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Show EVERYDAY LIFE IN PUEBLO BONITO 253 Now, it is a curious fact that very few rooms in Pueblo Bonito contain fireplaces. They are present in the older portion of t h e village; m o re rarely in the newer. THE KITCHENS WERE ON THE ROOF Cooking was done in the open courts; also on the flat roofs of the houses, for most of the inhabitants dwelt in second, third, or fourth story suites. The tempting aroma of a rabbit stew boiling in an earthen pot, of green corn or antelope ribs roasting on hot coals, drew hungry lads from their p l a y and proud fathers from the serious business of community affairs. A common fallacy, too w i d e l y current among the reading public, is that our American aborigines are dirty and unkempt. While this is true of some of the more nomadic tribes, it will not hold for all. The average Indian, living in his natural environment, may have standards that differ somewhat from our own, but he is as clean as need be, both as to his person and his surroundings. The Hopi, Pima, and Papago, for example, not only sweep their houses, but their dooryards as well. I have no hesitancy about sitting down on the earthen floor of a Zufii home to share with my hosts a meal in which knives and forks play no part. Bonitian wives were equally good housekeepers. With a hand broom of dry grass they regularly brushed their living quarters; then sprinkled the floors anew with Photograph by O. C. Havens HOW ANCIENT BASKETS WERE FOUND AT PUEBLO BONITO Only the extremely dry climate of the Southwest has made possible the preservation of these fragile relics of a long-vanished people. Their preservation after excavation is an intricate and delicate undertaking. water that the clay might become smooth and hard-packed. Their husbands, on the other hand, were a bit careless. We often find in the kivas, where women were not permitted, that an entirely new floor was spread to conceal an accumulation of dust and ashes. Sometimes several of these pavements appear, one close upon the other. It, perhaps, ill becomes an anthropologist seriously to criticize the domestic habits of those he studies; but I find one outstanding fault with the housekeepers of prehistoric Pueblo Bonito: They were |