82 CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA [BrH. ANN. 28 
PRESENT CONDITION 
Main Butipine 
The following description of the Casa Grande ruin (pls. 8-10) 
contains new facts derived from the author’s observations and exca- 
vations made in the winters of 1906-7 and 1907-8: 
CONSTRUCTION 
The walls of Casa Grande are of a fawn color slightly tinged 
with red. Externally they are rough and very much eroded, but 
the interior walls are plastered, still showing places that formerly, in 
the words of Father Kino, were as smooth as ‘‘Puebla pottery.” 
The walls are constructed of a natural cement, commonly called 
caliche by the Mexicans, composed of lime, earth, and pebbles; this 
was made into blocks, which were laid in courses. These blocks are’ 
supposed to have been made in position, the materials therefor being 
rammed into bottomless baskets or wooden frames, that were raised 
as the work progressed, until the wall reached the desired height. 
The blocks are not of uniform size, consequently the horizontal 
joints of the courses are not always the same distance apart. Although 
clearly shown in the outside walls, these joints are not visible in 
the interior walls on account of the plastering. 
The exterior faces of the walls are not perfectly plumb, the thick- 
ness of the walls at the top being much less than at the base. 
Impressions of human hands appear in places in the plaster of the 
north and the west room. Posts were used to support some of the 
narrow walls, and stones employed for the same purpose are found 
in their foundations. 
ROOMS 
The ground plan of the main building shows that its walls form 
five inclosures, which may be termed the north, west, south, east, 
and central rooms. When the walls had reached the height of about 
7 feet, these inclosures were filled solid with earth, the upper surface 
forming the floors of the rooms of the first story. In the north, west, 
south, and east inclosures there were two rooms above each ground 
room; the central room had three stories, being one story higher than 
the rooms which surrounded it. 
1 Many conflicting statements regarding the former height of Casa Grande are on record, most authors 
favoring three or four stories. There were undoubtedly four stories counting from the level of the plain 
to the top of the highest wall, as could be seen from the outside as one approached the structure, but the 
lowest story was filled solid with earth, so that inside the building there were really only three tiers of 
rooms, one above the other in the central part of the ruin and two on each of the four sides. The entrance 
into the lowest room was on a level with the roofs of the surrounding buildings, forming a terrace that 
surrounded the base of Casa Grande. Entrance to the upper rooms was effected by means of ladders from 
the outside and by hatchways. The positions of the outside doorways indicate that there were entrances 
on all four sides, but the middle room had only one doorway, which was situated on the east side. 
