Cavate lodges are distributed generally over the whole northern portion of the region here treated. At many points throughout this region there are outcrops of a calcareous sandstone, very soft and strongly laminated and therefore easily excavated. This formation often appears in the cliffs and small canyons bordering on the streams, and in it are found the cavate lodges. The best examples are found some 8 miles south of Verde, in a small canyon on the eastern side of the river, and it is noteworthy that in this case stone villages occur in conjunction with and subordinate to the cavate lodges, while elsewhere within this region and in other regions the cavate lodges are found either alone or in conjunction with and subordinate to stone villages. To this latter type belong a number of cavate lodges on the northern side of Clear creek, about 4 miles above its mouth. The cavate lodges of the Verde differ in some particulars from those found in other regions; they are not excavated in tufa or volcanic ash, nor are the fronts of the chambers generally walled up. Front walls are found here, but they are the exception and not the rule.

Bowlder-marked sites are scattered over the whole region here treated although they are more abundant in the southern part than in the northern. They are so abundant that their locations could not be indicated on the accompanying map (plate XI). These constitute a peculiar type, not found elsewhere in the experience of the writer, and present some points of interest. They vary in size from one room to considerable settlements, but the average size is two or three rooms. They are always located with reference to some area, generally a small one, of tillable land which they overlook, and all the data now available support the inference that they mark the sites of small farming or temporary shelters, occupied only during the farming season and abandoned each winter by the inhabitants, who then return to the main pueblo--a custom prevalent today among the pueblos. These sites are found on the flat bottom lands of the river, on the upper terraces overlooking the bottoms, on points of the foothills, in fact everywhere where there is an area of tillable land large enough to grow a few hills of corn. They often occur in conjunction with irrigating ditches and other horticultural works; sometimes they are located on small hillocks in the beds of streams, locations which must be covered with water during the annual floods; sometimes they are found at the bases of promontories bordering on drainage channels and on the banks of arroyas, where they might be washed away at any time. In short, these sites seem to have been selected without any thought of their permanency.

Aboriginal Remains in Verde Valley, Arizona — Part 13