Chapter 8

The whole surface of the terrace within the limits described is covered by small water-worn bowlders scattered so thickly over it that travel is seriously impeded. In many parts of it these bowlders are arranged so as to inclose small rectangular areas, and these areas are connected with the old ditch just described. Plate XXXIX shows something of this surface character; and in the right hand portion of it may be seen some of the rows of bowlders forming the rectangular areas. The rows which occur at right angles to the ditch are much more clearly marked than those parallel to it, and the longer axes of the rectangular areas are usually also at right angles to the ditch line. On the ground these traces of inclosures can hardly be made out, but from an elevated point, such as the mesa on which, the rectangular ruin overlooking these works is located, they show very clearly and have the appearance of windrows. Traces of these horticultural works would be more numerous, and doubtless more distinct, were it not that a considerable part of the area formerly under cultivation has been picked over by the modern settlers in this region, and immense quantities of stone have been removed and used in the construction of fences. This has not been done, however, in such a manner as to leave the ground entirely bare, yet bare areas occur here and there over the surface, where doubtless once existed a part of the general scheme of horticultural works.

One such bare area occurs close to the edge of the terrace about a mile and a half above the mouth of the creek. In its center is a structure called for convenience a reservoir, although it is by no means certain that it was used as such. It occurs about 100 yards from the creek, opposite the Wingfield place, and consists of a depression surrounded by an elevated rim. It is oval, measuring 108 feet north and south and 72 feet east and west from rim to rim. The crown of the rim is 5 feet 8 inches above the bottom of the depression and about 3 feet above the ground outside. The rim is fairly continuous, except at points on the northern and southern sides, where there are slight depressions, and these depressions are further marked by extra large bowlders. At its lowest points, however, the rim is over 2 feet above the ground, which slopes away from it for some distance in every direction. Plate XLI shows the eastern side of the depression; the large tree in the middle distance is on the bank of Clear creek and below the terrace. Plate XLII shows the northern gateway or dip in the rim, looking southward across the depression. The large bowlders previously referred to can be clearly seen. A depression similar to this occurs on the opposite side of the valley, about half a mile from the river. In this case it is not marked by bowlders or stones of any description, but is smooth and rounded, corresponding to the surface of the ground in its vicinity. In the latter as in the former case, the depression occurs on a low knoll or swell in the bottom land, and the surface of the ground slopes gently away from it for some distance in every direction.

The purpose of these depressions is not at all clear, and although popularly known as reservoirs it is hardly possible that they were used as such. The capacity of the Clear creek depression is about 160,000 gallons, or when two-thirds full, which would be the limit of its working capacity, about 100,000 gallons. The minimum rate of evaporation in this region in the winter months is over 3 inches per month, rising in summer to 10 inches or more, so that in winter the loss of water stored in this depression would be about 10,000 gallons a month, while in summer it might be as high as 35,000 or even 40,000 gallons a month. It follows, therefore, that even if the reservoir were filled to its full working capacity in winter and early spring it would be impossible to hold the water for more than two months and retain enough at the end of that time to make storing worth while. It has been already stated, however, that these depressions are situated on slight knolls and that the land falls away from them in every direction. As no surface drainage could be led into them, and as there is no trace on the ground of a raised ditch discharging into them, they must have been filled, if used as reservoirs, from the rain which fell within the line that circumscribes them. The mean annual rainfall (for over seventeen years) at Verde, a few miles farther northward in the same valley, is 11.44 inches, with a maximum annual fall of 27.27 inches and a minimum of 4.80 inches. The mean annual fall (for over twenty-one years) at Fort McDowell, near the mouth of the Rio Verde, is 10-54 inches, with a maximum of 20.0 inches and a minimum of 4.94 inches.[8]

[Footnote 8: Report on Rainfall (Pacific coast and western states and territories), Signal Office U.S. War Dept., Senate Ex. Doc. 91, 50th Cong., 1st Sess., Washington, 1889; pp. 70-73 (Errata, p. 4).]

If these depressions were used as reservoirs it is a fair presumption that the bottoms were plastered with clay, so that there would be no seepage and the only loss would be by evaporation. Yet this loss, in a dry and windy climate such as that of the region here treated, would be sufficient to render impracticable a storage reservoir of a cross section and a site like the one under discussion. Most of the rainfall is in the winter months, from December to March, and it would require a fall of over 12 inches during those months to render the reservoir of any use in June; it would certainly be of no use in July and August, at the time when water is most needed, save in exceptional years with rainfall much in excess of the mean.

On the other hand, there is the hypothesis that these depressions represent house structures; but if so these structures are anomalous in this region. The contour of the ground does not support the idea of a cluster of rooms about a central court, nor does the débris bear it out. Mr. F. H. Cushing has found depressions in the valleys of Salt and Gila rivers somewhat resembling these in form and measurement, and situated always on the outskirts of the sites of villages. Excavations were made, and as the result of these he came to the conclusion that the depressions were the remains of large council chambers, as the floors were hard, plastered with mud, and dish-shaped, with a fire-hole in the center of each; and no pottery or implements or remains of any kind were found except a number of “sitting stones.” Mr. Cushing found traces of upright logs which formed the outer wall of the structure; he inferred from the absence of drainage channels that the structure was roofed, and as the ordinary method of roofing is impracticable on the scale of these structures, he supposed that a method similar to that used by the Pima Indians in roofing their granaries was employed, the roof being of a flattened dome shape and composed of grass or reeds, formed in a continuous coil and covered with earth. If the depressions under discussion, however, are the remains of structures such as these described, they form a curious anomaly in this region, for, as has been already stated, the affinities of the remains of this region are with the northern architectural types, and not at all with those of the southern.

There is a third hypothesis which, though not supported by direct evidence, seems plausible. It is that the depression of Clear creek, and perhaps also the one on the opposite side of the Verde, were thrashing floors. This hypothesis accords well with the situation of these depressions upon the tillable bottom lands, and with their relation to the other remains in their vicinity; and their depth below the surface of the ground would be accounted for, under the assumption here made of their use, by the high and almost continuous winds of the summer in this region. Perhaps the slight depressions at the northern and southern side of the oval were the gateways through which the animals which trampled the straw or the men who worked the flails passed in and out. Whether used in this way or not, these depressions would be, under the assumption that the bottom was plastered with mud, not only practicable, but even desirable thrashing floors, as the grain would be subjected during thrashing to a partial winnowing. This suggestion would also account for the comparatively clean ground surface about the depressions and for their location on slightly elevated knolls.

Scattered over the whole area formerly under cultivation along Clear creek are the remains of small, single rooms, well marked on the ground, but without any standing wall remaining. These remains are scattered indiscriminately over the terrace without system or arrangement; they are sometimes on the flat, sometimes on slight knolls. They number altogether perhaps forty or fifty. Plate XLIII shows an example which occurs on a low knoll, shown also in plate XL; it is typical of these remains. It will be noticed that the masonry was composed of river bowlders not dressed or prepared in any way, and that the débris on the ground would raise the walls scarcely to the height of a single low story.

The location of these remains, their relation to other remains in the vicinity, and their character all support the conclusion that they were small temporary shelters or farming outlooks, occupied only during the season when the fields about them were cultivated and during the gathering of the harvest, as is the case with analogous structures used in the farming operations among the pueblos of to-day. Their number and distribution do not necessarily signify that all the terrace was under cultivation at one time, although there is a fair presumption that the larger part of it was, and the occurrence of the ditch at both the upper and the lower ends of the area strengthens this conclusion.

As it is impossible that an area so large as this should be cultivated by the inhabitants of one village, it is probable that a number of villages combined in the use of this terrace for their horticultural operations; and, reasoning from what we know to have been the case in other regions, it is further probable that this combination resulted in endless contention, and strife, and perhaps finally to the abandonment of these fields if not of this region. The rectangular ruin already illustrated is situated on a hill south of the terrace and overlooks it from that direction; on the opposite side of Clear creek, on the hill bounding the valley on the north, there are the remains of a large stone village which commanded an outlook over the terraces in question; and a little farther up the creek, on the same side and similarly situated, there was another village which also overlooked them. There were doubtless other villages and small settlements whose remains are not now clearly distinguishable, and it is quite probable that some of the inhabitants of the large villages in the vicinity, like those near Verde, hardly 3 miles northward, had a few farming houses and some land under cultivation on this terrace.

Thus it will be seen that there was no lack of cultivators for all the tillable land on the terrace, and there is no reason to suppose that the period when the land was under cultivation, and the period when the villages overlooking it were occupied, were not identical, and that the single-house remains scattered over the terrace were not built and occupied at the same period. The relation of the stone villages to the area formerly cultivated, the relation of the single-room remains to the area immediately about them, the character of the remains, and the known methods of horticulture followed by the Pueblo Indians, all support the conclusion that these remains were not only contemporaneous but also related to one another.

STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS.

MASONRY AND OTHER DETAILS.

The masonry of the stone villages throughout all the region here treated is of the same type, although there are some variations. It does not compare with the fine work found on the San Juan and its tributaries, although belonging to that type--the walls being composed of two faces with rubble filling, and the interstices of the large stones being filled or chinked with spalls. This chinking is more pronounced and better done in the northern part of the region than in the south.

The rock employed depended in all cases on the immediate environments of the site of the village, the walls being composed in some cases of slabs of limestone, in other cases of river bowlders only, and in still others of both in combination. The walls of the large ruin near Limestone creek were composed of rude slabs of limestone with an intermixture of bowlders. The bowlders usually occur only in the lower part of the wall, near the ground, and in several cases, where nothing exists of the wall above the surface of the ground, the remains consist entirely of bowlders. A good example of this peculiarity of construction is shown in plate XLIV, and plate XLV shows the character of stone employed and also a section of standing wall on the western side of the village. A section of standing wall near the center of the ruin is illustrated in plate XIII. It will be noticed that some of the walls shown in this illustration are chinked, but to a very slight extent. The wall represented in plate XLV has slabs of limestone set on edge. This feature is found also in other ruins in this region, notably in those opposite Verde, though it seems to be more used in the south than in the north. An example occurring in the ruin opposite Verde is shown in plate XLVI. In this case chinking is more pronounced; the walls are from 2 to 2½ feet thick, built in the ordinary way with two faces and an interior filling, but the stones are large and the filling is almost wholly adobe mortar. The two faces are tied together by extra long stones which occasionally project into the back of one or the other face.

The western cluster of the ruin last mentioned, shown on the ground plan (plate XVII), has almost all its walls still standing, and the masonry, while of the same general character as that of the main cluster, is better executed. The stones composing the walls are smaller than those in the main cluster and more uniform in size, and the interstices are carefully chinked. The chinking is distinctive in that spalls were not used, but more or less flattened river pebbles. The different color and texture of these pebbles make them stand out from the wall distinctly, giving quite an ornamental effect.

That portion of the standing wall of the ruin opposite Verde, which occurs in the saddle northeastward from the main cluster, shown on the plan in plate XVII, represents the best masonry found in this region. As elsewhere stated, this was probably the last part of the village to be built. These walls are shown in plate XLVII. It will be noticed that the stones are of very irregular shape, rendering a considerable amount of chinking necessary to produce even a fair result, and that the stones are exceptionally large. The masonry of this village is characterized by the use of stones larger than common, many of them being larger than one man can carry and some of them even larger than two men can handle.

All the larger and more important ruins of this region are constructed of limestone slabs, sometimes with bowlders. The smaller ruins, on the other hand, were built usually of river bowlders, sometimes with an intermixture of slabs of limestone and sandstone but with a decided preponderance of river bowlders. This would seem to suggest that this region was gradually populated, and that the larger structures were the last ones built. This suggestion has been already made in the discussion of the ground plans, and it is, moreover, in accord with the history of the pueblo-builders farther northward, notably that of the Hopi.

Plate XXI illustrates a type of bowlder masonry which occurs on Clear creek; plate XLVIII shows the masonry of the ruin at the mouth of the East Verde, and plate XVI shows that of a ruin at the month of Fossil creek. In all these examples the stone composing the walls was derived either from the bed of an adjacent stream or from the ground on which they were built, and was used without any preparation whatever; yet in the better examples of this type of masonry a fairly good result was obtained by a careful selection of the stones. A still ruder type of masonry sometimes found in connection with village ruins is shown in figure 290. This, however, was used only as in the example illustrated, for retaining walls to trails or terraces, or analogous structures.

In a general way it may be stated that the masonry of the village ruins of this region is much inferior to that of the San Juan region, and in its rough and unfinished surfaces, in the use of an inferior material close at hand rather than a better material a short distance away, and in the ignorance on the part of the builders of many constructive devices and expedients employed in the best examples of pueblo masonry, the work of this region may be ranked with that of the Tusayan--in other words, at the lower end of the scale.

There is but little masonry about the cavate lodges, and that is rude in character. As elsewhere stated, walled fronts are exceptional in this region, and where they occur the work was done very roughly. Figure 301 shows an example that occurs in the group of cavate lodges already described. It will be noticed that little selection has been exercised in the stones employed, and that an excess of mortar has been used to fill in the large interstices. Figure 290 (p. 221), which shows a storage cist attached to the group of cavate lodges, marked _D_ on the map (plate XXV), exhibits the same excessive use of adobe or mud plastering. At several other points in the area shown on this map there are short walls, sometimes inside the lodges, sometimes outside. In all cases, however, they are rudely constructed and heavily plastered with mud; in short, the masonry of the cavate lodges exhibits an ignorance fully equal to that of the stone villages, while the execution is, if anything, ruder. It is singular that, notwithstanding the excessive use of mud mortar and mud plastering in the few walls that are found there, such plastering was almost never used on the walls in the interiors of the lodges, perhaps because no finer finish than the rough surface of the rock was considered desirable.

The cavate lodges seem to have been excavated without the aid of other tools than a rough maul or a piece of stone held in the hand, and such a tool is well adapted to the work, since a blow on the surface of the rock is sufficient to bring off large slabs. Notwithstanding the rude tools and methods, however, some of the work is quite neat, especially in the passageways (which are often 3 or 4 feet long and quite narrow) and in the smaller chambers. In the excavation of these chambers benches were left at convenient places along the wall and niches and cubby-holes were cut, so that in the best examples of cavate lodges the occupants, it would seem, were more comfortable, so far as regards their habitation, than the ordinary Pueblo Indian of today, and better supplied with the conveniences of that method of living. It should be stated in this connection, however, that although the group of cavate lodges gives an example of an extensive work well carried out, the successful carrying out of that work does not imply either a large population or a high degree of skill; the only thing necessary was time, and the amount of time necessary for the work is not nearly so great, in proportion to the population housed, as was required for the better types of pueblo work in the San Juan country (the village ruins of the Chaco canyon for example), and probably no more than would be required for the construction of rooms of equal size and of the rather poor grade of work found in this region.

Although no examples of interior wall-plastering were found in the group of cavate lodges described, such work has been found in neighboring lodges; and in this group plastered floors are quite common. The object of plastering the floors was to secure a fairly even surface such as the soft rock did not provide, and this was secured not by the application of layers of clay but by the use of clay here and there wherever needed to bring the surface up to a general level, and the whole surface was subsequently finished. This final finishing was sometimes omitted, and many floors are composed partly of the natural rock and partly of clay, the latter frequently in spots and areas of small size.

The floors were often divided into a number of sections by low ridges of clay, sometimes 8 inches broad. These ridges are shown on the ground plans (figures 294 to 298, and in plate XXV). Their purpose is not clear, although it can readily be seen that in such domestic operations as sorting grain they would be useful.

DOOR AND WINDOW OPENINGS.

The masonry of this region was so roughly and carelessly executed that little evidence remains in the stone villages of such details of construction as door and window openings. Destruction of the walls seems to have commenced at these openings, and while there are numerous standing walls, some with a height of over 10 feet, no perfect example of a door or window opening was found. It is probable that the methods employed were similar or analogous to those used today by the Hopi, and that the wooden lintel and stone jamb was the standard type.