A LATE BASKET MAKER VILLAGE OF THE SOUTHWEST 



By frank H. H. ROBERTS, JR.. 



Arclu'oloi/isf. Bureau of Aincricaii litlnioloi/y 



The remains of a village erected during the late Basket Maker 

 period were excavated hy the writer in the Chaco Canyon, New 

 Mexico, during the summer of 1927, to obtain much-needed infor- 

 mation on a little-known phase of prehistoric southwestern archeology. 

 The site is located on top of the mesa which forms the southern wall 

 of the canyon nine miles east of the great ruins of Pueblos Bonito and 

 Chettro Kettle. Originally the village consisted of 18 houses, a large 

 circular ceremonial room or kiva, and 48 storage bins (fig. 190). 



Prehistoric sedentary cultures in the southwest have been grouped 

 into two divisions called l>asket Maker and Pueblo, the latter including 

 the cliff-dwellers. The Basket Maker group, which is the older, has 

 three subdivisions and the Pueblo has five. It was towards the end 

 of the third i)hase of the Basket Maker era that the village in the 

 Chaco Canyon was built and inhabited. Intervening between its 

 abandonment and decay and the present day was the whole Pueblo 

 cycle. 



During the Basket Maker III ])eriod, frequently called the Post- 

 Basket Maker, the crude one-room domiciles which the people erected 

 to shield themselves from the vagaries of the weather were generally 

 located on mesa tops and along the upper ledges of canyon walls, if a 

 large natural cavern was not available. The houses were indeed primi- 

 tive. They consisted of an oval or rectangular excavation roofed over 

 with a pole, l)rush, and ])laster su])erstructure. The earth walls of the 

 excavation were covered with thick plaster made from adobe or were 

 lined with large stone slalis (fig. 192). In the latter case, the plaster 

 was applied to the faces of the slabs. Four posts set in the floor about 

 two feet from the corners of the room supported the superstructure. 

 These posts carried a rectangular framework against which were 

 placed the upper ends of small ])oles, the lower ends of which were 

 embedded in the earth around the periphery of the excavation. These 

 small poles formed the sloping, upper walls of the house. The rec- 

 tangular space at the top probal)ly had a flat roof with an opening in 

 the center to serve as a smoke hole, possibly on occasions as an 

 entrance. The entire wooden structure was then covered with twigs, 

 bark, and plaster (fig. 191). 



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