470 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1916, 



autumnal equinox theoretically the sun rises in the east and sets in 

 the west. In other words, sighting from the shrine along the so- 

 called south wall on that date we ought to see the sun rise on a con- 

 tinuation of that line, if the wall extended exactly east and west. 

 Observation shows that such is not the fact ; the south wall does not 

 extend exactly east and west. On the morning of the 21st of Sep- 

 tember, in company with several others, the writer determined this 

 by observation, and found the line of the south wall if extended 

 would touch the point of sunrise on the horizon a little more than 

 20° north of the extended line of the so-called south wall. 



The same is true at sunset as viewed in the opposite direction as ob- 

 served by my friend, Mr. T. G. Lemmon. The sun on that date sets 

 about 20° from the extended line of the so-called south wall, which, 

 if projected, would touch the point of sunrise at the summer solstice. 

 This is so exact that the builders of Sun Temple probably deter- 

 mined the direction of the wall by observation of the sun as seen 

 from the sun shrine at that solstice. The point of summer solstitial 

 rising of the sun, as observed on the horizon, as well as sunset in mid- 

 winter were cardinal points among them, as among the Hopi, and 

 determined the lines of their temple devoted to sun worship. It 

 seems to have been in somewhat the same way that the orientation of 

 the pueblo' at Mummy Lake was determined, but as the south wall 

 is more irregular and the building more patched upon this side, it 

 was not as easy to make observations there as at Sun Temple, but it 

 was possible to use the north wall for that purpose. 



Inasmuch as some of the highest walls had been reduced in alti- 

 tude by the fall of their tops there had accumulated around their 

 foundations a mass of detached fragments. The remains of fallen 

 walls were especially extensive along the north wall, and the removal 

 of this material was a work of considerable magnitude. Scrapers 

 and stone boats were used for that purpose but the wall itself was 

 laid bare by hand. The funds appropriated for this work were in- 

 sufficient to permit the removal of this mass to a considerable dis- 

 tance to make the desired grading, but an automobile road was con- 

 structed around the ruin so that it can be visited with little incon- 

 venience. 



The excavation was begun on the northwestern corner of the 

 mound (pi. 6), which later proved to be a small square room (pi. 6, 

 fig. 3) annexed to this angle of the building. It was found that 

 the greater part of the northern wall had been reduced to about 

 6 feet in height, and that the partition walls of several rooms 

 formerly attached to it had been shattered. The east wall (pi. 6, 

 fig. 4) was in somewhat better condition, but inclined so much out- 

 ward that it was considered advisable to construct a buttress to hold 

 it up. The south wall (pi. 8, figs. 1, 2) was irregular and much 



