Aboriginal Remains in Verde Valley, Arizona | Page 9

a village like Zuñi or Taos.
Plate XII exhibits the ground plan of the village. It will be observed
that this plan is remarkably similar in general characters to the ground
plan of Zuñi.[2] A close inspection will reveal the presence of many
discrepancies in the plan, which suggest that the village received at
various times additions to its population in considerable numbers, and
was not the result of the gradual growth of one settlement nor the home
of a large group coming en masse to this locality. It has been shown[3]

that in the old provinces of Tusayan and Cibola (Moki and Zuñi) the
present villages are the result of the aggregation of many related gentes
and subgentes, who reached their present location at different times and
from different directions, and this seems to be the almost universal rule
for the larger pueblos and ruins. It should be noted in this connection,
however, that, the preceding statements being granted, a general plan of
this character indicates an essentially modern origin or foundation.
[Footnote 2: Eighth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1886-'87, Wash.,
1891, pl. lxxvi.]
[Footnote 3: Ibid., pp. 1-228.]
The ground plan shows a number of courts or open spaces, which
divided the village into four well-defined clusters. The largest court
was nearly in the center of the village, and within it (as shown, on the
plan) there are traces of a small single-room structure that may have
been a kiva of sacred chamber. Attached to this main court and
extending eastward is another court of considerable size, and connected
with this second court at its eastern end there is another one almost
square in plan and of fair size. West of the main court may be seen a
small court opening into it, and north of this another square space
separated from the main court by a single stone wall and inclosed on
the other three sides by rooms. In addition to these there are two
completely inclosed small courts in the center of the southwestern
cluster, and another one of moderate size between the southwestern and
southern clusters.
The arrangement of these courts is highly suggestive. The central space
was evidently the main court of the village at the time of its greatest
development, and it is equally evident that it was inclosed at a later
period than the small inclosed courts immediately adjacent to it, for had
the latter not preceded it they would not occupy the positions they now
do. Plate XIII represents a part of the main court, and beyond the débris
can be seen a small portion of the bottom upon which the village is
built. To the left, in the foreground of the illustration, are traces of a
small detached room, perhaps the main kiva[4] of the village; this is
also shown on the ground plan, plate XII.

[Footnote 4: The kiva is the assembly chamber, termed estufa in some
of the older writings, particularly those of the early Spanish explorers.
A full description of these peculiar structures has already been
published in an article on Pueblo architecture; Eighth Ann. Rep. Bureau
of Ethnology, 1886-'87, Wash., 1891, pp. 1-228.]
The smaller courts are but little larger than the largest rooms, but it will
be noticed that while some of the rooms are quite large they are always
oblong. This requirement was dictated by the length of available
roofing timbers. The cottonwood groves on the river bank would
provide timber of fair size but of very poor quality, and, aside from this,
roofing timbers longer than 15 feet could be obtained only at points
many miles distant. In either case the hauling of these timbers to the
site of the village would be a work of great labor and considerable
difficulty. The width of the rooms was, therefore, limited to about 20
feet, most of them being under 15 feet; but this limitation did not apply
to the courts, which, though sometimes surrounded on all sides by
buildings, were always open to the sky.
[Illustration: Plate XVI. RUIN AT MOUTH OF FOSSIL CREEK.]
It is probable that the central and northern portion of the southwestern
cluster comprised the first rooms built in this village. This is the portion
which commands the best outlook over the bottom, and it is also on the
highest ground. Following this the southern cluster was probably built;
afterwards the northern cluster was added, and finally the northwestern
cluster. Subsequently rooms connecting these clusters and the eastern
end of the village were built up, and probably last of all were added the
rooms which occupied what was originally the eastern end of the main
court. This hypothetic order of building the clusters composing the
village is supported by the character of the site and the peculiarities of
the ground plan.