228 ABORIGINAL REMAINS IN VERDE VALLEY. [eth.ann.is 



and the same in depth, while the others are mere depressions in the 

 floor, in shape like the small paint mortars used by the Pueblos. 



The room, when opened, contained a. deposit of bat dung and sand 

 about 3 feet thick in the center and averaging about 2 feet thick 

 throughout the room. This deposit exhibited a series of well defined 

 strata, varying from tlu-eefourths to an inch and a lialf thick, caused 

 by the respective predominance of dung. or sand. No evidence of dis- 

 turbance of these strata was found although careful examination was 

 made. This deposit was (bleared out and a number of small articles 

 were found, all resting, however, directly on tlie floor. Tiie articles 

 consisted of fragments of basketry, bundles of fibers and pieces of 

 fabrics, pieces of arrowshafts, fragments of grinding stones, three 

 sandals of woven yucca fiber, two of tliem new and nearly perfect, and 

 a unmber of pieces of cotton cloth, the latter scattered over the room 



and in several instances gummed to the 

 floor. Only a few fragments of ]>ottery 

 were found in the main room, but outside 

 in the northern passageway were the frag- 

 ments of two large pieces, one an olla, the 

 other a bowl, both buried in 3 or 4 inches 

 of debris under a large slab fallen from 

 the roof. 



Owing to its situation this room was one 

 of the most desirable in the wliole group. 

 Tlie prevailing south wind blows through 

 it at all times, anil this is doubtless the 



Fio. 293. — Section of water porkt-t. 4.1 a -i. i ^211 i • ^-i 



^ reason that it was so mucli filled up with 



sand. In the center of the room the roof lias fallen at a comparatively 

 recent date from an area about 10 by 7 feet, in slabs about an inch 

 thick, for the fragments were within G inches of the top of the debris. 

 The walls are smoke-blackened to a very slight extent compared with 

 the large room south of it. 



At the northeastern and stmthwestern corners there are two small 

 pockets, opening on the floor level but sunk below it, which seem to 

 have been designed to contain water. That in the southwest corner is 

 the larger; it is illustrated in the section, figure 293. As shown in 

 the section and on the plan (figure 291), a low wall composed of adobe 

 mortar and broken rock was built across the opening on the edge of 

 the floor, perhaps to increase its capacity. This cavity would hold 15 

 to 20 gallons of water, a sufficient amount to supply the needs of an 

 ordinary Indian family for three M^eeks or a month. The pocket in 

 the northeastern corner of the room is not quite so large as the one 

 described, and its front is not walled. 



West of the main room there is a storage room, nearly circular in 

 shape, with a diameter of about G feet and witli a floor raised about 2 

 feet above that of the main room. Its I'oof is but 3 feet above the floor, 

 and across its western end is a low bench a couple of inches above the 



