10 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 41 



tops of other walls. These dry walls served among other purposes to 

 shield the roofs of adjacent buildings from snow and rain. '\"\^ienever 

 mortar was used it appears that a larger quantity was employed than 

 was necessary, the effect being to weaken the wall since the pointing 

 washed out quickly, being less capable than stone of resisting ero- 

 sion. "^Mien the mortar wore away, the wall was left in danger of 

 falling of its own weight. The pointing was generall}^ done with 

 the hands, the superficial impressions of which show in several places. 

 vSmall flakes of stone or fragments of potter}^ were sometimes inserted 

 in the joints, serving both as a decoration, and as a protection by pre- 

 venting the rapid wearing away of the mortar. Little pellets of 

 clay were also used in the joints for the same purpose. 



The character of masonry in different rooms varies considerably, 

 in some places showing good, in others poor, workmanship. As a 

 rule the construction of the corners is weak, the stones forming them 

 being rarely bonded or tied. Component stones of the walls seldom 

 break joints ; thus a well-known device by means of which walls are 

 strengthened is lacking, and consequently cracks are numerous and 

 the work is unstable. Fully half the stones used in construction were 

 hammered or dressed into desirable shapes, the remainder being laid 

 as they were gathered, with their flat surfaces exposed when possible. 

 (Pis. 6, 7.) 



Some of the walls were out of plumb when constructed and the 

 faces of many were never straight. The walls show evidences of 

 having been repeatedly repaired, as indicated by a difference in 

 color of the mortar used. 



Plasters of different colors, as red, white, yellow, and brown, were 

 used. The lower half of the wall of a room was generally painted 

 brownish red, the upper half often white. There are evidences of 

 several coats of plastering, especially on the Avails of the kivas, some 

 of which are much discolored with smoke. 



The replastering of the walls of Hopi kivas is an incident of the 

 Powamu festival, or ceremonial purification of the fields commonly 

 called the "Bean planting," which occurs every February. On a 

 certain day of this festival girls thoroughly replaster the four walls 

 of the kivas and at the close of the work leave impressions of their 

 hands in white mud on the kiva beams. 



The rooms of Spruce-tree House may be considered under two 

 headings : secular rooms, and ceremonial rooms, or kivas. The former 

 are rectangular, the latter circular, in form. 



SECULAR ROOMS 



The secular rooms are the more numerous in Spruce-tree House. 

 In order to designate them in future descriptions they were num- 

 bered from 1 to 71, in black paint, in conspicuous places on the walls. 



