NO. 2280. 



A PIT HOUSE VILLAGE IN NEW MEXICO-HOUGH. 



415 



there is a slope of 25 feet to a set-off 16 inches high, apparently the 

 back of a bench 4 feet wide. The depth here is 31 inches from the 

 surface of the deposit in the pit. From this bench the ground slopes 

 about 12 to 16 feet and merges into the level floor of the pit. The 

 deposit here is 50 inches deep. There was thus a circular floor for 

 dance purposes, about 50 feet in diameter, with 196 feet of bencli 

 around it for spectators. This amphitheater pit, approximately 265 

 feet in circumference and nearly 10 feet deep, was probably sur- 

 rounded with a palisade. It will be seen that the earth deposit in 

 the pit (50 inches) is about that which levels the pit houses, but 

 the great pit being 10 feet deep is not filled, and hence it is the only 

 surviving landmark of the ancient village. The labor of excavating 

 the great dance pit or kiva was great, and the work seems to show 

 that the population of Pit Village was large enough to furnish a 

 good force of willing hands. As no tools of stone for digging were 



Fio. 8.— Plan and sections showing construction of pit houses. 



found, it appears probable that the excavation was made with dig- 

 ging sticks and the earth removed in skin bundles. 



Enough has been learned through the tentative exploration to 

 enable us to essay a restoration of the pit village as it may have 

 appeared centuries ago. The data shows that the excavation and 

 the added height given by the removed earth would be about 8 feet, 

 leaving thus 3 feet of the house above ground. The roof would 

 be supported on eight posts about 10 feet long. The sides of the 

 house above ground would be wattle and daub, or wattled and banked 

 with earth. (Fig. 8, a, h, r;.) Judging by the height of the earth 

 embankment thrown up in the excavation of the pits during the 

 present work, the measurements suggested, as well as the banking, 

 seem plausible. It would be easy thus for the Indian to walk up 

 on his roof and descend through a hatchway by means of a notched 

 ladder as used by the Pueblos. The appearance of the cluster of 



