4l8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 52 



On the north side of the Santa Cruz Valley, in the Tortilla Moun- 

 tains opposite Tucson, there are several ruins, some of which have 

 walls standing high out of the ground.^ 



2. — Chakayuma 



This ruin lies at the foot of the northwest point of the Tucson 

 Mountains, about i8 miles from Tucson, opposite the station Rillito, 

 on the Southern Pacific Railroad. The face of the mountain, called 

 by Garces "Frenta Negra," bears many pictographs, and lines of 

 trincheras, fortifications, are still visible on the summit. The settle- 

 ment spreads over several acres, the houses consisting of low mounds, 

 with indistinct evidences of walls and many fragments of pottery. 

 The sites of these houses are generally marked by rows of stones 

 set on edge. These stones in some cases formerly supported and 

 protected the bases of the walls, which were held upright by logs 

 now much decayed. Shallow excavations at this place revealed 

 the face of the wall in which these upright stones had been set and 

 a hard clay floor, upon which was generally found a layer of char- 

 coal. Evidently the stones served the same purpose as the logs 

 found at Casa Grande, the remainder of the walls and the roof 

 being constructed of perishable material, possibly brush or ocatilla 

 cactus. 



Several good vases, one of them in the collection of the University 

 of Arizona, at Tucson, have been excavated at this ruin, which seems 

 rich in specimens and offers unusual advantages for further study. 



3. — Aquituno Ruin (Akutciny, Russell) 



There are several mounds, indicating ancient Casas Grandes, not 

 far from the desert butte, Picacho, that were not visited by the 

 author. 



The site of Cutcia vaaki (Kistcoit, Russell), frequently mentioned 

 by the early Spanish priests, has not yet been definitely made out, 

 but was possibly east of Picacho, and maybe the mounds at Aqui- 

 tuno are remains of this settlement. 



^ A site near Tucson mentioned in "Garces' Diary" as Laguna still bears the 

 same name. Professor Blake, of the University of Arizona, has shown the 

 author ground plans of ruins in the Tortillas and Mr. Brown reports stone 

 ruins witli hiuh walls. 



