Casa Grande Ruin: Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1891-92, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1896, pages 289-318Mindeleff, Cosmos
History
Casa Grande Ruin: Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1891-92, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1896, pages 289-318
Mindeleff, Cosmos
Arizona -- Antiquities; Casa Grande National Monument (Ariz.); Hohokam architecture; Indians of North America -- Arizona
Probably intermediate in time between the Casa Grande ruin and the
rounded mounds described above should be placed the large structure
occupying the northern-central part of the map. This mound is deserving
of more than a passing notice. It consists of two mounds, each four or
five times the size of the Casa Grande ruin, resting on a flat-topped
pedestal or terrace about 5 feet above the general level. The summits of
these mounds, which are nearly flat, are some 13 feet above this level.
The sides of the mounds slope very sharply, and have suffered somewhat
from erosion, being cut by deep gullies, as shown in figure 328, which
is an enlargement from the map. It has been stated that these structures
were mounds, pure and simple, used for sacrifice or worship, resembling
somewhat the well-known pyramid of Cholula; but there is no doubt that
they are the remains of house-structures, for a careful examination of
the surface on the slopes, reveals the ends of regular walls. The height
is not exceptional, the mound on the east being less than 3 feet lower,
while the one on the southeast lacks less than 4 feet of its height. The
characteristic feature, however, and one difficult to explain, except on
the hypothesis stated, is the sharp slope of the sides. It will be
noticed that the raised base or terrace on which the mounds are located
is not perfectly flat, but on the contrary has a raised rim. This rim
seems quite inconsistent with the theory which has been advanced that
the terrace was built up solidly as a terrace or base, as in that case
it would seem natural that the slope from the base of the mounds to the
edge of the terrace would be continuous.
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