MisDELEFF] PERIOD OF OCCUPANCY. 209 



In the riiiu uiitler discussion it seems that each of tliese oblong rooms 

 was divided by a transverse partition into two smaller rooms, although 

 the oblong form is also common. This is noticeable in the south- 

 western corner and on the eastern side of the main cluster, in the 

 southwestern corner and on the northern end of the cluster adjoining on 

 the north, and in all the smaller clusters. It is probable that the 

 western central part of the main cluster was the first portion of the 

 group of structures built, and that subsequently as the demand for 

 accommodation increased, owing to increase of population, the rooms 

 on the eastern and southern sides of the main cluster were added, 

 while the rooms of the older portion were divided. 



There is no evidence that any portion of this cluster attained a greater 

 height than two stories, and only a small number of rooms reached that 

 height. The small cluster adjoining on the north, and those on the 

 southeast, southwest, and west, were built later and belong to the last 

 period of the occupancy of the group. The builders exhibited a decided 

 predilection for a fiat site, as an examination of the sites of the various 

 room clustei'S in the ground i)lan (plate xvii) will show, and when the 

 sight of the main cluster became so crowded that additional rooms could 

 be added only by building them on the sloping hillside, recourse was had 

 to other sites. This tendency is also exhibited in the cluster adjoining 

 the main cluster on the north, which Avas probably the second in point 

 of age. The northern end of this small group of rooms terminates at 

 the foot of the hill which rises northeastward, while a series of wall 

 lines extends eastward at an angle with the lines of the cluster, but 

 along the curve of the hillside. 



The small northern cluster was in all probability inhabited by live 

 or six families only, as contrasted with the main cluster, which had 

 sixteen or seventeen, while the smaller clusters had each only two or 

 three families. The strong presumption of the later building and 

 occupancy of the smaller clusters, previously commented on, is sup- 

 ported by three other facts of importance, viz, the amount and height 

 of the standing wall, the character of the sites occupied, and the extra- 

 ordinary size of the rooms. 



Although as a rule external appearance is an unsatisfactory crite- 

 rion of age, still, other things equal, a large amount and good height 

 of standing wall may be taken to indicate in a general way a more 

 recent period of occupancy than wall lines much obliterated and 

 merged into the surrounding ground level. The character of the site 

 occupied is, however, a very good criterion of age. It was a rule of 

 the ancient jjueblo builder, a rule still adhered to with a certain degree 

 of persistence, that enlargement of a village for the purpose of obtain- 

 ing more space must be by the addition of rooms to those already built, 

 and not by the construction of detached rooms. So well was tliis rule 

 observed that attached rooms were often built on sites not at all 

 adapted to them, when much better sites were available but a short 

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