SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I928 



163 



and ten inches in depth. The pole and plaster method of construction 

 continued, however. 



Entrance, in most cases, seems to have heen gained through small 

 doorways in the sides of the houses. Actual doorways, with two 

 exceptions, were not present in the ruins, hut the large stones used 

 to close them were frequently found in positions which indicated 

 lateral openings. A few of the house remains suggested that the smoke 

 hole in the center of the roof had also served as an entrance. 



An average village consisted of from six to fifteen houses, most 

 of which were grouped in a crescent shape — sometimes a rather long 

 and flattened one to be sure — although occasional structures were 



■ ■j^mi^-f'^Ktr^. 







Fig. 145. — Portions of walls in one of the ruins excavated. 



erected with apparently no regard for the general configuration. This 

 tendency to the crescent shape obtained even where the contour of 

 the ground upon which the village was erected did not necessitate it. 

 The houses in general were quite close together but did not touch. 

 One of the outstanding exceptions was the village illustrated in the 

 plan (fig. 146), where three of them did form a single structure. This 

 is the village which contained the second type of house, however, and 

 which is a good example of the step taken when communities of a 

 single structure with many rooms developed out of those consisting 

 of many one-roomed isolated dwellings. The fullest benefits of such 

 an advance were not possible until the sloping-sided structures had 

 given way to straight-walled l)uildings. 



