rozzEB] EXt'AVATlOX AT SANTIAGO AHUITZOTLA, MEXICO 37 



SEQUENCE 



It is impossible to state definitely the order of the construction of 

 the different parts uncovered in this excavation. It seems almost 

 certain that the history of the site extended over a considerable period 

 of time. There were constant changes. Renovation seems to have 

 been the watchword, floors built over floors with or without a pre- 

 vious destruction of the Avork underneath. The reader can well un- 

 derstand by this time the perplexing character of the details in the 

 successive plans. It has already been intimated that the conditions 

 here as regards floor built over floor are not by any means unique. In 

 almost all cases where excavations have been made in the area in- 

 cluded in Middle America there is this persistent phenomenon of 

 different floor levels. 



By a careful study of all the data it is possible to give some idea 

 of the approximate order of the building. There are many features 

 which must remain forever obscure. The perishable nature of the 

 adobe and earthen walls accounts for much natural destruction. 

 This, coupled with activit}' of the inhabitants to rebuild and renovate, 

 makes the task of establishing the history of the building a most diffi- 

 cult one. A small piece of floor perhaps not more than a few inches 

 square seems hardly large enough to furnish proof of tlie supposition 

 that a floor at this level once covered a large part of the site, and yet 

 this square bit has to be fitted in as a part of the history. 



Starting with the lowest floors the following sequence is offered 

 only as a suggestion of the probalile order in the building of the 

 site : 



I'i:ki()d I (pi. 2) — 



1. Floor and walls in Tnnnels ». o, /> under Northern Terrace. 



2. Floor Q, Q' in Tunnels /", r/, under Koonis I, II. 



3. Floor R in Tunnel f. 



4. Floor P-P" in Tunnels e-/r under Uooms I, II. Patio, and Floor A. 

 Four wells used during this period. 



Pekiod II (pi. 1) — 



Main Structure surrounded on four sides b.v Terrace and floor (U, U', U") 



in front of Terrace. 

 Wells probably filled up. 

 Refuse piles of ash made durin.ir this period. 

 Period III— . 



Southern Extension witli Rooms YII-IX, XI. 

 Later, Floor F. 

 Period IV — 



Additions to floor of Terrace (1) along eastern side of Room X and re- 

 mains of floor under B. (2) on west by Floor G, (3) along northern side 

 by Room XII and remains of floor under B', (4) on east by floor of the 

 same level as that of the Terrace. 



