36 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 



This was probabl}' used as a cistern since it is plastered 

 inside and may originally have been water-tight. In 

 front of these rooms are four smaller ones the outer 

 walls of which rested upon small aspen poles and a 

 cedar log so placed as to overcome the slope of the cave 

 floor. These poles are still sound with their bark intact. 

 The back w^all of the front row of rooms shows where 

 ceiling joists once rested providing a roof six feet high. 

 There were two other rooms at the southern end not in 

 line with the first four. These smaller rooms w^ere 

 evidently used for storage and they still contain many 

 corn cobs. At the base of the cliff w^as formerly the 

 ruin of a single room in w^hich a burial had taken place. 

 This structure furnished an excellent storage place 

 difficult to find and easily defended. 



Pueblo Bonito. In Chaco Canyon stands a typical 

 unprotected ruin of a large community house known 

 as Pueblo Bonito. It is close to the wall of the canyon, 

 roughly semicircular in shape, wdth five rows of rooms 

 on the ground, and was originally four or five stories 

 high. Across the front was a double row of rooms one 

 story high which enclosed a large court, in which w^re 

 tw^enty or more kivas. The entire length of the struc- 

 ture was G67 feet and its width 315 feet and it contained 

 more than 500 rooms. The masonry of the walls varies 

 in character, that of the first story being composed of 

 medium-sized hew^n stones and the upper stories of 

 small flat stones faced to form the outer surface. Man}- 

 sticks of timber are included in the walls to strengthen 

 them. This ruin was excavated by the Hyde Expedi- 



