MiNDELEFp] DESCRIPTION OF GROUND PLANS. 203 



aid. Defensive walls such as this may have been are very rsire in 

 pueblo architecture, only one instance having been encountered by the 

 writer in an experience of many years. The maji seems to show more 

 local relief to this terrace than the general view indicates, but it should 

 be borne in mind that the contour interval is but 2^ feet. 



A comparison of the ground plau of this ruin and those previously 

 described, together with that of the ruin near the mouth of Fossil creek 

 (plate XVI), which is typical of this group, shows marked irregularity 

 in outline and plan. In the character of the debris also this ruin differs 

 from the Fossil creek ruin and others located near it. As in the latter, 

 bowlders were used in the wall, but unlike the latter rough stone pre- 

 dominates. In the character of its masonry this ruin forms an inter- 

 mediate or connecting link between the ruins near Limestone creek and 

 opposite Verde and the class of which the ruin near the mouth of Fos- 

 sil creek is typical. In the character of its site it is of the same class 

 as the Fossil creek ruin, being intermediate between the valley pueblos, 

 such as that near Limestone creek, and pueblos located on defensive 

 sites, such as the group opposite Verde. The ground plan indicates an 

 occupancy extending over a considerable period of time and terminat- 

 ing at or near the close of the period of aboriginal occupancy of the val- 

 ley of Eio Verde. 



Another ruin, of a type closely similar, occiu'S on a bluff near the 

 mouth of Fossil creek. The plan of this ruin is shown in figure 281. 

 The village is located close to the edge of the bluff, as shown in the 

 plan, and has an outlook over a considei-able area of bottom land adjoin- 

 ing the bluff on the east. It is probable that tlie cavate lodges whose 

 location some S or 10 miles above the ruin, on Fossil creek, is shown on 

 the general map (plate xi) were appendages of this village. 



The wall still standing extends but a few inches above the debris, 

 but enough remains to mark the principal wall lines, and these are 

 ftuther emphasized by the lines of debris. The debris here is remark- 

 ably clean and stands out prominently from the gTound surface, instead 

 of being merged into it as is usually the case. This is shown in the 

 general view of the ruin. There are twenty-five rooms on the gi-ound 

 plan, and there is no evidence that any of these attained a greater 

 height than one story. The population, therefore, could not have been 

 much, if any, in excess of forty, and as the average family of the Pueblos 

 consists of five persons, this would make the number of families which 

 found a home in this village less than ten. Notwithstanding this small 

 population the ground plan of this village shows clearly a somewhat 

 extended i)eriod of occupancy and a gradual growth in size. The east- 

 ern half of the village, which is located along the edge of the blufij 

 probably preceded the western in point of time. It will be noticed that 

 while the wall lines are seldom continuous for more than three rooms, 

 yet the rooms themselves are arranged with a certain degree of regu- 

 larity, in that the longer axes are usually parallel. 



