have
appropriated, for the shade it affords, a dwarf cedar east of the old
mission walls. No land is cultivated, save that in the canyons above
mentioned, west of the sand hills; some fair harvests are, however,
still gathered from Antelope valley by the Navaho, especially in the
section higher up, near Jeditoh spring.

The ruin may be approached from the road between Holbrook and Keam's
Canyon, turning to the left after climbing the mesa. This road,
however, is not usually traveled, since it trends through the
difficult sand hills. As Keam's Canyon is the only place in this
region at which to provision an expedition, it is usual to approach
Awatobi from that side, the road turning to the right shortly after
one ascends the steep hill out of the canyon near Keam's trading post.

My archeological work at Awatobi began on July 6, 1895, and was
continued for two weeks, being abandoned on account of the defection
of my Hopi workmen, who left their work to attend the celebration of
the _Niman_ or "Farewell" _katcina_,[49] a July festival in which many
of them participated. The ruin is conveniently situated for the best
archeological results; it has a good spring near by, and is not far
from Keam's Canyon, the base of supplies. The soil covering the rooms,
however, is almost as hard as cement, and fragile objects, such as
pottery, were often broken before their removal from the matrix. A
considerable quantity of debris had to be removed before the floors
were reached, and as this was firmly impacted great difficulty was
encountered in successful excavations.

With a corps of trained workmen much better results than those we
obtained might have been expected, and the experience which the
Indians subsequently had at Sikyatki would have made my excavations at
Awatobi, had they been carried on later in the season, more
remunerative. While my archeological work at certain points in these
interesting mounds of Awatobi was more or less superficial, it was in
other places thorough, and revealed many new facts in regard to the
culture of the inhabitants of this most important pueblo.

I found it inexpedient to dig in the burial places among the sand
dunes, on account of the religious prejudices of my workmen. This fear
they afterward overcame to a certain extent, but never completely
outgrew, although the cemeteries at Sikyatki were quite thoroughly
excavated, yielding some of the most striking results of the summer's
exploration