EEWKES] EXCAVATIONS AT CASA GRANDE), ARIZONA 307 



This building was evidently formerly one story high. Its size is 

 so great that it is doubtful whether or not it was roofed, but if it 

 had a roof it would be one of the largest rooms of Compound A. 



11. The Northeast Peaza 



The removal of earth to a depth necessary to show the original 

 height of the walls about this plaza was a work of some magnitude, 

 but was accomplished in a short time. 1 The plaza (plate xxviil, a) 

 was not apparent until after the position of the northeast angle of 

 the compound had been determined and the walls of the northeast 

 building had been excavated. 



The situation of this plaza and the fact that no doorways opened 

 into it or terraced roofs looked down upon it, implies that it was not 

 a favorite one for ceremonial dances or spectacular performances. 

 As the walls about it are, as a rule, massive, the plaza may have 

 served as a safe place to which to fly for protection, and it is prob- 

 able that cabins, not unlike the Pima huts of the last generation, 

 were temporarily erected in this and other plazas. 



12. Central Peaza 



The centrally placed, and on that account probably the most 

 sacred, plaza (plate xxiv) of Compound A is surrounded by build- 

 ings, the roofs of which no doubt served as elevations from which 

 spectators could witness the sacred dances and games. The floor of 

 this plaza was solid, apparently hardened by constant tramping of feet. 

 The labor involved in cutting down the earth in this plaza to the 

 former floor was considerable, it being necessary to remove many 

 cubic yards of grout that had fallen from the thick walls of the 

 northeast building and the six ceremonial rooms. The southwest 

 corner of the plaza was not excavated because of a large stake to 

 which is attached the iron rod that serves as a guy for the northeast 

 corner of the roof built over the ruin. 



The plaza appears to have been used as a burial place, for a 

 human skeleton was dug out of the floor near its southeast corner, 

 but the body might have been buried after the compound had been 

 deserted. 



1 The author employed as laborers in this work Pima Indians from the vil- 

 lage of Blackwater. He found them very efficient workers and universally 

 honest in their work. It is believed that the $2,400 of the appropriation paid 

 to them was of great material aid, and that the work stimulated their men- 

 tality and did much to intensify their self-respect. 



