HOLMES.] LA PLATA PUEBLO. 387 



RUINED VILLAGE ON THE RIO LA PLATA. 



Plate XXX. 



The first group of ruins observed is situated on the Eio La Plata, 

 about twenty-five miles above its junction with the San Juan, and 

 five miles south of the New Mexican line. It is doubtless the re- 

 mains of a large irregular village, and stands on a low terrace, some 20 

 feet above the river-bed, and near the centre of a large, fertile valley. 



It will be seen, by reference to the plate, which includes only the 

 more important part of the town, that the buildings have been isolated, 

 and, in a measure, independent of each other, differing in this respect 

 from most of the groups of ruins farther south and west. 



The forms are chiefly rectangles and circles ; one or two seem to have 

 been elliptical, while a number have consisted of irregular groups or 

 clusters of apartments. All that now remains to mark the site of these 

 ancient structures are the low, rounded heaps and lines of debris, com- 

 posed of earth, water-worn pebbles, and small fragments of sandstone. 

 The walls of four of the main structures are quite distinctly marked. 

 That of the circle c is still 4 feet high on the outside, and incloses a de- 

 pression, probably an estufa, which, in the center, is 2 or 3 feet below the 

 terrace-level. 



North of this, about 300 feet, is a truncated rectangular mound, 9 or 

 10 feet in height and 50 feet in width by 80 in length. On the east end, 

 near one of the angles, is a low, projecting pile of debris that may have 

 been a tower. There is nothing whatever to indicate the use of this 

 structure. Its flat top and height give it more the appearance of one 

 of the sacrificial mounds of the Ohio Valley than any other observed 

 in this part of the West. It may have been, however, only a raised 

 foundation, designed to support a superstructure of wood or adobe. 



North of this, again, and 100 feet distant, is a rectangular inclosure 

 about 60 by 100 feet. It is slightly excavated in the centre, and the 

 rounded and irregular wall is from 4 to 6 feet in height. The space be- 

 tween this and the last-mentioned structure is filled in to the depth of 2 

 or 3 feet, and the amount of debris about their bases indicates original 

 walls of considerable height. North of this are scattered a number of 

 inferior ruins, the walls of which are not always distinctly marked. These 

 extend back toward a row of low hills, the remnants of a superior ter- 

 race, on the summits of which a number of artificial depressions were 

 found. Such " dug holes" are generally quite numerous in the vicinity 

 of these ruins, and have doubtless in many cases been made by throw- 

 ing up earthworks for defensive purposes. South of the large circle is 

 a mass of ruins covering some 15,000 square feet, but so much reduced 

 that nothing further could be determined than the fact that it had con- 

 tained a large number of irregular apartments. Next to this is a rect- 

 angular ruin, containing three well-marked apartments. Its walls are 

 6 or 7 feet high, and, unlike those of the preceding examples, do not 

 coincide with the cardinal points. South of this, and occupying the 

 extreme southern end of the terrace, are a number of small circles and 

 mounds, while an undetermined number of diminutive mounds are dis- 

 tributed among the other ruins. 



To the east of the Indian trail, as shown in the plate, are a number of 

 inclosures of lesser importance, which, from want of time, were not 

 closely examined. 



Nowhere about these ruins are there any considerable indications of 

 defensive works, and the village, which is scattered over an area fully 



