Aboriginal Remains In Verde Valley, Arizona Part 2

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 280.

Ground plan of ruin at mouth of the East Verde.]

On the southern side of the East Verde, half a mile above its mouth, a small creek comes in from the south, probably dry throughout most of the year; and on a promontory or point of land left by this creek a small ruin occurs. It is similar in plan and in character of masonry to those just described, and differs from them only in that its site is better adapted for defense, being protected on two sides by steep hills or cliffs. The ground plan of this ruin is shown in figure 280, and its general appearance in plate XIV, which also shows the character of masonry. The village overlooked a large area of low bottom land in the angle between the Verde and the East Verde, and is itself overlooked by the foothills rising behind it to the high mesas forming part of the Mazatzal mountains.

The walls of this village were built of flat bowlders and slabs of limestone, and there is now practically no standing wall remaining. The ground plan shows a number of places where the walls are still visible, but they extend only a few inches above the debris. There were about forty rooms, and the plan is characterized by irregularities such as have already been noticed in other plans. Although the village was of considerable size it was built up solidly, and there is no trace of an interior court. It will be noticed that the rooms vary much in size, and that many of the smaller rooms are one half the size of the larger ones, as though the larger rooms had been divided by part.i.tions after they were completed. It is probable that rooms extended partly down the slope on the west and south of the village toward the little creek before mentioned, but if this were the case all evidences have long since been obliterated.

On the southern side of the village the ground plan shows a bit of curved wall. It is doubtful whether this was an actual wall or merely a terrace. If it was a wall it is the only example of curved wall found in the region in ruins of this cla.s.s. Between this wall or terrace and the adjoining wall on the north, with which it was connected, the ground is now filled in. Whether this filling occurred prior or subsequent to the abandonment of the village does not appear. The northeastern corner of the ruin is marked by a somewhat similar feature. Here there is a line of wall now almost obliterated and but feebly marked by debris, and the s.p.a.ce between it and the village proper is partly filled in, forming a low terrace. a.n.a.logous features are found in several other ruins in this region, notably in the large ruin near Limestone creek. It should be noted in this connection that Mr. E. W. Nelson has found that places somewhat similar to these in the ruins about Springerville, New Mexico, always well repaid the labor of excavation, and he adopted as a working hypothesis the a.s.sumption that these were the burial places of the village. Whether a similar condition would be found in this region can only be determined by careful and systematic excavation.

The village did not occupy the whole of the mesa point on which it is located; on the east the ground rises gently to the foothills of the Mazatzal range, and on the south and west it slopes sharply down to the little creek before mentioned; while on the north there is a terrace or flat open s.p.a.ce some 60 feet wide and almost parallel with the longer axis of the village. This open s.p.a.ce and the sharp fall which limits it on the north is shown on the ground plan. The general view of the same feature (plate XV) also shows the character of the valley of the East Verde above the ruin; the stream is here confined within a low walled canyon. This open s.p.a.ce formed a part of the village and doubtless occupied the same relation to it that interior courts do to other villages. Its northern or outer edge is a trifle higher than the s.p.a.ce between it and the village proper and is marked by several large bowlders and a small amount of debris. It is possible that at one time there was a defensive wall here, although the ground falls so suddenly that it is almost impossible to climb up to the edge from below without artificial aid. Defensive walls such as this may have been are very rare in pueblo architecture, only one instance having been encountered by the writer in an experience of many years. The map seems to show more local relief to this terrace than the general view indicates, but it should be borne in mind that the contour interval is but 2 feet.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XIX.

SOUTHERN PART OF RUINS OPPOSITE VERDE.]

A comparison of the ground plan of this ruin and those previously described, together with that of the ruin near the mouth of Fossil creek (plate XVI), which is typical of this group, shows marked irregularity in outline and plan. In the character of the debris also this ruin differs from the Fossil creek ruin and others located near it. As in the latter, bowlders were used in the wall, but unlike the latter rough stone predominates. In the character of its masonry this ruin forms an intermediate or connecting link between the ruins near Limestone creek and opposite Verde and the cla.s.s of which the ruin near the mouth of Fossil creek is typical. In the character of its site it is of the same cla.s.s as the Fossil creek ruin, being intermediate between the valley pueblos, such as that near Limestone creek, and pueblos located on defensive sites, such as the group opposite Verde. The ground plan indicates an occupancy extending over a considerable period of time and terminating at or near the close of the period of aboriginal occupancy of the valley of Rio Verde.

Another ruin, of a type closely similar, occurs on a bluff near the mouth of Fossil creek. The plan of this ruin is shown in figure 281. The village is located close to the edge of the bluff, as shown in the plan, and has an outlook over a considerable area of bottom land adjoining the bluff on the east. It is probable that the cavate lodges whose location some 8 or 10 miles above the ruin, on Fossil creek, is shown on the general map (plate XI) were appendages of this village.

The wall still standing extends but a few inches above the debris, but enough remains to mark the princ.i.p.al wall lines, and these are farther emphasized by the lines of debris. The debris here is remarkably clean and stands out prominently from the ground surface, instead of being merged into it as is usually the case. This is shown in the general view of the ruin. There are twenty-five rooms on the ground plan, and there is no evidence that any of these attained a greater height than one story. The population, therefore, could not have been much, if any, in excess of forty, and as the average family of the Pueblos consists of five persons, this would make the number of families which found a home in this village less than ten. Notwithstanding this small population the ground plan of this village shows clearly a somewhat extended period of occupancy and a gradual growth in size. The eastern half of the village, which is located along the edge of the bluff, probably preceded the western in point of time. It will be noticed that while the wall lines are seldom continuous for more than three rooms, yet the rooms themselves are arranged with a certain degree of regularity, in that the longer axes are usually parallel.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 281.

Ground plan of ruin near the month of Fossil creek.]

The masonry of this village is almost entirely of flat bowlders, obtained probably from the bed of the creek immediately below. The terrace on which the village was built, and in fact all the hills about it are composed of gravel and bowlders, but it would be easier to carry the bowlders up from the stream bed than to quarry them from the hillside, and in the former case there would be a better opportunity for selection. Plate XVI shows the character of the rock employed, and ill.u.s.trates the extent to which selection of rock has been carried.

Although the walls are built entirely of river bowlders the masonry presents almost as good a face as some of the ruins previously described as built of slabs of limestone, and this is due to careful selection of the stone employed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XX.

GENERAL VIEW OF RUIN ON SOUTHERN SIDE OF CLEAR CREEK.]

About half a mile above the mouth of Fossil creek, and on the eastern side of the river, a deep ravine comes in from the north and east, and on a low spur near its mouth there is a ruin very similar to the one just described. It is also about the same size. The general character of the site it occupies is shown in the sketch, figure 282. The masonry is of the same general character as that of the ruin near the mouth of Fossil creek, and the debris, which stands out sharply from the ground surface, is distinguished by the same cleanness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 282.

Sketch map, site of ruin above Fossil creek.]

About 8 miles north of Fossil creek, on the eastern side of the Verde, occurs a small ruin, somewhat different in the arrangement of rooms from those described. Here there is a bench or terrace, some 50 feet above the river, cut through near its northern end by a small canyon. The ruin is located on the southern side of this terrace, near the mouth of the creek, and consists of about ten rooms arranged in +L+ shape. The lines are very irregular, and there are seldom more than three rooms connected. The debris marking the wall lines is clean, and the lines are well defined, although no standing wall remains.

About a mile above the last-described ruin, or 9 miles north of the mouth of Fossil creek, a small group of ruins occurs. The sketch, figure 283, shows the relation of the parts of this group to one another. The small cl.u.s.ter or rooms on the south is very similar in character, location, and size to the ruin last described. The northern portion is situated on the opposite side of a deep canyon or ravine, on the crown of a hill composed of limestone, which outcrops everywhere about it, and is considerably higher than the small cl.u.s.ter on the south. The northern ruin is of considerable size and very compactly built, the rooms being cl.u.s.tered about the summit of the hill. The central room, occupying the crown of the hill, is 20 feet higher than the outside rooms. In a saddle between the main cl.u.s.ter and a similar hill toward the southeast there are a number of other rooms, not marked so prominently by debris as those of the main cl.u.s.ter. There is no standing wall remaining, but the debris of the main and adjoining cl.u.s.ters indicates that the masonry was very rough, the walls being composed of slabs of limestone similar to those found in the large ruin near the mouth of Limestone creek, and obtained probably not 20 feet away from their present position.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 283.

Sketch map of ruin 9 miles above Fossil creek.]

The ruin described on page 200 and a.s.signed to the first subcla.s.s occurs about half a mile north of this limestone hill, on the opposite side of the river. This small ruin, like all the smaller ruins described, was built of river bowlders, or river bowlders with occasional slabs of sandstone or limestone, while the ruin last described consists exclusively of limestone slabs. This difference is explained, however, by the character of the sites occupied by the several ruins. The limestone hill upon which the ruin under discussion is situated is an anomalous feature, and its occurrence here undoubtedly determined the location of this village. It is difficult otherwise to understand the location of this cl.u.s.ter of rooms, for they command no outlook over tillable land, although the view up and down the river is extensive.

This cl.u.s.ter, which is the largest in size for many miles up and down the river, may have been the parent pueblo, occupying somewhat the same relation to the smaller villages that Zuni occupies to the summer farming settlements of Nutria, Pescado, and Ojo Caliente; and doubtless the single-room remains, which occur above and below the cl.u.s.ter on mesa benches and near tillable tracts, were connected with it. This ruin is an example of the second subcla.s.s, or villages located on defensive sites, which merges into ruins of the first subcla.s.s, or villages on bottom lands, through villages like that located at the mouth of the East Verde and at the mouth of Fossil creek.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XXI.

DETAILED VIEW OF RUIN ON SOUTHERN SIDE OF CLEAR CREEK.]

On the eastern side of the Verde, just below the mouth of Beaver creek, opposite and a little above Verde, occurs one of the best examples to be found in this region of a large village located on a defensive site.

Here there is a group of eight cl.u.s.ters extending half a mile up and down the river, and some of the cl.u.s.ters have walls still standing to a height of 8 and 10 feet. The relation of these cl.u.s.ters to each other is shown in the sketch map, figure 284.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 284.

Sketch map showing location of ruins opposite Verde.]

The princ.i.p.al ruin of the group is situated on the northern side of a small valley running eastward from the river up to the foot of a prominent mesa, which here bounds the eastern side of the river bottom.

The valley is perhaps half a mile long and about an eighth of a mile wide. The ruin is located on a b.u.t.te or knoll connected with the hills back of it by a low saddle, forming a sort of promontory or tongue of land rising from a flat s.p.a.ce or bench, the whole some 200 feet above the river bottom. One of the cl.u.s.ters of rooms is located in the saddle mentioned and is connected with the main ruin. At the foot of the b.u.t.te on the western side there is a similar cl.u.s.ter, not connected, however, with the main ruin; and south of the main ruin, on the extreme edge of the little mesa or bench, there is another small cl.u.s.ter. The ruin shown on the sketch map southwest of the main ruin consists of but two rooms, with no wall now standing. All these cl.u.s.ters are shown in their proper position on the ground plan, plate XVII. Plate XVIII, which is a general view from the east, shows the main ruin on the b.u.t.te, together with the connected cl.u.s.ter east of it in the saddle. The modern settlement seen in the middle distance is Verde.

About a quarter of a mile west of the main ruin there is another small but well-preserved cl.u.s.ter of rooms. It occupies the narrow ridge of a hill some 200 feet above the river. On the west and south, the hill descends abruptly to the river; on the southeast and east it slopes sharply down to a broad valley on the level of the mesa bench before mentioned, but the valley is cut by a narrow and deep canyon marking the east side of the hill. This cl.u.s.ter is shown on the ground plan, plate XVII, though not in its proper position. Northeast of this cl.u.s.ter and perhaps 200 yards distant there are traces of other rooms, but they are so faint that no plan can be made out. As shown on the sketch map, figure 284, the hill is a long narrow one, and its western side falls rapidly to a large triangular area of flat bottom land lying between it and Beaver creek, which it overlooks, as well as a large area of the valley up the river and all the fine bottom lands north and east of Verde and on the northwestern side of Beaver creek. As regards outlook, and also as regards security and facility of defense, the site of the small cl.u.s.ter is far superior to that of the main cl.u.s.ter of rooms.

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 cl.u.s.ter 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 cl.u.s.ter 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 cl.u.s.ter, that portion occupying the crown or summit of the b.u.t.te 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 cl.u.s.ter is peculiar; it differs from all the smaller surrounding cl.u.s.ters. 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 s.p.a.ce 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 s.p.a.ce 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 part.i.tion 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 cl.u.s.ter, in the southwestern corner and on the northern end of the cl.u.s.ter adjoining on the north, and in all the smaller cl.u.s.ters. It is probable that the western central part of the main cl.u.s.ter 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 cl.u.s.ter were added, while the rooms of the older portion were divided.

There is no evidence that any portion of this cl.u.s.ter attained a greater height than two stories, and only a small number of rooms reached that height. The small cl.u.s.ter adjoining on the north, and those on the southeast, southwest, and west, were built later and belong to the last period of the occupancy of the group. The builders exhibited a decided predilection for a flat site, as an examination of the sites of the various room cl.u.s.ters in the ground plan (plate XVII) will show, and when the sight of the main cl.u.s.ter became so crowded that additional rooms could be added only by building them on the sloping hillside, recourse was had to other sites. This tendency is also exhibited in the cl.u.s.ter adjoining the main cl.u.s.ter on the north, which was probably the second in point of age. The northern end of this small group of rooms terminates at the foot of the hill which rises northeastward, while a series of wall lines extends eastward at an angle with the lines of the cl.u.s.ter, but along the curve of the hillside.

The small northern cl.u.s.ter was in all probability inhabited by five or six families only, as contrasted with the main cl.u.s.ter, which had sixteen or seventeen, while the smaller cl.u.s.ters had each only two or three families. The strong presumption of the later building and occupancy of the smaller cl.u.s.ters, previously commented on, is supported by three other facts of importance, viz, the amount and height of the standing wall, the character of the sites occupied, and the extraordinary size of the rooms.

Although as a rule external appearance is an unsatisfactory criterion of age, still, other things equal, a large amount and good height of standing wall may be taken to indicate in a general way a more recent period of occupancy than wall lines much obliterated and merged into the surrounding ground level. The character of the site occupied is, however, a very good criterion of age. It was a rule of the ancient pueblo builder, a rule still adhered to with a certain degree of persistence, that enlargement of a village for the purpose of obtaining more s.p.a.ce must be by the addition of rooms to those already built, and not by the construction of detached rooms. So well was this rule observed that attached rooms were often built on sites not at all adapted to them, when much better sites were available but a short distance away; and, although detached rooms were built in certain cases, there was always a strong reason for such exceptions to the general rule. At a late period in the history of the Pueblos this rule was not so much adhered to as before, and detached houses were often built at such points as the fancy or convenience of the builder might dictate. As the traditions are broken down the tendency to depart from the old rule becomes more decided, and at the present day several of the older Pueblo villages are being gradually abandoned for the more convenient detached dwellings, while nearly all of them have suffered more or less from this cause.

The tendency to cl.u.s.ter rooms in one large compact group was undoubtedly due primarily to hostile pressure from outside, and as this pressure decreased the inherent inconveniences of the plan would a.s.sert themselves and the rule would be less and less closely adhered to. It therefore follows that, in the absence of other sufficient cause, the presence of detached rooms or small cl.u.s.ters may be taken in a general way to indicate a more recent occupancy than a ground plan of a compact, closely built village.

The size of rooms is closely connected with the character of the site occupied. When, owing to hostile pressure, villages were built on sites difficult of access, and when the rooms were crowded together into cl.u.s.ters in order to produce an easily defended structure, the rooms themselves were necessarily small; but when hostile pressure from surrounding or outside tribes became less p.r.o.nounced, the pueblo-builders consulted convenience more, and larger rooms were built.

This has occurred in many of the pueblos and in the ruins, and in a general way a ruin consisting of large rooms is apt to be more modern than one consisting of small rooms; and where large and small rooms occur together there is a fair presumption that the occupancy of the village extended over a period when hostile pressure was p.r.o.nounced and when it became less strong. It has already been shown that, owing to the social system of the pueblo-builders, there is almost always growth in a village, although the population may remain stationary in numbers or even decrease; so that, until a village is abandoned it will follow the general rule of development sketched above.

Along the southern side of Clear creek, which discharges into the Rio Verde from the east, about 4 miles below Verde, there is a flat terrace from 30 to 40 feet above the creek and some 2 or 3 miles in length.

Scattered over almost the whole of this terrace are remains of houses and horticultural works, which will be described later. Near the western end of the terrace a low hill with flat top and rounded sides rises, and on the top of this occurs the ruin whose ground plan is shown in figure 285.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XXIII.

GENERAL VIEW OF RUINS ON AN EMINENCE 14 MILES NORTH OF FOSSIL CREEK.]

This ruin commands an outlook over the whole extent of the terrace and seems to have been the home pueblo with which were connected the numerous single houses whose remains cover the terrace. The ground plan is peculiar. The rooms were arranged in four rows, each row consisting of a line of single rooms, and the rows were placed approximately at right angles to one another, forming the four sides of a hollow square.

The rooms are generally oblong, of the usual dimensions, and as a rule placed with their longer axes in the direction of the row. Several rooms occur, however, with their longer axes placed across the row.

Thirty-eight rooms can still be traced, and there is no likelihood that there were ever more than forty, or that any of the rooms attained a greater height than one story. The population, therefore, was probably never much in excess of fifty persons, or ten to twelve families.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 285.

Ground plan of ruin on southern side of Clear creek.]

It will be noticed that the wall lines are only approximately rectangular. The outside dimensions of the village are as follows: Northeastern side, 203 feet; southwestern, 207 feet; southeastern, 182 feet; and northwestern, 194 feet. The northeastern and southwestern sides are nearly equal in length, but between the southeastern and the northwestern sides there is a difference of 12 feet, and this notwithstanding that the room at the western end of the southeastern row has been set out 3 feet beyond the wall line of the southwestern side.

This difference is remarkable if, as the ground plan indicates, the village or the greater part of it was laid out and built up at one time, and was not the result of slow growth.

As already stated, long occupancy of a village, even without increase of population, produces a certain effect on the ground plan. This effect, so strongly marked in all the ruins already described, is conspicuous in this ruin by its almost entire absence. The ground plan is just such as would be produced if a small band of pueblo builders, consisting of ten or twelve related families, should migrate en ma.s.se to a site like the one under discussion and, after occupying that site for a few years--less than five--should pa.s.s on to some other location. Such migration and abandonment of villages were by no means anomalous; on the contrary, they const.i.tute one of the most marked and most persistent phenomena in the history of the pueblo builders. If the general principles, already laid down, affecting the development and growth of ground plans of villages are applied to this example, the hypothesis suggested above--an incoming of people en ma.s.se and a very short occupancy--must be accepted, for no other hypothesis will explain the regularity of wall lines, the uniformity in size of rooms, and the absence of attached rooms which do not follow the general plan of the village. The latter is perhaps the most remarkable feature in the ground plan of this village. The addition of rooms attached irregularly at various points of the main cl.u.s.ter, which is necessarily consequent on long occupancy of a site, even without increase of population, was in this example just commenced. The result of the same process, continued over a long period of time, can be seen in the ground plan of any of the inhabited villages of today and in most of the ruins, while a plan like that of the ruin under discussion, while not unknown, is rare.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XXIV.

GENERAL VIEW OF NORTHERN END OF A GROUP OF CAVATE LODGES.]