ork in this virgin
field. We naturally chose the interior of the rooms for excavation,
and I will say limited our work to these places. Every chamber was
more or less filled with debris--fragments of overturned walls,
detached rock from the cliff above, dry alkaline soil, drifted sand,
dust, and animal excreta. In those places where digging was possible
we found the dust and guano so dry and alkaline that it was next to
impossible to work for any length of time in the rooms, for the air
became so impure that the workmen could hardly breathe, especially
where the inclosing walls prevented ventilation. Notwithstanding this
obstacle, however, we removed the accumulated debris down to the floor
in one or two chambers, and examined with care the various objects of
aboriginal origin which were revealed.

In studying the specimens found in cliff-houses due attention has not
always been given to the fact that occupants have oftentimes camped in
them subsequently to their abandonment by the original builders. As a
consequence of this temporary habitation objects owned by unrelated
Indians have frequently been confused with those of the cliff-dwellers
proper. We found evidences that both Honanki and Palatki had been
occupied by Apache Mohave people for longer or shorter periods of
time, and some of the specimens were probably left there by these
inhabitants.

The ancient pottery found in the rooms, although fragmentary, is
sufficiently complete to render a comparison with known ceramics from
the Verde ruins. Had we discovered the cemeteries, for which we
zealously searched in vain, no doubt entire vessels, deposited as
mortuary offerings, would have been found; but the kind of ware of
which they were made would undoubtedly have been the same as that of
the fragments.

No pottery distinctively different from that which has already been
reported from the Verde valley ruins was found, and the majority
resembled so closely in texture and symbolism that of the cliff houses
of the San Juan, in northern New Mexico and southern Utah, that they
may be regarded as practically identical.

The following varieties of pottery were found at Honanki:

I. Coiled ware.
II. Indented ware.
III. Smooth ware.
IV. Smooth ware painted white, with black geometric figures.
V. Smooth red ware, with black decoration.

By far the largest number of fragments belong to the first division,
and these, as a rule, are blackened by soot, as if used