roughly chipped piece of quartzite which may originally have been tied to its back. At one side on the bottom was a wand with a yucca braid and twigs attached to one end. Quantities of grass seed, piñon nuts and squash seeds were also found at the bottom of the cist.
PEABODY MUSEUM PAPERS
VOL. VIII, No. 2, PLATE 5
a
a, Cradle in situ, Cist 54, White Dog Cave; b, Cave 10, Sagiotsosi Canyon.
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Mummy 2 (male about 35 years of age) lay on its left side with feet drawn up tight against the body; head east and facing south. It was wrapped in the same manner as mummy 1 (see plate 8). Inverted over the body was a large pannier basket which is shown behind the front basket in the photograph (plate 6, a); over the head was a bowl-shaped basket. A second basket of the same shape lay just to one side, covering the fragments of a squash shell vessel. Removing the pannier, three tray-shaped baskets gradu- ated in size with the smallest at the bottom were found beneath. The pannier also partly covered the remains of a large long haired and nearly white dog, which in turn lay across the two bowl-shaped baskets (see plate 6, b). There was also found under the pannier a large quantity of flies, the dog having apparently been already fly blown when placed in the cist. The eggs evidently hatched and the flies died in the space under the carrying basket without ever seeing the light of day. We thought that the flies might serve to fix the time of year in which these burials were made, but Mr. N. Banks of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, to whom we are indebted for their identification, informs us that they are Caliphora coloradensis, a very hardy species which flourishes from early spring to late fall, so it is not possible to fix a very definite date by them. The digging sticks might indicate that the spring planting was in progress, but this is of course mere conjecture.
Extending from the edge of this cist on the east side was a shallow hole just deep enough and of sufficient size to contain the remains of a young infant. Only the bones, and part of a badly rotted fur-string robe were left.
Cist 27. The unusual plan of this cist is shown in figure 5. It was dug in hard-pan to a depth of 2 feet 10 inches, measured 4 feet 9 inches in length and 2 feet 6 inches at its widest point. The sand and fill above had a depth of about 1 foot. One side of the cist was formed by the face of a vertical break in the rock floor of the cave, the ledge nearly cropping through the hard-pan at this point, a circumstance which probably accounts for the elongated shape, as the rounded end seems to indicate an original intention to dig the conventional circular cist. In it were found the partly mummified bodies of two adults placed one above the other, facing in opposite directions (plate 9, a).
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BASKET-MAKER CAVES
Number 1, the uppermost, an adult, probably male, lay face down, knees drawn up and crushed against the chest, feet under hips, left arm extended at full length along the side; the right forearm was bent across the waist. Number 2, a male of about 25 years, lay on the bottom of the cist directly under mummy 1 and with head in the opposite direction. The limbs were arranged in practically the same manner as those of the upper mummy, the feet of which rested on the face of this one.
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