192 ANTIQUITIES OF THE VERDE AND WALNUT CREEK [eru. ann. 28 
A, B,orC. Room Dis now, as it probably always has been, really an . 
arched passageway ; in its floor is a mortar-like depression in which pos- 
sibly grain may have been pounded. A solid rock support left by the 
prehistoric workman, in front of this arched passage, shows on its 
sides the marks of the builder’s stone tools. Room E was apparently 
an open area, perhaps a recess or court rather than a living room, 
and, as there are no signs of a front wall, probably served as a porch 
for room F. At the edge of this porch is a shallow groove cut in the 
floor, extending at right angles to the edge of the cliff, in which it 
may be supposed the ancients rested their weapons before they 
discharged them at the enemy below.! The front wall of room F is 
well preserved, making this room the best in condition in the western 
series; it has a window and a closet, or niche, in the rear. The 
pear-shaped passageway into the adjoining room (G) is cut through 
a solid rock partition, the opening being just large enough for the 
passage of the human body. The remaining rooms (G, H, I, J), 
which are open in front, are comparatively large. There is an 
elevation in the floor fomuine a platform We rooms F and 
G, which may be likened to the banquettes in some other cavate 
lodges. 
The middle series of cavate lodges at Oak Creek has three rooms 
(K, L, M); these are merely a continuation of the western series 
from which the room first mentioned (K) is separated by undisturbed 
rock. This room is almost circular in shape; the curve of the roof 
extends from the highest point (about 6 feet), in the middle, to the 
floor. The distance on the floor across the broken entrance (there is 
no front wall) measures 11 feet, and from the face of the cliff to the 
rear wall 15 feet. The surface of the floor, composed of the natural 
stone considerably worn, is smooth, almost polished. There are three 
small niches in the rear of the room, the bottoms of which are slightly 
below the floor level. i 
Room L is the only one in the middle series retaining a remnant of 
the front wall that once closed the entrances of these caves. The 
distance from this wall to the rear wall is 10 feet, the width of the 
entrance 144 feet, and the height of the room 5 to 7 feet. There 
are two niches in the rear of this room and a shallow groove on 
the ledge in front, which projects beyond the wall at right angles to 
its length. Here also are two circular shallow depressions in the rock 
floor that might have been used as mortars for pounding corn or other 
seeds. 
The doorways or passages between rooms L and K and’L and M 
apparently remain in about the same condition as when the rooms 
1 Similar grooves are found on the East Mesa of the Hopi, overlooking the trail near Hano, which early 
warriors are said to have used for the same purpose. 
