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Show bH?Ii :"P Evidence of the vast: Indian populations that once flourished in Utah can be found in themany ancient ruins scattered over the state. Typical is this masonry structure struc-ture in Davis Gulch near the. Escalante River. Utah Proves To Be Rich In Ancient Indian Lore Many years ago, long before the white man set foot upon Utah soil, primitive people of the San Juan, Paria, Virgin and Ka-nab Ka-nab River valleys began to raise corn on the alluvial fans left by the flowing streams. Thus began the prehistoric Indian In-dian culture known as the "Ana-sazi," "Ana-sazi," which is Navajo for "the ancients." Little is known about the origin of the Anasazl peoples. Exactly where they came from remains the subject.!. controversy contro-versy to f.'iis day. Some archaeologists believe these primitive people were de-scendents de-scendents of Old World hunters who crossed the Ice-bound Bering Ber-ing Strait from Siberia to Inhabit Inhab-it North America. Others believe they are descendants of earlier nomadic races that came from South America. Whatever their origin, the Anasazl Ana-sazl populations rose to prominence promin-ence about 1200 A. D. and then mysteriously disappeared from the Uiah scene, leaving lasting marks on the landscape . . . . marks which have become popular popu-lar tourist attractions in modern times. The Beehive State's rich Indian In-dian lore, including ancient ruins, ru-ins, museums and artifacts, and pictographs and petroglyphs are being featured in this week's "See Utah" promotion to encourage encour-age Utahns to become better acquainted ac-quainted with the prehistoric era of the state. The best and most extensive Indian ruins in Utah are centered center-ed in the southern part of the state, the focal point of the late Pueblo periods of Anasazl culture. cul-ture. Hovenweek National Monument, Mon-ument, In the remote canyon country north of the San Juan River by the Utah-Colorado border bor-der is one such site. It was set aside by presidential proclamation proclama-tion in 1923 to protect a ground of ancient buildings, perhaps the remnants of a prehistoric Indian In-dian village. ; Other Indian ruins are also widespread along the Colorado River and its tributaries, though many of these are in remote, lso. lated areas reached only by the ardent hiker or river runner. Archaeologists and anthropologists anthropolo-gists from the University of Utah, working on a contract with the government, are currently excavating exca-vating Indian ruins in the Lake Powell area to learn as much as thy can alwut the primitive people, peo-ple, who lived there. These studies stud-ies wiii te completed before water wa-ter backs up behind Glen Canyon Can-yon Dam to cover the sites. Another important site excavated excava-ted by the University of Utah and other colleges was the Coombs Ranch site near the town of Boulder, Garfield Coun-ty. Coun-ty. Here archaeologists uncovered uncover-ed one of the larges:, open-air, ancient Pueblo villages In Utah. Indian writings, called petroglyphs petro-glyphs and poctographs, are also wirespread in Utah. Just about every area of the state has its share of these arcient helrogly-j phics. Petroglyphs wre chipped, pecked or scratched on rock suf-i faces, while pictographs were painted or. with red, white and' even green or blue pigments, although al-though the latter two are rare. Most of the Indian writings feature fea-ture mysterious looking human figures, aaimcls, and strange un-deciphered un-deciphered svmbols. Toarists visiting Indian ruins or writings on public domain should be cautioned that it is against federal law to dig in them, disturb them or mar them In any way. The Federal Antiquities Anti-quities Act protects all archaelo-gical archaelo-gical materials on government land. The major museums In the state where visitors can Inspect Indian artifacts are the Temple Square Museum and the University Univer-sity of Utah Museum of Anthropology Anthro-pology in Salt Lake City, Pre-historic Pre-historic Museum in Price, Fleld-hcj:c Fleld-hcj:c of natural IILiiory in Vernal, Ver-nal, Pahute Indian Museum in Cedar City, Moab Museum in Moab, Avery Museum in Richfield, Rich-field, Leo Thome Museum in Vernal, Chamber of Commerce in Kanab and exihibits at many of Utah Natloal Parks Monuments. |