8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. JO 



above that of the latter; Room 12 was erected at the same time and 

 on the same level as Room 10. 



The walls of all three first-level houses were entirely of adobe, 

 built up in layers, and smoothed or plastered on the inside. There 

 is' no means of determining the length of time each was inhabited, 

 but, after a certain period of occupancy, they gave way to Rooms 



9 and II. Here again the walls of the upper structures do not 

 coincide exactly with those of the lower; their orientation, never- 

 theless, remains practically the same. The floors in Rooms 9 and 

 II had been constructed 3 feet 9 inches above that in number 10 and 

 rested directly upon the irregular chunks of sun-dried adobe which 

 formerly composed the walls of the lower room. Plate 3 illus- 

 trates the relationship between the outer west walls of Rooms 8 

 and 9 and shows the difiference in their respective floor levels. 



While considering this series of dwellings, attention should be 

 called to certain peculiarities which have not been observed during 

 the excavation of other similar houses. In the outer east wall of 

 Room 8, averaging 36 inches above its base and 12 inches apart, was 

 a row of small holes, marking the former position of as many wall 

 pegs or hangers ; additional pegs may have existed in the destroyed 

 portion of the same wall. Holes of this sort in adobe dwellings are 

 really unique ; owing to their low position the use to which they were 

 put must remain doubtful. A doorway, 17 inches wide and about 

 24 inches high, pierced the south wall of this room, it being the only 

 lateral entrance yet observed among the prehistoric adobe dwellings 

 of western Utah. So far as could be determined neither wood nor 

 stone had been utilized in its frame. Room 9, directly above this 

 house, was obviously entered through the customary roof opening. 



At the south end of Room 10, in its opposite walls and 20 inches 

 above the floor, were two series of four holes each. Those on the 

 west side averaged 1 1 inches and those on the east 4 inches from 

 each other. They marked the former position of horizontal poles,, 

 built into the walls at the time of their construction and probably 

 formed a rude triangular bunk or shelf. This feature, also, is 

 believed to be unique among prehistoric ruins north and west of the 

 Rio Colorado and, if the conjecture be correct, it represents one of 

 the few examples of built-in benches yet discovered among aborigi- 

 nal dwellings of the Southwest. Similar series of pole rests were not 

 detected in any of the other Paragonah structures. 



Room 31, a third-level house, almost entirely destroyed by earlier 

 excavations, was the only dwelling in the big mound whose floor 



