Il6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 82 



mens, so the writer could not always investigate conditions as thor- 

 oughly as he would have liked. 



BEAM SPECIMENS 



As has been previously stated, the primary objective of the expe- 

 dition was to secure datable beam material. With this in mind Kokop- 

 nyama was examined in 1928 and, though the site proved prolific in 

 the desired pottery types, little hope was felt for the discovery of pine 

 timbers, since the predominating woods today are juniper and pinyon. 

 Our activities were, therefore, directed to Showlow where pine trees 

 were still growing within a short distance of the ruin, and where pre- 

 vious examination had revealed that the ruin was destroyed by fire 

 and pine charcoal was abundant. 



After the memorable discovery of HH-39, which " bridged the 

 gap," my attention was directed to the less favorable Hopi country in 

 hope of substantiating the Showlow results from a widely separated 

 district. The chance was admittedly slim since the mesas are devoid 

 of pine, but having previously discovered several datable specimens 

 from Kawaioku, a pueblo of later date, some slight encouragement 

 was gained, and it was, hoped that the earlier pueblo of Kokopnyama 

 might fulfill our needs. At this time Doctor Douglass had not recog- 

 nized pinyon as reliable material, and it was not until much laboratory 

 work had been done by Mr. Haury that Doctor Douglass realized the 

 value of pinyon, and that once familiar with its characters, absolute 

 dates could be determined. This discovery was joyful news to me, 

 for I had begun to feel that my efl:'orts at Kin Tiel and Kokopnyama 

 were wasted, since only a few unfavorable specimens of pine had been 

 found. I had collected a number of pinyon specimens, both of wood 

 and charcoal, and with this latest development, I knew that not only 

 could Kin Tiel and Kokopnyama be dated, but that countless other 

 ruins situated in similar desert regions would eventually give up their 

 secrets. 



Unlike the Showlow ruin, Kokopnyama was not burned, which 

 further lessened our chances, since the preservation of wood is de- 

 pendent upon many factors that are rarely encountered in the proper 

 combination. To date 42 specimens from Kokopnyama have been 

 dated, 20 of which are charcoal, among which was only one pine speci- 

 men. The remaining 22 wood specimens were all from dwelling or 

 storage rooms and gave the following dates: 1380, 1430, 1383, and 

 1389; two of 1369, four of 1370, and one of 1399; three of 1400, and 

 one of 1416 ; one of 1400 ; one of 1255 ; one of 1371 ; and two of 1269. 

 These dates are grouped according to their association. 



