M.NDELEFF] MATERIAL USED IN CONSTRUCTION. 249 



That portion of the standing wall of the ruin opposite Verde, which 

 occurs in the saddle northeastward from the main cluster, shown on the 

 plan in plate xvii, represents the best masonry found in this region. 

 As elsewhere stated, this was probably the last part of the village to be 

 built. These walls are shown in plate xlvii. It will be noticed that 

 the stones are of very irregular sha^ie, rendering a considerable amount 

 of chinking necessary to produce even a fair result, and that the stones 

 are exceptionally large. The masonry of this village is characterized 

 by the use of stones larger than common, many of them being larger 

 than one man can carry and some of them even larger than two men can 

 handle. 



All the larger and more important ruins of this region are constructed 

 of limestone slabs, sometimes with bowlders. The smaller ruins, on 

 the other hand, were built usually of river bowlders, sometimes with 

 an intermixture of slabs of limestone and sandstone but with a decided 

 preponderance of river bowlders. This would seem to suggest that this 

 region was gradually populated, and that the larger -structures were the 

 last ones built. This suggestion has been already made in the discus- 

 sion of the ground plans, and it is, moreover, in accord with the history 

 of the pueblo-builders farther northward, notably that of the Hopi. 



Plate XXI illustrates a type of bowlder masonry which occurs on 

 Clear creek ; i>late XLViii shows the masonry of the ruin at the mouth of 

 the East Verde, and plate xvi shows that of aruin atthe mouthof Fossil 

 creek. In all these examples the stone composing the walls was derived 

 either from the bed of an adjacent stream or from the ground on which 

 they were built, and was used without any preparation whatever; yet 

 in the better examples of this type of masonry a fairly good result was 

 obtained by a careful selection of the stones. A still ruder type of 

 masonry sometimes found in connection with village ruins is shown in 

 figure 290. This, however, was used only as in the example illus- 

 trated, for retaining walls to trails or terraces, or analogous structures. 



In a general way it may be stated that the masonry of the village 

 ruins of this region is much inferior to that of the San Juan region, and 

 in its rough and unfinished surfaces, in the use of an inferior material 

 close at hand rather than a better material a short distance away, and 

 in the ignorance on the part of the builders of many constructive 

 devices and expedients emiiloyed in the best examples of pueblo 

 masonry, the work of this region may be ranked with that of the 

 Tusayan — in other words, at the lower end of the scale. 



There is but little masonry about the cavate lodges, and that is rude 

 in character, As elsewhere stated, walled fronts are exceptional in 

 this region, and where they occur the work was done very roughly. 

 Figure 301 shows an example that occurs in the group of cavate lodges 

 already described. It will be noticed that little selection has been 

 exercised in the stones employed, and that an excess of mortar has 



