246 



ABORIGINAL REMAINS IN VERDE VALLEY. 



I Eni. ANN. 13 



the depressions were the remaius of hirge council chambers, as the 

 floors were hard, plastered with mud, and dish-shaped, with a fire-hole 

 in the center of each; and no pottery or implements or remains of any 

 kind were found -except a number of "sitting stones." Mr. Gushing 

 found traces of upright logs which formed the outer wall of the struc- 

 ture; he inferred from the absence of drainage channels that the struc- 

 ture was roofed, and as the ordinary method of roofing is impracticable 

 on the scale of these structures, he supposed that a method similar 

 to that used by the Pima Indians in roofing their granaries was 

 emijloyed, the roof being of a flattened dome shape and composed of 

 grass or reeds, formed in a continuous coil and covered with earth. If 

 the depressions under discussion, however, are the remains of struc- 

 tures such as these described, they form a curious anomaly in tUis 

 region, for, as has been already stated, the affinities of the remains of 

 this region are with the northern architectural types, and not at all 

 with those of the southern. 



There is a third hypothesis which, though not supported by direct 

 evidence, seems plausible. It is that the depression of Clear creek, and 

 perhaps also the one on the opposite side of the Verde, were thrashing 

 floors. This hypothesis accords well with the situation of these depres- 

 sions upon the tillable bottom lands, and with their relation to the 

 other remaius in their vicinity ; and their depth below the surface of 

 the ground would be accounted for, under the assumption here made 

 of their use, by the high and almost continuous winds of the summer 

 in this region. Perhaps the slight depressions at the northern and 

 southern side of the oval were the gateways through which the ani- 

 mals which trampled the straw or the men who worked the flails passed 

 in and out. Whether used in this way or not, these depressions would 

 be, under the assumption that the bottom was plastered with mud, not 

 only practicable, but even desirable thrashing floors, as the grain 

 would be subjected during thrashing to a partial winnowing. This 

 suggestion would also account for tiie comparatively clean ground sur- 

 face about the depressions and for their location on slightly elevated 

 knolls. 



Scattered over the whole area formerly under cultivation along Clear 

 creek are the remains of small, single rooms, well marked on the ground, 

 but without any standing wall reraainmg. These remains are scat- 

 tered indiscriminately over the terrace without system or arrangement; 

 they are sometimes on the flat, sometimes on slight knolls. They num- 

 ber altogether perhaps forty or fifty. Plate xliii shows an example 

 which occurs on a low knoll, shown also in plate xl ; it is typical of 

 these remains. It will be noticed that the masonry was composed of 

 river bowlders not dressed or prepared in any way, and that the d(^bris 

 on the ground would raise the walls scarcely to the height of a single 

 low story. 



The location of these remains, their relation to other remains in the 

 vicinity, and their character all supjiort the conclusion that they were 



