1/2 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



The diameter of the outer circle of slahs was 40 feet, and the inner, 

 the face of the bench, averaged 36 feet. It is possible that in this struc- 

 ture is to be seen the predecessor of the great kivas of the Chaco 

 pueblo cultures. 



Bins in which was stored the corn, raised on the canyon floor below, 

 were simple in form and were constructed in the same fashion as 

 the dwellings. They differed, however, in that no interior support 

 poles were used in the construction of the roof. The latter, like the 

 ante-chamber coverings, was no doubt cone-shaped. The circular 

 or oval pit averaged about six feet in diameter and three feet in 

 depth. 



Pottery found at this village was crude compared to that of the 

 following pueblo periods (fig. 195). Characteristic forms were full- 

 bodied jars with constricted, bottle-neck openings ; full-bodied vessels 

 with wide orifices ; globular-shaped pots with a small o])ening at the 

 top ; pitchers ; bowls ; and ladles. There were no corrugated pieces of 

 the type commonly found in ])uel)lo ruins. The surface finish on the 

 vessels is rather rough. The general color is a grayish to brownish 

 white. Ornamentation of the wares was confined to painted decora- 

 tions on bowl and ladle interiors. The designs were simple and in 

 general are highly suggestive of the basketry of the preceding ]ieriod 

 (fig. 197). The pigment is a brownish black in color. 



There was a great variety of bone implements, needles, awls, 

 scrapers, and hair-pins in the material from the houses (fig. 196). 

 Stone objects were chiefly in the form of metates, manos. mauls, 

 scrapers, knives, and a few arrowheads. The bow and arrow was just 

 coming into use at the end of this period. 



The village had no definite cemetery. The dead were interred 

 wherever it was found convenient to scoop out a shallow grave. In 

 practically all cases the body had been placed on its back, head to the 

 west, face to the north, with the knees flexed. Only three of the burials 

 had accompanying mortuary oft'erings. The absence of grave furniture 

 does not necessarily imply that the dead were buried without the 

 usual offerings of food and water to sustain the spirit in its journey 

 to the great beyond. At that stage in southwestern development, when 

 l^ottery was just beginning to be used, baskets were the main con- 

 tainers, and it is probable that the funerary deposits were of materials 

 which long since have cruml)led into dust. 



