Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Excavation and Repair of Sun Temple, Mesa Verde National Park
By the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, at the request of the Secretary of the Interior, the excavation and repair of ruins in the Mesa Verde National Park were continued during the summer of 1915. The mound which has been heretofore known as Community House, but which should properly be known as Sun Temple, was chosen for excavation, its walls opened and a large building brought to light. The exposed walls were thoroughly repaired in the manner best fitted to resist the action of the elements, which are most destructive in a ruin not protected by the roof of a cave, but exposed to the violent storms and rains of this region.
At the close of a report on field work at Cliff Palace, in 1909, I called attention to a mound of stones on the point of the mesa directly across Cliff Canyon and suggested that it might conceal an ancient pueblo ruin.1 The majority of stones strewn over this mound showed pecking on their surfaces and other well-marked signs of having been worked artificially, indicating the character of the masonry in the walls of the ancient building buried beneath it. Enough soil had accumulated on the mound formed by these stones to allow the growth of red cedar and pinyon trees, the size of which indicated great age. A small exposed section of wall appeared on the surface on the north side of the mound, where a room had been partially dug out by some person in search of relics. Although the shape of the building, if any, which might exist under the mound was not apparent at that time, the number of artificially worked stones and their well-dressed surfaces indicated the existence of a large building, like a pueblo, and as such it was referred to in the report on Cliff Palace. My interest in this mound of earth and stones was so great that I desired greatly to solve the mystery, and when an Opportunity came to renew my work on the ruins of the Mesa Verde National Park, I naturally chose it for my operations.
The mound presented several advantages for work, for whatever building it concealed could be conveniently seen by tourists or students of archaeology visiting Cliff Palace. It was only 2 miles from Spruce Tree House and a short walk from other large ruins.
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