FEWKEsj ARCHITECTURE OF PUEBLO VIE.JO RUINS 177 



In the majoi-ity of houses in Pueblo Viejo there were three build- 

 ing materials emploj'ed in the walls, namely, stones, adobe, and logs. 



River- worn stones arranged in rows are in many ijlaces all that 

 remain of the ancient walls of rooms. It would seem that they for- 

 merly served as foundations, and were sometimes inserted in the 

 sides of the house, but in neither case were they closely fitted 

 together. They imparted a certain solidity to the walls, and, when 

 used in foundations, prevented erosion at a weak point in its struc- 

 ture. No attempt to dress these stones, or, indeed, to break them, 

 was noticed, but they were laid together with clay — the main building 

 material employed. 



There were manj' and conclusive evidences that logs were employed 

 in the construction of the house walls. These logs were driven 

 upright along the lines of the foundations at short intervals, and 

 gave strength to the walls and support to a roof which covered 

 the chamber. The spaces between them were filled in with stone 

 and adobe. 



In the early accounts of the ancient habitations of Pueblo Viejo 

 by Emory and Johnston mention is made of these logs, and manj- of 

 them were still standing in place when the Army of the West 

 passed through the vallej' in 184:7. Old residents of San Jose say 

 that when they first took up their abode in the place the tipright 

 logs in some of the Buena Vista house-clusters were still \isible. 

 Only a few now remain above ground, yet the bases of several were 

 discovered by the author's excavations. 



The rapid disappearance of these logs can doubtless be partly 

 explained bj^ their use as fuel. For years the mines in the neighbor- 

 hood employed laborers cutting firewood, and the large mesquite 

 bushes were used for that purpose. No doubt the logs of the early 

 buildings were among the first gathered by them. 



Terraced Gardens 



Students of Southwestern archeology are familiar with rows of 

 stones marking off the surface of the land in rectangles of great reg- 

 ularity. Some of these lines of stones extend for several hundred 

 feet. They occur on level mesa tops or on side hills, but there is 

 rarely any broken pottery or other evidences of human habitation 

 about them. Various interpretations have been advanced, to account 

 for these regular rows of stones. By some authorities they are siip- 

 jjosed to be the remains of house walls, or foundations of the same, 

 and as such they are commonly pointed out to the visitor. Minde- 

 leff speaks of them as "bowlder sites," and describes many from the 

 Verde valley. Similar bowlder sites are very abundant, especially 

 on the sides of the mesa bounding Pueblo Viejo, in the San Simon 

 valley; probably a correct interpretation of them in these localities 



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