NO. 1873 PREHISTORIC RUINS IN GILA VALLEY FEWKES 415 



preserve traces of the same compound architecture or buildings with 

 a surrounding wall. They show signs of sporadic digging by ama- 

 teurs, but have never been systematically excavated. 



10. RUIN 4 MILES WEST OF SANTAN 



This ruin, like that at Santan, is situated on the north side of the 

 Gila and is a large mound surrounded by a rectangular wall. It 

 apparently belongs to the compound type. 



ii. SNAKE RUIN 



Snake Ruin, north of the Gila, was not visited by the author. 

 From reports it is believed to be a compound. 



12. SWEET WATER RUIN 



There is a low mound surrounded by a wall to the left of the road 

 from Sacaton to Casa Blanca which shows the compound type. A 

 plan of this compound has been published in a preliminary report on 

 Casa Grande. 



13. CASA BLANCA RUIN 



The mounds at Casa Blanca are among the largest in the Gila 

 Valley and the compound wall of one of them is most extensive. 

 In the middle of the last century, according to a contemporary 

 writer, the walls of this building projected above the ground, but 

 today they are level with the surface of the mound, though they 

 can be readily traced. The mounds in the neighborhood indicate 

 that this was formerly a settlement of importance and large size. 1 

 A considerable number of Pima Indians, possibly descendants of the 

 ancients, now inhabit a cluster of houses west of the main mounds. 



14. RUIN AT GILA CROSSING 2 



The mounds situated a short distance from Gila Crossing are 

 extensive, but have not been studied by the author. From descrip- 

 tions by those who have visited them, it appears that one or more 



1 Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Quarterly Issue, Vol. IV, 1907. This 

 was a vaaki of considerable size, having one or more compounds, clan houses, 

 burial mounds, and a large circular or oval well or reservoir with low banks. 

 The indications are that its size was greater than that of the Casa Grande 

 group of buildings. 



2 This compound is called by some of the Pimas Tcunarsat vaaki, or Lizard 

 Old House. Many folk tales are current among Pimas and Papagos concern- 

 ing it. 



