The Cliff Ruins of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona Part 6

Figure 39 shows a ruin where the site was not so restricted. One well-defined room and two kivas still remain, and there are traces of other chambers. The main kiva formed part of a compact little group of rooms, of which it occupied the front, and appears to have been inclosed by a curved wall of rough construction. A curved inclosing wall is an anomalous feature, and it is not at all certain that it occurs here, as the wall is so much broken down that its lines can not now be clearly made out. Excavation would doubtless determine this, as the whole site has been much filled up with sand and loose earth.

The second kiva, which was about the same size as the first, was situated some little distance from the other, and on the outer edge of the little platform or bench on which the settlement was located. It still shows about half of its wall. The rectangular room near the main kiva still stands to a height of 3 and 4 feet. The wall nearest the kiva is pierced by a number of small openings, and by a neatly finished double-notched doorway, which is ill.u.s.trated in another place (figure 67).

The whole front of the site has been filled up to a probable depth of several feet, and a number of Navaho burials have been made on it. These are shown on the plan by shaded spots. Owing to the soft ground underneath, it was easier to excavate a hole and wall it up than to construct the regular surface cist, and the former plan was followed.

Although many of the sites are covered with bowlders and blocks of stone fallen from above, which often occur among and even over walls, close inspection generally shows that the walls were constructed after the rocks fell. There are two instances, however, which are doubtful, and in one (shown in figure 40) it appears that large blocks of rock have fallen since the walls were constructed. Such falls of rock are not uncommon now in the fall and winter months, when frost and seepage from the melting snow sometimes split off huge fragments.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 39--Ground plan of a ruin in Canyon de Ch.e.l.ly.]

The site mentioned occurs at the point marked 47 on the map. It is in a cove under a ma.s.s of rock which juts out from the cliff, and is about 30 feet above the bottom, on the edge of a slope of loose rock which extends some distance above it. At the top of the talus, over 200 feet above, there is another ruin, which was probably only an outlook, as no trace of a kiva can be found, and it is possible that the lower site was connected with and formed part of the upper one. The lower site contained a circular kiva, only a small portion of which now remains, and the ground is covered with blocks of rock which must have fallen since the walls were built. They appear to have fallen quite recently.

It can still be seen that the kiva had an interior bench, and that there was a room, or perhaps rooms, between it and the back of the cove; but beyond this nothing can now be made out.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 40--Site showing recent fall of rock.]

There are many favorable sites in the branch canyons, but not many of them are occupied, possibly because in the upper parts of these canyons the bottom land is of small area and is sometimes rough, being composed of numerous small hillocks. The flat bottom lands of the canyon proper are much easier to cultivate, but the sites in the side canyons offered much better facilities for defense. Figure 41 shows the plan of a ruin which occurs at the point marked 69 on the map, on the western side of a branch canyon through which pa.s.ses the trail to Fort Defiance. It is situated in a shallow cove at the top of the talus and overlooks an extensive area of fine bottom land below it. At the eastern end there is a single room about 10 feet long; its front wall extends up to the overhanging rock, which forms the roof of the room. A small cist has been built against it on the west.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 41--Ruin No. 69, in a branch canyon.]

About 60 feet west, on the same ledge, there are remains of other rooms which rested probably on the talus. Several rooms can be made out, but only one shows standing walls. This is on the western end, and the walls are now about 5 feet high. Four feet from the top of the wall there is a clear line of demarcation extending horizontally across it. Below this line the masonry consists of large flat slabs of rock laid in mud mortar, which was used nearly dry and stuffed into the cracks to some extent. Above the line the stones were carefully selected and the work was well done, the whole being finished by a thin coat of plaster. There is no opening in the lower part, but in the upper part there is a neatly finished doorway 3 feet high and slightly tapering. The bottom of this opening extends 2 inches below the line, and the lintel is composed of a large slab of stone a trifle wider than the thickness of the wall, but fitted flush on the outside.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 42--Ground plan of a small ruin in Canyon del Muerto.]

On a bench about 100 feet higher than the ruin described there are two small rooms, extending up to the overhanging rock above them. These rooms, which may be of Navaho origin, were reached by means of a narrow ledge extending from the top of a slope of loose rock and debris about 300 yards to the southward, or up the canyon.

Figure 42 is a ground plan of a small ruin in Del Muerto in which the usual preponderance of rectangular rooms is ill.u.s.trated. The site was restricted, but there is an apparent attempt to carry out the usual arrangement of a row of rooms against the cliff, with a kiva in front.

Probably only three of the rooms shown were used as habitations. The plan of the kiva, which occurs in the center, was somewhat marred by a large bowlder, which must have projected into it, but apparently no attempt was made to dress off the projecting point.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 43--Ground plan of a small ruin.]

Figure 43 is the plan of a ruin located on a more open site. Only a few walls now remain, but there is no doubt that at one time more of the site was covered than now appears. There are remains of two, and perhaps of three, circular kivas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 44--Plan of a ruin with curved inclosing wall.]

Figure 44 shows a ruin in which the plan is somewhat more elaborated.

There are remains of several well-defined rooms, and two kivas are still fairly well preserved. The ledge is narrow and the rooms are stretched along it, with kivas at either end. That on the east was benched nearly all around its interior, and the outside inclosing wall, on the east, apparently follows the curve. An example in which this feature occurs has been mentioned above (page 138). It is very rare, but in this case the evidence is clearer than in the one previously described. The western kiva, somewhat smaller than the other, was also benched, and had an exterior shaft, like those mentioned above and later described at length.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 45--Ground plan of ruin No. 34.]

Figure 45 is a plan of a small ruin of the same type, which occurs in the middle region of De Ch.e.l.ly. It occupies the site marked 34 on the map, and is situated in a niche in a deep cove, where the outlook is almost completely obscured by a large sand dune in front of it. It comprised one circular kiva and four rectangular rooms, but, contrary to the usual result, the latter are fairly well preserved, while the former is almost completely obliterated. This may be due to the use of the rectangular rooms as sites for Navaho burial cists, of which there are no fewer than six here, and possibly the kiva walls furnished the necessary building material for the construction of the cists. The old masonry is of good quality, the outside wall being formed of selected stones of medium size, well laid and carefully c.h.i.n.ked. Most of the walls were plastered inside. In a cleft in the rock to the right of this ruin there is a kind of cave, with foot-holes leading up the rock to it, and quite difficult of access. It formerly may have been used for storage, but at present contains only some remains of Navaho burials.

IV--CLIFF OUTLOOKS OR FARMING SHELTERS

Ruins comprised in the cla.s.s of cliff outlooks, or farming shelters, are by far the most numerous in the canyon. They were located on various kinds of sites, but always with reference to some area of cultivable land which they overlooked, and seldom, if ever, was the site selected under the influence of the defensive motive. It is not to be understood that such motive was wholly absent; it may have been present in some cases, but the dominating motive was always convenience to some adjacent area of cultivable land.

The separation of this cla.s.s of ruins from the preceding village ruins, while clear and definite enough in the main, is far from absolute. The sole criterion we have is the presence or absence of the kiva, as the sites occupied are essentially the same; but this test is in a general way sufficient. It is possible that in certain cases the kiva is so far obliterated as to be no longer distinguishable, but the number of cases in which this might have occurred is comparatively small. The kivas, as a rule, were more solidly constructed than the other rooms, and, as the preceding ground plans show, sometimes survived when the rectangular rooms connected with them have entirely disappeared.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 46--Ground plan of cliff outlook No. 35.]

Figure 46 is the plan of an outlook in the same cove as the last example of village ruin ill.u.s.trated, and only 200 or 300 yards south of it. It may have been connected with that ruin, but could not in itself have been a village, as there are no traces of a kiva on the site, and hardly room enough for one on the bench proper. At the extreme northern end there are traces of walls on the rocks at a lower level.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 47--Plan of a cliff outlook.]

The walls which were at right angles to the cliff were not carried back to it after the usual manner, but stopped about 3 feet from it, and the rooms were closed by a back wall running parallel to the cliff, and about 3 feet from it. This wall rises to a height of about 4 feet before it meets the overhanging cliff, and consequently there is a long narrow pa.s.sageway, about 3 feet high and 3 feet wide on the bottom, between it and the cliff. A small man might wriggle through, but with difficulty.

The ruin commands a fine outlook over the cove. The masonry is good, being composed of selected stone well c.h.i.n.ked with small spalls, and sometimes with bits of clay pressed in with the fingers.

Figure 47 shows a ruin located at the point marked 37 on the map. There is a high slope of talus here, the top of which is flat and of considerable area.

The ruin is invisible from below in its present condition, but the site commands a fine outlook over several considerable areas of bottom land.

The walls are now much obliterated and worked over by the Navaho, but the remains are scattered over quite an extensive area and may have been at one time an extensive settlement; however, no traces of a kiva can now be seen. Marks on the cliff show that some of the houses had been three stories high. Some places on the cliff, which were apparently back-walls of rooms, were plastered and coated with white, and there are many pictographs on the rock. The masonry is of fair quality, but the stones were laid with more mortar than usual.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 48--Plan of cliff ruin No. 46.]

Figure 48 is a ground plan of a ruin which occurs at the point marked 46 on the map. It is situated in a cove in the rock at the top of the talus, 300 or 400 feet above the bottom, and immediately above the rectangular single room described and ill.u.s.trated on page 151. It commands an extensive outlook over the bottom lands on both sides of the canyon and above. The cove is about 40 feet deep, and, though so high up, has been used as a sheep close, and doubtless some of the walls have been covered up. Four rooms are still standing in two little cl.u.s.ters of two rooms each. The walls of the rooms on the west are composed of large stones laid in plenty of mud mortar and plastered inside and out; those of the eastern portion were built of small stones, c.h.i.n.ked but not plastered. One of the rooms is blackened by smoke in the corner only, as though there had been some chimney structure here, which subsequently had fallen away. The cliff walls back of the eastern part are heavily smoke-blackened; back of the western portion there are no stains. There is now no trace of a circular kiva, but there is a heavy deposit of sheep dung on the ground which might cover up such traces if they existed. This site commands one of the best outlooks in the canyon, but access, while not very difficult, is inconvenient on account of the great height above the bottom.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 49--Plan of cliff room with part.i.tions.]

Figure 49 shows a common type of ruin in this cla.s.s. The original structure appears to have contained one or two good rooms, which by subsequent additions have been divided into several. These later additions may have been made by the Navaho, who used the building material on the ground; at any rate the structure is now merely a cl.u.s.ter of storage cists.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 50--Plan of a large cliff outlook in Canyon del Muerto.]

One of the most extensive ruins of the cliff-outlook type situated in Canyon del Muerto is shown in figure 50. The plan shows at least eight rooms stretched along the cliff at the top of the talus. Figure 51 shows five rooms arranged in a cl.u.s.ter. One of these is still complete, the walls extending to the overhanging rock above which formed the roof. It will be noticed that the front room was set back far enough to allow access to the central room through a doorway in the corner. This was a convenience, rather than a necessity, for many of the rooms in ruins of this cla.s.s were entered only through other rooms or through the roof, and a direct opening to the outer air was not considered a necessity; probably because these rooms in the cliff, which have been termed outlooks, were not in any sense watch towers, but rather places of abode during the harvest season, where the workers in the field lived when not actually employed in labor, and where the fields tinder cultivation could always be kept in view--an arrangement quite as necessary and quite as extensively practiced now as it was formerly.

Figure 52 shows a cl.u.s.ter of rooms in the little canyon called Tseonitsosi. This is another Casa Blanca, or White House, and, oddly enough, it resembles its namesake in De Ch.e.l.ly, not only in the coat of whitewash applied to the front of the main room, but in having a subordinate room to the left, over which the wash extends, and in the character of the site it occupies. The princ.i.p.al part of the structure was built in a cave, 18 or 20 feet from the ground, across the front of which walls extended as in the other Casa Blanca, and, like that ruin, there are also some ruins at the foot of the cliff, on the flat. Figure 53 is a ground plan. The resemblance to the other Casa Blanca, however, goes no further. The ruin here ill.u.s.trated represents a very small settlement, hardly more than half a dozen rooms in all, and there is no trace of a circular kiva, or other evidence of permanent habitation. It is possible that the s.p.a.ce between the edge of the floor of the cave above and the whitened house back of it was occupied by some sort of structure, but no evidence now remains which would warrant such a hypothesis, except that the door of the white house is now about 4 feet above the ground. The cave is only 40 feet long and a little over 10 feet deep, and there is not room on the floor for more than three or four rooms, in addition to those shown on the plan. The room on the right still preserves its roof intact, showing the typical pueblo roof construction. It has a well-preserved doorway, and three other openings may be seen in the main room.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 51--Plan of a cl.u.s.ter of rooms In Canyon del Muerto.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 52--White House ruin in Tseonitsosi canyon.]

Apparently some effort at ornamentation was made here. The whitewash was not applied to the fronts of the two back rooms so as to cover all of them, but in a broad belt, leaving the natural yellowish-gray color of the plastering in a narrow band above and a broad band below it.

Moreover, the princ.i.p.al opening of the larger room was specially treated; in the application of the whitewash a narrow border or frame of the natural color was left surrounding it. The attempt to apply decoration not utilitarian in character is rare among the ruins here. It implies either a late period in the occupancy of this region, or an occupancy of the site by a people who had practiced this method of house-building longer or under more favorable conditions than the others.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 53--Ground plan of a ruin in Tseonitsosi canyon.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 54--Plan of rooms against a convex cliff.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 55--Small ruin with curved wall.]

Figure 54 shows an arrangement of rooms along a narrow ledge at the top of the talus, where the cliff wall is not coved or concave, but convex.

Some of these little rooms may have been used only for storage, but others were undoubtedly habitations. Figure 55 shows an example in which the back wall is curved, as though it was either built over an old kiva or an attempt was made to convert a rectangular room into a kiva. There were originally three rooms in the cl.u.s.ter, only one of which remains, but that one is of unusual size, measuring about 15 by 10 feet. If the room was used solely as a habitation, there was no necessity for the back wall, as the side walls continue back to the cliff. Including the little cove on the left, there are seven Navaho burial places on this site.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 56--Ground plan of a cliff outlook.]

Plate LIII shows an outlook in the lower part of De Ch.e.l.ly, at the point marked 6 on the map. The lower part of the cliff here flares out slightly, forming a sharp slope; where it meets the vertical rock there is a small bench, on which the ruin is situated. It is apparently inaccessible, but close examination shows a long series of hand and foot holes extending up a cleft in the rock, and forming an easy ascent. The site commands a good outlook over the bottom lands.

The ruin consists of three rectangular rooms arranged side by side against the cliff, and a kind of curved addition on the east. Figure 56 is a ground plan. The walls are still standing from a foot to 4 feet high, and produce the impression of being unfinished; although carefully c.h.i.n.ked, they were neither plastered nor rubbed down. The two western rooms were built first, and the eastern wall extends through the front.

East of these rooms there is a small rectangular chamber, and east of this again a low curved wall forming a little chamber or cist of irregular form (not shown in the plan). The front wall was extended beyond this and brought in again to the cliff on a curve, forming another small cist of irregular shape. This and the little chamber west of it were doubtless used for storage. They resemble in plan Navaho cists, but the masonry, which is exactly like the other walls here, will not permit the hypothesis of Navaho construction. Except for some slight traces in the northwest corner of the west room, there are no smoke stains about, nor are there any pictographs on the cliff walls. The western room was pierced by a window opening which was subsequently filled up, possibly by the Navaho, who have five burial cists here.