﻿400 
  ANNUAL, 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  ered 
  and 
  examined 
  by 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  National 
  Geographical 
  So- 
  

   ciety's 
  Pueblo 
  Bonito 
  Expedition. 
  3 
  

  

  PIT 
  HOUSE 
  NO. 
  1. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  of 
  these 
  pit 
  houses 
  was 
  encountered 
  in 
  1920 
  during 
  

   trenching 
  operations 
  in 
  a 
  burial 
  mound 
  about 
  100 
  yards 
  east 
  of 
  Casa 
  

   Rinconada, 
  a 
  circular 
  ruin 
  surmounting 
  a 
  low 
  knoll 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  

   side 
  of 
  Chaco 
  Canyon, 
  opposite 
  Pueblo 
  Bonito. 
  A 
  number 
  of 
  stone- 
  

   walled 
  ruins, 
  each 
  with 
  its 
  own 
  refuse 
  pile, 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  this 
  

   vicinity. 
  The 
  pit 
  house 
  was 
  discovered, 
  quite 
  unexpectedly, 
  by 
  Zufii 
  

   workmen 
  near 
  the 
  lower 
  edge 
  of 
  one 
  such 
  pile, 
  and 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  ashy 
  

   earth 
  had 
  gradually 
  worked 
  from 
  the 
  latter 
  down 
  over 
  the 
  former 
  

   unquestionably 
  accounts 
  for 
  certain 
  intrusive 
  sherds 
  in 
  the 
  collec- 
  

   tion 
  (p. 
  403). 
  The 
  writer 
  was 
  absent 
  on 
  reconnaissance 
  duty 
  while 
  

   the 
  east 
  half 
  of 
  this 
  primitive 
  dwelling 
  was 
  being 
  excavated, 
  but 
  the 
  

   Indians 
  subsequently 
  pointed 
  out 
  the 
  approximate 
  spot 
  at 
  which 
  

   each 
  of 
  the 
  specimens 
  discovered 
  was 
  exposed. 
  

  

  This 
  first 
  pit 
  house 
  (fig. 
  1) 
  examined 
  by 
  the 
  Pueblo 
  Bonito 
  Expe- 
  

   dition 
  averaged 
  3 
  feet 
  (0.914 
  m.) 
  in 
  depth 
  and 
  17 
  feet 
  (5.182 
  m.) 
  in 
  

   diameter; 
  its 
  walls 
  were 
  vertical 
  except 
  at 
  the 
  south, 
  where 
  they 
  

   flared 
  outward 
  a 
  few 
  inches 
  (pi. 
  1, 
  fig. 
  1). 
  The 
  room 
  had 
  been 
  

   gouged, 
  presumably 
  with 
  stone 
  or 
  wooden 
  implements, 
  from 
  the 
  

   clayey 
  silt 
  strata 
  which 
  wind 
  and 
  water 
  had 
  deposited 
  throughout 
  

   the 
  length 
  and 
  breadth 
  of 
  the 
  valley 
  ; 
  its 
  original 
  depth 
  may 
  be 
  pre- 
  

   served 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  walls 
  but 
  the 
  superstructure 
  which 
  covered 
  the 
  

   pit 
  has 
  long 
  since 
  disappeared. 
  That 
  it 
  had 
  some 
  sort 
  of 
  timbered 
  

   roof 
  goes 
  without 
  saying. 
  (Two 
  short, 
  decayed 
  fragments 
  of 
  logs 
  

   were 
  exposed 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  room, 
  standing 
  on 
  the 
  floor 
  and 
  

   resting 
  against 
  the 
  wall 
  of 
  the 
  excavation.) 
  Lacking 
  definite 
  in- 
  

   formation 
  to 
  the 
  contrary, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  assumed 
  that 
  the 
  walls 
  and 
  

   ceiling 
  of 
  this 
  house 
  were 
  shaped 
  after 
  the 
  fashion 
  of 
  those 
  in 
  the 
  

   dwelling 
  next 
  to 
  be 
  described. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  unlikety 
  that 
  what 
  is 
  herein 
  

   referred 
  to 
  as 
  a 
  wall 
  was, 
  in 
  fact, 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  a 
  bench 
  upon 
  which 
  the 
  

   roof 
  timbers 
  rested. 
  

  

  No 
  trace 
  of 
  applied 
  plaster 
  was 
  present, 
  but 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  exca- 
  

   vated 
  chamber 
  had 
  been 
  roughly 
  finished 
  by 
  dampening 
  the 
  clay 
  and 
  

   pounding 
  it 
  to 
  a 
  hard 
  and 
  relatively 
  smooth 
  surface. 
  The 
  not 
  un- 
  

   satisfactory 
  results 
  of 
  such 
  treatment 
  may 
  be 
  observed 
  in 
  plate 
  1, 
  

   figures 
  1 
  and 
  2. 
  As 
  would 
  be 
  expected 
  in 
  so 
  primitive 
  a 
  habitation, 
  

   the 
  floor, 
  while 
  hard 
  and 
  compact 
  with 
  use, 
  was 
  noticeably 
  uneven. 
  

  

  In 
  its 
  furnishings, 
  this 
  Chaco 
  Canyon 
  pit 
  dwelling 
  illustrates 
  

   the 
  simple 
  life 
  and 
  the 
  few 
  needs 
  of 
  its 
  former 
  inhabitants. 
  A 
  cir- 
  

  

  » 
  See 
  Smithsonian 
  Misc. 
  Coll., 
  vol. 
  72, 
  Nos, 
  6 
  and 
  15 
  ; 
  also 
  the 
  National 
  Geographic 
  

   Magazine 
  for 
  June, 
  1921, 
  and 
  March, 
  1922. 
  

  

  