214 ABORIGINAL REMAINS TX VERnF. VATvLEY. [eth.asx. 13 



of a Yolcaiiie dike, sonio SO or 00 feet loiii;-, wliieli at the soutbeni end 

 overhaiijis the stream, while the other end is merj;ed into the ground 

 le\ I'l. At its southern end the roek is some 50 feet above the water, 

 but l.">0 feet northward the dike isnolouijer traeeable. A jjeiieral view 

 of this dike is j;ivon in plate xxii, while the jinmnd plan, tigure 28ti, 

 shows the character of the site. There were rooms on all that portion 

 of the dike that stands out i)rominently from the .urnnnd level, and 

 traces of other rooms ean be seen on the ground level adjoining on the 

 north and in the causeway resulting from the breaking down and dis- 

 intogratii>nof the dike. Remains of eight rooms in all can be traced, 

 tive of which were on the sununit of the rock. The wall lines on the 

 summit arc still quite distinct and in jilaces fragments of the original 

 walls remain, as shown on the ground plan. The plan shows tyi)ical 

 pueblo roiuns of average size, and the masonry, though rough, is of the 

 same chaiacter as that of other ruins in the vicinity. 



Facility of defense undoubtedly had something to do with the choice 

 of this location, but that it was not the only desideratum consulted is 

 evident from the occurrence of a large area of fertile bottom land or 

 tlat river ti'rrace immediately adjoining the ruin ou the east and over- 

 looked by it; in fact, the volcanic dike on which the ruin occurs occu- 

 pies the western end of a large semicircular area of tillable land, such 

 as already described. N'iewed. however, as a village located with ref- 

 erence to defense it is th e most perfect example — facility of obtaining 

 water being considered — in this region. It may be used, therefore, to 

 illustrate an important principle governing the location of villages of 

 this type. 



A study of the ground plan (figure i!St>) and the general view (plate 

 XXII) will readily show that while the site and character of this village 

 are admirably adapted for defense, so well adaj^ted. in fact, as to sug- 

 gest that we have here a fortress or purely defensive structure, still 

 this adaptation arises solely from the selection of a site fitted by nature 

 for the purpose, or, in other words, from an accident of environment. 

 There has not been the slightest artificial addition to the uatui-i\l 

 advantages of the site. 



The statement may seem broad, but it is none the less true. that, so 

 far as our knowledge extends at the present time, fortresses or other 

 purely defensive structures form a tyv^e which is entirely unknown iu 

 the pueblo region. The reason is simj^le; military art. as a distinct 

 art. was developed in a stage of culture higher than that attained by 

 the ancient pueblo builders. It is true that within the limits of the 

 \meblo region structures are found which, from their character and the 

 character of their sites, have been hu>sely described as fortresses, their 

 deseribers losing sight of the fact that the adaptability of these struc- 

 tures to defense is the result of nature and not of art. Numerous exara- 

 pleii are found where the building of a single short wall would double 

 the defensive value of a site, but in the expeiieuce of the writer the 



