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
It seems quite likely that only the lower course or courses of the walls
of these dwellings were of bowlders, the superstructure being perhaps
sometimes of earth (not adobe) but more probably often of the type known
as “jacal”--upright slabs of wood plastered with mud. This method of
construction was known to the ancient pueblo peoples and is used today
to a considerable extent by the Mexican population of the southwest and
to a less extent in some of the pueblos. No traces of this construction
were found in the bowlder-marked sites, perhaps because no excavation
was carried on; but it is evident that the rooms were not built of
stone, and that not more than a small percentage could have been built
of rammed earth or grout, as the latter, in disintegrating leaves
well-defined mounds and lines of debris. It is improbable, moreover,
that the structures were of brush plastered with mud, such as the Navajo
hogan, as this method of construction is not well adapted to a
rectangular ground plan, and if persistently applied would soon modify
such a plan to a round or partially rounded one. Temporary brush
structures would not require stone foundations, but structures composed
of upright posts or slabs, filled in with brush and plastered with mud,
and designed to last more than one farming season, would probably be
placed on stone foundations, as the soil throughout most of the region
in which these remains occur is very light, and a wooden structure
placed directly on it would hardly survive a winter.
In the valley of the Rio Verde the profitable use of adobe at the
present time is approximately limited northward by the thirty-fourth
parallel, which crosses the valley a little below the mouth of Limestone
creek. North of this latitude adobe is used less and less and where used
requires more and more attention to keep in order, although on the high
tablelands some distance farther northward it is again a suitable
construction. South of the thirty-fourth parallel, however, adobe
construction is well suited to the climate and in the valleys of Salt
and Gila rivers it is the standard construction. Adobe construction (the
use of sun-dried molded brick) was unknown to the ancient pueblo
builders, but its aboriginal counterpart, rammed earth or pisé
construction, such as that of the well known Casa Grande ruin on Gila
river, acted in much the same way under climatic influences, and it is
probable that its lack of suitability precluded its use in the greater
part of the Verde valley. No walls of the type of those of the Casa
Grande ruin have been found in the valley of the Verde, although
abundant in the valleys of the Salt and Gila rivers, but it is possible
that this method of construction was used in the southern part of the
Verde region for temporary structures; in the northern part of that
region its use even for that purpose was not practicable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account