Aboriginal Remains in Verde Valley, Arizona: Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1891-92, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1896, pages 179-262Mindeleff, Cosmos
History
Aboriginal Remains in Verde Valley, Arizona: Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1891-92, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1896, pages 179-262
Mindeleff, Cosmos
Pueblo Indians -- Antiquities; Verde River Valley (Ariz.) -- Antiquities
About a quarter of a mile south and east of the main ruin, on the
opposite side of the little valley before mentioned, a mesa bench
similar to the one last described occurs; and on a point of this,
extending almost to the river bank, there are traces, now nearly
obliterated, of a small cluster of rooms. A short distance east of this
point there is a large rounded knoll, with a peculiar terrace-like bench
at about half its height. The entire summit of this knoll was occupied
by rooms, of which the walls are much broken and none remain standing.
This knoll, with the ruins on its summit, is shown in plate XIX, which
also gives a general view from the north of the small cluster southeast
of the main ruin. The character of the valley of the Verde at this point
is also shown. The sketch map, figure 284, shows the location of these
ruins in reference to others of the group.
The main cluster, that portion occupying the crown or summit of the
butte before described, exhibits at the present time some fifty rooms in
the ground plan, but there were at one time a larger number than this;
and there is no doubt that rooms extended down the slopes of the hill
southward and southwestward. The plan of this main cluster is peculiar;
it differs from all the smaller surrounding clusters. It tells the story
of a long occupancy by a people who increased largely in numbers, but
who, owing to their hostile environment, could not increase the space
occupied by them in proportion to their numbers. It will be noticed that
while the wall lines are remarkably irregular in arrangement they are
more often continuous than otherwise, more frequently continuous, in
fact, than the lines of some of the smaller villages before described.
The rooms are remarkably small, 10 feet square being a not unusual
measurement, and built so closely together as to leave no space for
interior courts. The typical rooms in the ruins of this region are
oblong, generally about twice as long as broad, measuring approximately
20 by 10 feet.
[Illustration: Plate XXII.
GENERAL VIEW OF RUIN 8 MILES NORTH OF FOSSIL CREEK.]
In the ruin under discussion it seems that each of these oblong rooms
was divided by a transverse partition into two smaller rooms, although
the oblong form is also common. This is noticeable in the southwestern
corner and on the eastern side of the main cluster, in the southwestern
corner and on the northern end of the cluster adjoining on the north,
and in all the smaller clusters. It is probable that the western central
part of the main cluster was the first portion of the group of
structures built, and that subsequently as the demand for accommodation
increased, owing to increase of population, the rooms on the eastern and
southern sides of the main cluster were added, while the rooms of the
older portion were divided.
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