66 PUEBLO ARCHITECTURE. 
One of the trails referred to in the description of Hano has been con- 
verted into a wagon road, as has been already described. The Indians 
preferred to expend the enormous amount of labor necessary to convert 
this bridle path into a wagon road in order slightly to overcome the 
inconvenience of transporting every necessary to the mesa upon their 
own backs or by the assistance of burros. This concession to modern 
ideas is at best but a poor substitute for the convenience of homes built 
in the lower valleys. 
MASHONGNAVI. 7 
Mashongnavyi, situated on the summit of a rocky knoll, is a compact 
though irregular village, and the manner in which it conforms to the 
Fig. 9, Mashongnavi and Shupaulovi from Shumopavi. 
general outline of the available ground is shown on the plan. Con- 
venience of access to the fields on the east and to the other villages 
probably prompted the first occupation of the east end of this rocky 
butte (Pl. xxvt). 
In Mashongnavi of to-day the eastern portion of the village forms < 
more decided court than do the other portions. The completeness in 
itself of this eastern end of the pueblo, in connection with the form of 
the adjoining rows, strongly suggests that this was the first portion of 
the pueblo built, although examination of the masonry and construction 
furnish but imperfect data as to the relative age of different portions 
of the village. One uniform gray tint, with only slight local variations 
in character and finish of masonry, imparts a monotonous effect of antiq- 
uity to the whole mass of dwellings. Here and there, at rare intervals, 
is seen a wall that has been newly plastered; but, ordinarily, masonry 
of 10 years’ age looks nearly as old as that built 200 years earlier. 
Another feature that suggests the greater antiquity of the eastern court 
of the pueblo is the presence and manner of occurrence here of the kiva. 
The old builders may have been influenced to some extent in their 
choice of site by the presence of a favorable depression for the construe- 
tion of a kiva, though this particular example of the ceremonial room 
is only partly subterranean. The other kivas are almost or quite below 
the ground level. Although a favorable depression might readily occur 
on the summit of the knoll, a deep cavity, suitable for the construction 
of the subterranean kiva, would not be likely to occur at such a distance 
from the margin of the sandstone ledge. The builders evidently pre- 
ferred to adopt such half-way measures with their first kiva in order to 
