Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895: Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1895-1896, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898, pages 519-744Fewkes, Jesse Walter
History
Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895: Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1895-1896, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898, pages 519-744
The ground plan (figure 255) of the mission resembles that of the Zuñi
church, and is not unlike the plans of the churches in the Rio Grande
pueblos. The tall buttresses, which rise 15 or 20 feet above the trail
up the mesa on the southern corner, are, I believe, remnants of
towers which formerly supported a balcony. During a previous visit to
Tusayan I obtained fragments[72] of the ancient bell, which are now on
exhibition in the Hemenway section of the Peabody Museum at Cambridge.
The stone walls of the mission were rarely dressed or carefully
fitted, the interstices being filled in with loose rubble laid in
adobe. There was apparently a gallery over the entrance to the
building overlooking many smaller buildings, which evidently were the
quarters of the resident priest. The construction of the walls was
apparently a laborious task, as many of the stones are large and must
have been brought a considerable distance. These stones were laid in
adobe, and apparently were plastered without and within, although
little evidence of the former plastering may now be seen. At the
northwestern corner, however, there still remain well-made adobe
walls, the clay having been intermixed with straw. From the general
appearance of these walls I regard them as of late construction,
probably long after the destruction of the mission.
An examination of the plan of the mission building shows that it was
oriented about north and south, with the entrance toward the latter
direction. Compared with many other pueblo missions, this would seem
to be an exceptional position. In my excavations I naturally sought
the probable position of the entrance and, opposite it, the recess for
the altar. It is evident, from the form of the standing walls, that an
entrance from the east would be blocked by standing walls, and the
axis of the building is north and south. The theory that the door was
at the south has much in its favor, but there are several almost fatal
objections to this conclusion.
If, however, we suppose that the entrance was in the south wall, the
high walls still standing above the trail up the mesa would then
recall the façades of other missions. The rooms east of the largest
inclosure, by this interpretation, would be outbuildings--residence
rooms for the padres--one side of which forms the eastern walls of the
church edifice. The form of the Awatobi church, as indicated by the
walls still standing, is very similar to that of Zuñi, notwithstanding
the orientation appears to be somewhat different.
Excavations failed to reveal any sign of the altar recess at either
the northern or the western end, which is not surprising, since the
walls are so poorly preserved in both these directions. It was,
moreover, very difficult to make a satisfactory examination of the
foundations of the walls at any point on account of the fallen
stories, which encumbered the floor at their bases.
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