NO. II PUEBLO RUINS IN ARIZONA — HAURY AND HARGRAVE 97 



mined the sequence of Hopi pottery types, it was easy to select that 

 part of the ruin where beam material of the desired age might be 

 found. Only the presence or absence of charred or decayed pine would 

 affect the success of our 1929 work. 



The accuracy of Mindeleff's survey of the site was confirmed 

 through several tests, and having definitely located a point in the ruin 

 corresponding to a known point on his map, we established a per- 

 manent benchmark. From this point a base line was run through the 

 ruin. At convenient points cement monuments were erected from 

 which all tests and excavations were accurately plotted. 



After selecting a section to be worked, it was found that Min- 

 deleff had considered only well-defined room outlines, probably con- 

 sidering the talus on the mesa slope to be fallen walls from rooms 

 above. Tests along the slope, however, revealed midden-filled rooms 

 with debris containing sherds of late Pueblo Til and early Pueblo IV 

 types. The greater part of the pueblo occupied in late Pueblo III and 

 early Pueblo IV is then found to be outside of the ruin as mapped 

 by Mindelefif, the heavy lines outlined by him giving a fair idea of 

 the area occupied in late Pueblo IV (fig. 26). 



DWELLING ROOMS 



The distinctive characteristic of Kokopnyama masonry is the poor 

 quality of stone used. This material, Mesa Verde sandstone, is friable 

 and easily " blocked," but is unfit for " dressing." Also, because of its 

 softness, this stone is readily affected by weathering, which accounts 

 for the crumbled condition of exposed walls although Kokopnyama 

 is much more recent than many ruins of the Southwest whose walls, 

 excellently preserved, are constructed of more durable stone.^ Clay 

 used for mortar was dug from shale beds within the Mesa Verde 

 sandstone formation, and occurs in quantities under the mesa rim. 



Of the rooms we opened all vary somewhat in size (fig. 27). The 

 normal thickness of walls is about 12 inches, though walls 24 or 

 more inches in thickness are not unusual where strengthening mea- 

 sures were found necessary. No orderly arrangement of blocks 

 was found, both large and small stones being used at random; nor 

 was any attempt at coursing apparent in those walls examined. The 

 granular surface of the walls was protected by coats of natural, yellow- 

 clay plaster — as is common today among the Hopi. Plastering seems 



*22nd Ann. Rep., Bur. Anier. Ethnol., 1904, p. 134. 



