NO. 1873 PREHISTORIC RUINS IN GILA VALLEY FEWKES 



413 



CLAN HOUS 



5. TCURIK VAAKI 



There is a large ruin a short distance south of the abandoned 

 American village, Adamsville, called also Sanford's Mill, which is 

 one of the largest and most instructive in the valley. The Pima 

 name for Adamsville is tciirik, the Turk's head cactus, which would 

 seem an appropriate name for 

 the neighboring ruin. It con- 

 sists of a cluster of mounds 

 (fig. 68), among which rises a 

 large central elevation that 

 may be identified as the citadel 

 of a compound. In addition, 

 there is a clan house with four 

 well-preserved walls above 

 ground and an oval depres- 

 sion surrounded by a bank of 

 earth which may have been a 

 vashki or ancient reservoir. 

 The most conspicuous of these 

 mounds is the citadel, which 

 looms high above the plain 



and is visible for a considerable distance, but the walls 1 that are best 

 preserved are those of the clan house a few hundred feet away. 



6. RUIN 5 MILES EAST OF CASA GRANDE 



This ruin is conspicuous for a considerable distance, its largest 

 mound or citadel being clearly visible from the last-mentioned 

 mound. It lies about half way between Tcurik vaaki and Casa 

 Grande and was apparently once a settlement of considerable size. 

 It is still pointed out by the Pimas, who retain the name Uturituk 2 

 for this place. 



Two sections of the surrounding wall of this compound still project 

 several feet above ground on the east side, indicating that it was 

 similar to the surrounding wall of the Casa Grande compound. 



There are prehistoric mounds on the north bank of the Gila about 

 opposite Blackwater, not far from a modern Pima settlement con- 



" 



OLIVE 

 RANCH 



FIG. 68. Tcurik vaaki 



1 These are figured in the author's account of the excavations of Casa 

 Grande in 1907-1908. 



2 The author has heard the ruin Casa Grande called Uturituk, probably a 

 confusion of names of the ancient and more modern settlement. 



