94 CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA [eTH. ANN. 28 
balls, such as were used, according to Pima legends, in a game of kicking ball, were 
found in this court; this game is still practiced by the Pimas. Near one end there 
was excavated a square perforated stone, recalling that through which balls were 
thrown in the Nahuatl game of pelote. . 
As will be seen from the accompanying plan (pl. 6) of Compound 
A, the whole inclosure has not been completely excavated, but enough 
débris has been removed to show its general character. There are 
no large unexcavated mounds remaining in this compound, and the 
level space in the southeastern part was either a plaza or, more proba- 
bly, the site of many habitations, whose fragile walls have fallen, rais- 
ing the surface to a uniform height. On this supposition we should 
look here for the remains of houses in which the majority of the peo- 
ple lived. 
From the study of Compound A we can get an idea of the structural 
character of one of these Gila Valley prehistoric settlements. The 
people lived in clusters of houses surrounded by a common wall, which 
inclosed also massive houses that served as temples or as citadels for 
protection. Regarding the sociologic condition, whether each com- 
pound housed and protected many families unrelated by blood, or 
clans related to one another, can not be determined from the infor- 
mation available. That the compounds may have been built at 
different times appears probable, but it can hardly be supposed that 
one compound was completely deserted at one time and that the inhab- 
itants might have moved to another site a few hundred feet away. If 
these compounds were inhabited at the same time, it may be readily 
supposed that there was considerable intermarriage of clans and there- 
fore intermingling of blood. As no known legends speak of more 
than one chief of Casa Grande, the supposition is that the inhabitants 
recognized only one head. There is ground for the belief that the 
age of Compound A is not so great as that of Compound B, although 
it is of considerable antiquity. Casa Grande itself seems to have . 
been constructed at different times, as it shows evidences of growth 
by a series of additions. There are no known data by which its age 
can be computed and none to determine which compound was the last 
to be deserted. It is known that Compound A was a ruin in 1694, but 
from the earliest accounts nothing can be ascertained which would 
show how long before that date the ancients occupied the buildings. 
The indications afforded by the rate of wear of the walls since the 
beginning of the eighteenth century lead to the belief that a few gen- 
erations before that time Casa Grande was a populous settlement. 
The orientation of the surrounding walls of the compounds and of 
the buildings within them is well-marked, this feature appearing very 
significantly in Compound A. The greatest length of all the com- 
pounds is north and south. The doorways of the buildings, when 
practicable, open toward the east. 
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