FEWKEs] GENERAL FEATURES OF BLACK FALLS RUINS 41 



eacli other. Tin- flianictei- of the saudstoue of the region is such 

 that wheu the stoue is fractured shibs are produced wJiich make pos- 

 sible the construction of excellent walls. Blocks of lava, however, 

 have no flat faces, and their use as building material results in jjoor 

 masonry, for the adobe mortar readily washes from the joints and the 

 walls soon fall. It is rare to find houses built of lava which now 

 stand many stories liigli. The best rooms constructed of lava con- 

 tain also sandstone slabs, which have strengthened their walls, as in 

 the "Citadel" of the Black falls ruins, where blocks of sandstone 

 were also used as lintels. Xone of the walls show evidence that the 

 building stones were dressed after being quarried. 



The sites of these ruins are ordinarily elevated, and it is not uncom- 

 mon to find an entire mesa top either covered with rooms or sur- 

 I'ounded by a wall. 



The highest walls of these pueblos were as a rule situated on the 

 north and west sides, the puel)los being terraced on the south and 

 east. This arrangement was apparently adopted to secure sunny 

 exposure. 



The ground-floor rooms had no lateral external entrances, but where 

 there were several chambers side by side they communicated with each 

 other by doorways. In the case of two or three story houses, it is prob- 

 able that the ground floor was used for storage and was entered from the 

 roof. This is an architectural feature still retained in the old Hopi 

 houses, but it has Ijeen somewhat masked by modern liuildings erected 

 in front of them. The old houses of Walpi, Sichumovi, and llano 

 had ground floors which were entered from the roofs, to which one 

 mounted bj' ladders, while entrance to the second story was gained 

 by means of a side doorway from the roof of the first. Many of these 

 old I'ooms are still to be seen at Walpi, especially around the plaza, 

 and there are one or two examples in the villages of Sichumovi and 

 Hano," The oldest houses of Tusayan never had lateral entrances 

 from the ground floor, but when the first story was occupied it was 

 provided with a hatchway in the roof. This tj-pe of room, however, 

 is rapidly disappearing, the majority of grotmd-floor rooms on the 

 East mesa now being pro\'ided with doorways in the walls. On the 

 Middle mesa and at Oraibi the number of ground-floor rooms entered 

 by a side door is still smaller than on the East mesa. It maj- safely 

 be laid down as a rule that whenever in the Ilopi pueblos one finds 

 rooms on the ground floor entered by lateral doors, the construction 

 is new.* 



a A good example of the ancient houses of Walpi. in which the lower story serves as a dwelling 

 room at certain times, is Saliko's home, near the Snake rock, and the row of rooms from Honsi's 

 house to the Mon kiva. The Flute house is also a fine example of this type. In Sichumovi the 

 house of Piitce illustrates this ancient type, and there are several examples of it in Hano, of 

 which Kalacai's house is a good one. 



ft The author will consider this architectural likeness of the gi'ound rooms of the ancient ruins to 

 old Hopi houses in his final article on the Black falls ruins, where plans will he given illustrating 

 the relation of the ground-floor rcjoms witli lateral doors to the old rooms on the East mesa. The 

 ruins near Black falls have their ground-floor rooms like the old rooms of the Hopi pueblos. 



