登陆注册
4280300000034

第34章

It is claimed that the Pueblo Indians and cliff dwellers are identical and that the latter were driven from their peaceful valley homes by a hostile foe to find temporary shelter among the rocks, but such a conclusion seems to be erroneous in view of certain facts.

The cliff dwellings were not temporary camps, as such a migration would imply, but places of permanent abode. The houses are too numerous and well constructed to be accounted for on any other hypothesis. A people fleeing periodically to the cliffs to escape from an enemy could not have built such houses. Indeed, they are simply marvelous when considered as to location and construction. The time that must necessarily have been consumed in doing the work and the amount of danger and labor involved--labor in preparing and getting the material into place and danger in scaling the dizzy heights over an almost impassible trail, it seems the boldest assumption to assert that the work was done by a fleeing and demoralized mob.

Again, it would be a physical impossibility for a people who were only accustomed to agricultural pursuits to suddenly and completely change their habits of life such as living among the rocks would necessitate. Only by native instinct and daily practice from childhood would it be possible for any people to follow the narrow and difficult paths which were habitually traveled by the cliff dwellers. It requires a clear head and steady nerves to perform the daring feat in safety--to the truth of which statement modern explorers can testify who have made the attempt in recent years at the peril of life and limb while engaged in searching for archaeological treasures.

Judged by the everyday life that is familiar to us it seems incredible that houses should ever have been built or homes established in such hazardous places, or that any people should have ever lived there. But that they did is an established fact as there stand the houses which were built and occupied by human beings in the midst of surroundings that might appall the stoutest heart. Children played and men and women wrought on the brink of frightful precipices in a space so limited and dangerous that a single misstep made it fatal.

It is almost impossible to conceive of any condition in life, or combination of circumstances in the affairs of men, that should drive any people to the rash act of living in the houses of the cliff dwellers. Men will sometimes do from choice what they cannot be made to do by compulsion. It is easier to believe that the cliff dwellers, being free people, chose of their own accord the site of their habitation rather than that from any cause they were compelled to make the choice. Their preference was to live upon the cliffs, as they were fitted by nature for such an environment.

For no other reason, apparently, do the Moquis live upon their rocky and barren mesas away from everything which the civilized white man deems desirable, yet, in seeming contentment. The Supais, likewise, choose to live alone at the bottom of Cataract Canon where they are completely shut in by high cliffs. Their only road out is by a narrow and dangerous trail up the side of the canon, which is little traveled as they seldom leave home and are rarely visited.

To affirm that the cliff dwellers were driven from their strongholds and dispersed by force is pure fiction, nor is there any evidence to support such a theory. That they had enemies no one doubts, but, being in possession of an impregnable position where one man could successfully withstand a thousand, to surrender would have been base cowardice, and weakness was not a characteristic of the cliff dwellers.

The question of their subsistence is likewise a puzzle. They evidently cultivated the soil where it was practicable to do so as fragments of farm products have been found in their dwellings, but in the vicinity of some of the houses there is no tillable land and the inhabitants must have depended upon other means for support. The wild game which was, doubtless, abundant furnished them with meat and edible seeds, fruits and roots from native plants like the pinon pine and mesquite which together with the saguaro and mescal, supplied them with a variety of food sufficient for their subsistence as they do, in a measure, the wild Indian tribes of that region at the present day.

同类推荐
  • A Philosophical Enquiry htm1

    A Philosophical Enquiry htm1

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太上金柜玉镜延生洞玄烛幽忏

    太上金柜玉镜延生洞玄烛幽忏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 道安法师念佛赞文

    道安法师念佛赞文

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太上老君开天经

    太上老君开天经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说长寿王经

    佛说长寿王经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 重生之易帝传说

    重生之易帝传说

    (新书《篮坛之李元的时代》发布,请各位兄弟帮忙点击收藏。) 身为易黑,重生成为易建联,更高的天赋,更好的身体素质,目标成为NBA第一人,如果完成不了,系统之意:变成荆灵,啧啧啧!郑重提示,想看慢慢升级的,从第一章开始。一点憋屈受不了的,直接上架开始。想看秒天秒地秒空气的,嗯……暂时还没写到。
  • 蒙马

    蒙马

    每个男人的心中都有过仗剑天涯,美人相伴的江湖梦想吧!小时候的被视作绝世神剑的木棍,你可曾再次执起?被当做恶人强盗的无名草木,你是否还嫉恶如仇的看过一眼?一跃而下的土丘,你可曾故地重游?生活的压迫,是否已令这梦想在心底瑟瑟发抖,支离破碎?现在,你们的梦由我来实现,我,叫无昼,我已经拿起了剑,你们呢?
  • 禅家龟鉴

    禅家龟鉴

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 长腿叔叔(中小学生必读丛书)

    长腿叔叔(中小学生必读丛书)

    《长腿叔叔》是一部充满爱与奇迹的成人童话。该书讲述了女主人公茱蒂从小在孤儿院长大,她早已经厌倦了孤儿院按部就班、枯燥乏味的生活。在她十七岁的时候,幸运女神忽然降临。茱蒂高中时的一篇作文获得了神秘的董事先生的赞扬,并决定资助她去读大学。她从来都没有见过这位神秘的先生,只是偶然看见了他投在墙壁上瘦长的身影,所以茱蒂戏称他为“长腿叔叔”。上了大学的茱蒂犹如获得了重生,每天都觉得自己是这个世界上最快乐的人。她一有空就会给这位神秘的先生写信,报告自己在大学里的点点滴滴。尽管先生很少回信,但她和神秘先生之间的联系却从未间断。
  • 网络时代领导本领提升(案例与解析)

    网络时代领导本领提升(案例与解析)

    2013年习近平在中央党校建校80周年庆祝大会暨2013年春季学期开学典礼上的讲话中强调:既然我们都是领导干部,都担负着党和人民交付的职责,就要不断提高自己、丰富自己,兢兢业业做好工作,不断提高工作水平和质量。本书从网络时代领导者的领导行为和权力进行考量,以领导行为的六要素为主线,探索在这个以服务与引导为特征的新时代,领导者如何系统整合浩如烟海的领导理念和领导智慧,才能启发思路、创造价值,提高自身的工作水平和质量。
  • 渔樵问对

    渔樵问对

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 我说你好,你说打扰

    我说你好,你说打扰

    他们的“孽”缘,一路从米兰追溯到北京;又从北京辗转至纽约。他曾亲手把她送进警局,却又亲自保释她出来;他曾明知她的图谋不轨,却又纵容她的故作矜持——让我讨厌或喜欢一座城市的理由,皆是你。
  • 别了,夹边沟

    别了,夹边沟

    1958年8月28日,淅淅沥沥下了一夜的小雨还在不停地下着。上午8点多,押解我的公安战士来到我家催我上火车站。王静正坐月子,还没满月。老岳母匆匆为我整理了行装。我刚刚迈出院门,“哇——”,传来一阵孩子的哭声。我回头一看,刚满两岁的三儿子杨澍淌着满院子的泥水跑了过来,他紧紧拉住我的手不放,哭着说:“爸爸,我也要去哩!”我说:“爸爸有事,不能带你去呀!”他哭着喊着不让我走。我抱起孩子亲了亲,泪水滴在孩子的小脸蛋上。他边哭边喊:“我跟爸爸上街哩。”
  • 冷帝的倾城皇后

    冷帝的倾城皇后

    初遇时一见钟情、再见倾心,世间有百媚千红、而我唯独对你情有所终。皇帝:我想用这江山如画、换你笑靥如花,你可愿陪我君临天下。纳兰幽若;“好”万语千言表达不出我内心的悸动,简简单单的一个“好”字是我对余生的托付,君若不离不弃、妾定生死相依。从冷情到深情、从霸气侧漏到温柔妻奴,他萧宸昊翻天覆地的变化,不过是因为遇到了她。情不知所起、一往而深。这是一个冰山皇帝的宠妻日常。
  • 网游之内测玩家

    网游之内测玩家

    五年之前,顶尖的电竞选手陷入沉睡,电竞行业受到巨大打击。五年后,他收到了一封来自天神的邀请。进入这场棋局,便已经脱离不出了,这是人类与人工智能的博弈。