UNWRITTEN RECORDS OF THE RED MAN

To know man, one must study him, past and present. Man of today can learn much from the experiences of those conturies dead and gone. In many parts of the world, no written records exist relative to that dim chapter of ancient history; hence one must seek for material remains beneath the earth to replace written records in completing the story of man.

For many hundreds, nay, millenia, man has existed in the Southwest. Man's existence here can be followed slowly from the present backwards, but as the inhabitants of this region developed no written language, it is very necessary that one put together the broken pieces of pottery, the fallen houses, the fragmentary stone axes, in order to write out the record of the Red man.

Even before man began to become “civilized,” he roamed the Southwest in goodly numbers, leaving a most brief record of his existence here. During the great Pleistocene Period or Ice Age, which closed at least 15,000 years ago, men found in this part of American attractive hunting grounds. He lived near the then extensive lakes, he tracked animals to their lairs, he followed game in the great upon country. These earliest known men know nothing of house building, were untutored in weaving and pottery making, but they were familiar with the production of stone implements. Thus the record from the Ice Ages includes the men's very bones plus occasional stone implements. Fragmentary records, these, but sufficient to identify man coexistent with the great Pleistocene mammals the bison, mammoth, mastadon, and ground sloth, etc.

The second major chapter of Southwestern history is concentrated about these men who began to settle down more permanently than ever before, in the caves, or occasionally, in the open. The very rudiments of architecture were suggested by a few of these men as they enlarged storage cists in the ground for temporary habitations. Perhaps, too, they set up brush shelters in the open; however, these would have been constructed of perishable material, so their actual records are not to be noted. They are, rather, suggested in the habits of later men. These cave men laid the foundations for the later Southwestern Pueblo developments; the ceramic industry, spinning and weaving, agriculture, and the manufacture of crnaments and implements. All of thesedevelopments, save one, were crude, in keeping with occasional and poorer attempts at houses. In weaving, the exception, the cave men were adept, making fine baskets and rather good sandals, which appear in the dry caves under several feet of debris, the chief record here.

After the Cave period, the Southwesterner became sedentary. This more settled nature of existence was made possible through the construction of permanent homes. In and about the “pit” houses, these people left innumerable records. The various developments begun in the preceding period were carried to a high degree, only to reach perfection in the last chapter of the Southwestern history, before the coming of the Spaniards, the great or Classical Pueblan period.

Southern Arizona, dry and barren as it is today, uninviting as it would appear minus water, to civilized man, was a thickly populated area. To verify this statement one need only follow the many hidden trails once cut by the bare and sandalled feet and, at the end, investigate the tumbled down walls, the broken implements and weapons, which mark an occupied site. Be these gone, too, he may rely on the thousands of tiny pieces of broken pottery, inevitably present, as they bespeak a once thriving community. Insignificant though such fragments may seem, each has its story to tell, for color combinations, design treatment, technique, texture of the clay, and so on, can indicate the time of the villages, the state of culture of its inhabitants, and many another point vital to the retelling of the much desired story. If a small clay fragment has so much to say, what can be the tale of a great room, with massive walls, complete vessels, mats, perhaps, even, a burial beneath the floor.

The Department of Archeology at the University of Arizona has rewritten many a chapter in Southwestern prehistory in thus excavating sites throughout Arizona. Within the past two years, concentration has centered, during the school year, about several ruins in the immediate vicinity of Tucson. The first, Martinez Hill ruin, lies 11 miles south of Tucson, on the southwest side of a small hill of the same name. Another, University Ruin, is northeast of the city, but, contrary to the former, stretches itself in the all-day sun, minus any shadowing impediments in the way of hills.

Both villages bespeak tales of long oc-cupation for in each vicinity are to be noted the ancient “pit house” constructions. These are rooms which the Indians excavated into the earth, for, primitive as they were, they could not at such an early stage in the development of architecture, cope with the more serious problems of high surface walls. Hence they excavated a foot or more into the ground, then built an artificial wall up to the desired height for the room. Within the pit chambers or in the debris heaps formed by the refuse from the village, are found additional fragments of information in the way of household utensils, broken hunting or other weapons, occasionally a fragment of a once cherished shel bracelet or ring.

cupation for in each vicinity are to be noted the ancient “pit house” construc-tions. These are rooms which the In-dians excavated into the earth, for, prim-itive as they were, they could not at such an early stage in the development of architecture, cope with the more serious problems of high surface walls. Hence they excavated a foot or more into the ground, then built an artificial wall up to the desired height for the room. Within the pit chambers or in the debris heaps formed by the refuse from the village, are found additional fragments of informa-tion in the way of household utensils, broken hunting or other weapons, occa-sionally a fragment of a once cherished shel bracelet or ring.

As the ancient Red men became more adept in house building, they learned to construct high substantial walls, as mentioned above. With this confidence in building came the structures evident at Martinez Hill ruin: groups of rooms formed into cluster, the walls of which were made of 'dobe, the typical Southwest clay. Masses of this clay like material were built up as high as it would hold it-self in place. When sufficiently dried, the process was repeated. Thus, up went the walls, to a height of six, seven, or occasionally more feet.

Accompanying this high attainment in home building were the advancements made along other lines. For instance pottery of a finer type was produced; forms, color, and design being improved. These later men even traded their better wares for different varieties with the men to the north. This fact is told us by the single stray fragment in the debris heap which is black and white in color instead of the characteristic “red on buff” which was the ware of the Martinez Hill villager.

In like manner these folk furthered their cultural development along other lines to an admirable point. One of the greatest attainments is to be noted in the establishment of high agricultural ways and means. Not only did those of Martinez Hill and University ruins progress along such lines, but many other villages throughout the Santa Cruz and other river valleys, developed elaborate systems of irrigation and thereby furthered the cultivation of their crops. Evidences of the canals which might have been connected with the two villages in question are not to be seen, but that these