192 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



placed to prevent the inrushing air from l^lowing directly on the fire. 

 Many of the rooms had a second stone which could be used to close 

 the vent opening entirely if so desired ( fig. 170). 



Houses of this type were found in clusters of from four to six, 

 probably rej^resenting family or clan units. A number of these units 

 gathered together would constitute a small village. 



At the east or southeast side of each unit was a trash mound where 

 the refuse from the houses had been deixisited. These mounds had 

 also served as the burial places for the dead. Each interment was 

 accompanied by mortuary offerings of pottery and. as the deceased 

 had been placed in the grave bedecked with articles of personal adorn- 

 ment, many fine specimens of shell bracelets, beads, and pendants were 

 obtained. These articles of material culture together with the in- 

 formation on house types makes possible the drawing of a fairly 

 complete picture of the life of the ]ieople during the early period in 

 that district. 



The building which belonged to the later period was found to have 

 been an L-shaped structure of 49 rooms and 4 kivas or ceremonial 

 chambers. Its walls were of two types. Some had been constructed 

 of stone, others of adobe mud (fig. 172). That stone was not used 

 throughout was probably due to the scarcity of such material in the 

 immediate neighborhood. This communal house was not erected from 

 a preconceived plan. Four distinct stages in its growth were plainly 

 evident. To a small structure of eight rooms and a kiva, six more 

 rooms and a second kiva were added. Then after a time 10 more 

 rooms and a third kiva were erected. The building as it then stood 

 was occupied for a considerable period before the final group of 25 

 rooms and the fourth kiva was built. 



The refuse mound, also the cemetery, was located a short distance 

 east of the communal structure. Another example of stratigraphic 

 evidence was found here. It was discovered that the waste material, 

 the refuse from the village, had been deposited on and completely cov- 

 ered the mound formed by the filled-in ruins of a ]V\t house cluster. 

 This further demonstrated the greater antiquity of the cruder house 

 tyi)es. The burials of this mound were also accompanied by mortuary 

 offerings of various kinds which aid in rounding out the complex of 

 the culture. 



Outstanding in the results from the excavations is the evidence that 

 the pit house, a development of an earlier culture, survived in the 

 Pueblo horizon in this district, while in the north, along the San 

 Juan River, people belonging to the same cultural level were build- 

 ing and living in rectangular structures the major portions of which 



