MINDELEFF] 



FARMING OUTLOOKS. 303 



ably covered and protected by debris dropping from above, and possi- 

 bly the profile of the mounds was already established, being only 

 slightly modified by surface erosion since. 



About the center of the eastern side of the terrace, and also on the 

 western side, the water which falls on the surface of the structure is 

 discharged through rather pronounced depressions at these points. 

 These depressions are not the work of running water, though doubtless 

 emphasized by that agency, but re])resent low or open spaces in the 

 original structure, probably passageways or gateways. Furthermore) 

 before or inside each gateway there is a slightly depressed area, just 

 where we would expect to find it under our hypothesis, and showing 

 that the process of tilling in is not yet completed. If the structure 

 were to remain undisturbed for some decades longer these spaces would 

 doubtless be filled up from material washed from the mounds, giving 

 eventually a continuous slope from the base of the mounds to the edge 

 of the terrace. 



On the eastern margin of the map and in the southeastern corner 

 two small and sharply defined mounds, differing in character from any 

 others of the group, are represented. That shown on the eastern mar- 

 gin rises about 6 feet and the other about 10 feet above the surround- 

 ing level, and both stand out alone, no other remains occurring within 

 a hundred yards in any direction. These mounds seem a thing apart 

 from the other remains in the group ; and it is probable that they repre- 

 sent the latest period in the occupancy of this site, or possibly a period 

 subsequent to its final abandonment as a place of residence. Analogous 

 remains occur in conjunction with some large ruins in the north, and 

 there they represent single rooms, parts of the original structure kept 

 in a fair state of preservation by occasional repairs while the remainder 

 of the village was going to ruin, and used as farming outlooks long 

 after the site was abandoned as a place of residence. As these farming 

 outlooks have been discussed at some length in another paper ' it is 

 not necessary here to enlarge upon their function and the important 

 part they play in Pueblo architecture. If the high mounds in question 

 mark, as supposed, the sites of farming outlooks such as those which 

 are found in the north, they indicate that the occupancy of the region 

 in which they occur was continued after the abandonment of the Casa 

 Grande structure by the people who built it or by people of similar 

 habits and customs. 



An inspection of the map will show a number of depressions, some of 

 quite large area, indicated by dotted contour lines. The principal one 

 occurs a little west of the center of the area, and is worth more than a 

 passing notice since similar structiu'es are widely distributed through- 

 out this region. It may be roughly characterized as a mound with 

 excavated center. The ground for some distance about the structure 

 (except for two depressions discussed later) is quite flat. From this 



' A Study of Pueblo Architecture; 8th Ann. Rep. Bur. Eth., 1891, pp. 86, 227, and elsewhere. 



