﻿406 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  combined 
  measurements, 
  however, 
  probably 
  fall 
  considerably 
  short 
  

   of 
  the 
  actual 
  ceiling 
  height. 
  Just 
  why 
  the 
  ancient 
  artisans 
  deemed 
  

   it 
  desirable 
  to 
  build 
  a 
  wall 
  of 
  posts 
  and 
  brush 
  above 
  the 
  bench 
  in 
  

   preference 
  to 
  utilizing 
  the 
  hard 
  adobe 
  face 
  of 
  their 
  excavation 
  is 
  

   not 
  clear 
  but 
  such 
  practice 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  characteristic 
  of 
  pit 
  houses 
  

   in 
  which 
  the 
  bench 
  is 
  present. 
  Kidder 
  and 
  Guernsey 
  8 
  describe 
  a 
  

   pit 
  dwelling 
  in 
  the 
  Monuments 
  district 
  of 
  northeastern 
  Arizona 
  in 
  

   which 
  roofing 
  poles, 
  driven 
  into 
  a 
  narrow 
  bench 
  at 
  an 
  angle, 
  ap- 
  

   peared 
  to 
  have 
  met 
  above 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  lodge. 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  W. 
  

   Fewkes 
  9 
  has 
  observed 
  a 
  similar 
  method 
  of 
  construction 
  on 
  the 
  Mesa 
  

   Verde 
  National 
  Park. 
  Hough, 
  10 
  writing 
  of 
  pit 
  villages 
  near 
  Luna, 
  

   and 
  Morris, 
  11 
  reporting 
  on 
  excavations 
  between 
  the 
  San 
  Juan 
  River 
  

   and 
  the 
  Continental 
  Divide 
  in 
  Colorado, 
  both 
  noted 
  the 
  occurrence 
  

   of 
  large 
  posts 
  as 
  roof 
  supports 
  but 
  say 
  little 
  or 
  nothing 
  of 
  an 
  en- 
  

   circling 
  bench 
  and 
  lesser 
  timbers 
  reaching 
  from 
  it 
  to 
  the 
  main 
  

   beams. 
  Dwellings 
  similar 
  to, 
  but 
  seemingly 
  more 
  elaborate 
  than, 
  

   these 
  circular 
  structures 
  in 
  that 
  the 
  benches 
  were 
  faced 
  with 
  stone 
  

   slabs 
  and 
  the 
  upper 
  walls 
  were 
  of 
  wattle 
  work, 
  have 
  been 
  discovered 
  

   in 
  southwestern 
  Utah 
  caves 
  by 
  the 
  present 
  writer. 
  12 
  

  

  Several 
  slab-inclosed 
  receptacles, 
  corresponding 
  with 
  those 
  in 
  the 
  

   other 
  local 
  pit 
  dwelling 
  (p. 
  401), 
  formerly 
  rested 
  against 
  the 
  south 
  

   wall 
  of 
  the 
  room, 
  the 
  stone 
  slabs 
  and 
  adobe 
  flooring 
  of 
  such 
  bins 
  hav- 
  

   ing 
  been 
  found 
  among 
  the 
  huge 
  blocks 
  of 
  earth 
  caved 
  from 
  the 
  bank. 
  

   These 
  bins 
  are, 
  of 
  course, 
  now 
  completely 
  shattered 
  and 
  but 
  little 
  of 
  

   interest 
  could 
  be 
  gathered 
  from 
  their 
  broken 
  remains. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  

   number, 
  a 
  box 
  29 
  inches 
  wide 
  and 
  10 
  inches 
  deep 
  (73.9 
  by 
  25.4 
  cm.) 
  

   had 
  been 
  paved 
  with 
  waterworn 
  cobble 
  stones; 
  on 
  its 
  floor 
  lay 
  a 
  

   quantity 
  of 
  charred 
  vegetable 
  matter 
  among 
  which 
  were 
  corncobs 
  

   and 
  kernels. 
  13 
  Other 
  corncobs 
  and 
  one 
  squash 
  seed 
  were 
  found 
  

   among 
  the 
  debris. 
  

  

  No 
  traces 
  of 
  subwall 
  depositories, 
  such 
  as 
  those 
  observed 
  in 
  our 
  

   first 
  pit 
  house 
  (p. 
  402), 
  were 
  noted 
  in 
  this 
  second 
  structure 
  but 
  a 
  rec- 
  

   tangular 
  depression, 
  15 
  inches 
  wide 
  by 
  22 
  inches 
  long 
  by 
  3£ 
  inches 
  

   deep 
  (38.1 
  by 
  55.8 
  by 
  8.88 
  cm.), 
  had 
  been 
  scraped 
  from 
  the 
  floor 
  be- 
  

   low 
  the 
  eastern 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  bench 
  (fig. 
  2). 
  

  

  MINOR 
  ANTIQUITIES. 
  

  

  The 
  few 
  artifacts 
  of 
  unquestioned 
  pit-house 
  origin 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  

   excavations 
  of 
  1920 
  were 
  found 
  by 
  the 
  writer 
  on 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  bin 
  

   No. 
  1 
  (fig. 
  1) 
  and 
  consist 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  mass 
  of 
  kaolin 
  (315898), 
  a 
  

  

  8 
  Bull. 
  65, 
  Bur. 
  Amer. 
  Ethnol., 
  p. 
  44. 
  

   » 
  Smithsonian 
  Misc. 
  Coll., 
  vol. 
  72, 
  no. 
  1, 
  p. 
  58. 
  

   "> 
  Proc. 
  U. 
  S. 
  Nat 
  Mus., 
  voL 
  55, 
  p. 
  415. 
  

   u 
  33d 
  An. 
  Rep., 
  Bur. 
  Amer. 
  Ethnol., 
  p. 
  186. 
  

   u 
  Smithsonian 
  Misc. 
  CoU., 
  vol. 
  72, 
  no. 
  1, 
  p. 
  66, 
  1919. 
  

  

  14 
  A 
  bowl 
  (324806) 
  found 
  beside 
  the 
  fireplace 
  was 
  partially 
  filled 
  with 
  charred, 
  shelled 
  

   corn. 
  

  

  