2Q6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vol. 50 



jog, above mentioned, in the east wall opposite the northeast build- 

 ing. It may have been that the inner of the double walls was built 

 first, and that, when finished, failing to please the builder, a new wall 

 was constructed to replace it. 



The height of the wall surrounding the compound can only be con- 

 jectured, but from the amount of debris six feet would be a conserva- 

 tive estimate. Of course, when any part of the surrounding wall 

 formed the wall of a building, its height was greater, rising near the 

 southwest angle to over 20 feet. The width of the wall also varied in 

 different places, being, as a rule, greatest where it served for walls 

 of enclosed buildings. At points where the component blocks of this 

 wall are clearly to be seen they are identical with those of the main 

 building. The walls of the enclosed rooms were also constructed 

 in the same way as those of Casa Grande — of huge blocks of grout, 

 the outlines of which are still visible. It is not wholly clear, how- 

 ever, that they were made in movable frames, as is generally believed, 

 but rather laid in courses, the lines of separation representing periods 

 of labor. As in the main ruin, the prints of human hands and fingers 

 can be seen on component lumps of ''caliche," as if they were patted 

 into shape after the lumps were laid on the walls. Each of these com- 

 ponent lumps of clay was a good basket load for transportation on 

 a man or woman's back. The walls are sometimes strengthened 

 with upright logs, and in a few cases the base of the wall is in- 

 creased in thickness, as shown in plate xxxv, b. 



The outside surface of the buildings seems to have been originally 

 smooth, perhaps plastered, but was generally found to be so eroded 

 that the superficial covering had been worn away. In a few places 

 the warm orange-red color of the historic structure was detected on 

 the newly exposed walls. 1 The inner surface of most of the walls 

 of the buildings is blackened by smoke, while the beams of the floor 

 or roof are generally reduced to charcoal. This black mural dis- 

 coloration is laminated, showing that the rooms were freshly plas- 

 tered from time to time. Green paint appears on some of the 

 walls, but no drawings or figures are visible. There are hand and 

 finger prints in the clay of which the walls were made, but they 

 are very indistinct. Most of the corners of the rooms are not 

 bonded, and there are cracks wide enough to admit the hand be- 



1 It cannot be denied that the outer wall of the historic building, Casa 

 Grande, has a marked reddish color on its surface ; but whether this color 

 resulted from paint or oxidation is as yet undetermined. The color of Casa 

 Grande is not white, as some have stated, but red. 



