PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Vol. 78 



good results as to artifacts and skeletal material. It is evident that 

 these ruins would repay further examination, and since they repre- 

 sent the focussing of several cultures much could be learned as to 

 distribution and time elements. 



East of the spring and bounding that side of the valley are red 

 bluffs covered with brush and timber. Along the bluff top are over- 

 grown ruins that appear to be of ruder culture than those of the 

 valley. On the level land beneath the bluff 1^2 miles northeast of 

 the spring is an oval pit 72 by 30 feet and at present 4 feet deep. 

 At the side of the pit grows a checker bark juniper 132 inches in 

 circumference. The debris of leaves, twigs, and fruit from the 

 tree has filled the portion of the pit extending under its top spread. 

 The surface drainage is away from the pit. The purpose of the ij 



pit is conjectural, but it was prob- 

 ably a ceremonial house connected 

 with a ruin on the bluff near by 

 (fig. 6). Considering the size of 

 the slow growing juniper, this 

 tree has stood on the side of the 

 pit several hundred years. 



Connection of this work with 

 the rectangular stone walled kiva 

 described by the writer in 1914 and 

 the earth walled kiva of the Luna 

 pit village is assumed. The kivas 

 in the pueblos at Grasshopper 

 were house room kivas, as shown 

 by excavation in a room in which 

 a decorated stone slab was found 

 As is commonly observed in thi 

 surroundings of ruins, the imme-^ 



Figure 6.-Ceuemo.mal Pit With JuNirER ^y^^^^ .^^en is deforested due to 



activities in building and collec- ; 

 tion of fuel. The return of growths is an index of more or less 

 importance in determining the age of a pueblo. At Grasshopper 

 there has been a return around the margins of timber stands, but 

 the meadow-like land around the pueblo appears sterilized to 

 growths. One checker bark juniper 166 inches in circumference 

 offers an interesting question. This tree stands near the border of 

 the plaza west of the main ruin. The question is : Was this tree 

 several hundred years old preserved by the Indians or has it grown 

 since the decay of the pueblo? It is observed that this tree grows 

 in the limestone outcrop and not in house debris, which probably 

 accounts for its preservation. 



