46 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull, ro 



The castles and towers in Square Tower Canyon have been known 

 for many years and have been repeatedly photographed. 1 



Several descriptions of these ruins have been printed, but no satis- 

 factory studies of their structure have been published. They are 

 recognized as prehistoric and are generally thought to have been 

 inhabited contemporaneously with the cliff-dwellers of the Mesa 

 Verde, being built in the same style of architecture. 



Classification of Ruins in Square Tower Canyon 



The ruins in Square Tower Canyon are classified for convenience 

 in description as follows: 



(1) Ruins which have indications of inclosed circular kivas, with 

 mural pilasters and banquettes, and closely approximated surround- 

 ing rooms. To this class belong ruins 1, 2, and 10. Of these, Unit- 

 type Rum (No, 10) has only one kiva and belongs to the simplest or 



unit form of the pure type. Ruins 

 1 and 2 have two or more kivas and 

 are formed by a union of several 

 units, combined with towers and 

 great houses. (2) Ruins, the main 

 feature of which is absence of a cir- 

 cular kiva. The Twin Towers be- 

 long to this second or " great house " 

 type. The few cliff-dwellings hi 

 this canyon are small, generally 

 without kivas, resembling storage 

 cists rather than domiciles. 



Hovenweep House (Ruin 1) 



This ruin (fig. 7), the largest in the 

 canyon, is situated at the head of 

 the South Fork. Although many 

 of its walls have fallen, there still 

 remains a semicircular great house (B, C, D) with high walls con- 

 spicuous for some distance. The ruin is a pueblo of rectangular 

 form belonging to the pure type, showing circular depressions iden- 

 tified as kivas (K), embedded in collections of square and rectangular 

 rooms, and massive walled buildings (E) on the south side. 



The standing walls of the ruin are remains of a conspicuous 

 D-shaped tower (B, C, D), which is multichambered. Its straight 

 wall measures 23 feet, the curved wall 56 feet, and its highest wall, 

 which is on the northeast corner, is 15 feet high. At the northwest 

 angle of the ruin (A) there stand remains of high walls which indi- 



Fig. 7. — Ground plan of Hovenweep House. 



1 Among the older photographs .sen by ( lie author are those of W. II. Jackson, prints of which are on 

 exhibition in the State Historical Museum at Denver, Colo. 



