Historical Introduction to Studies Among the Sedentary Indians of New Mexico Part 5

Having thus sketched, as far as I am able, the topography of the _mesilla_, and described its great wall of circ.u.mvallation, I now turn to the ruins which cover its upper surface, starting for their survey from the transverse wall of the old church-yard, 10 m.--33 ft.--north of the church, and proceeding thence northward along the top of the tabulated bluff.[101]

Sixty-one metres--200 ft.--north of our point of departure we strike stone foundations running about due east and west and resting almost directly on the rock, since the soil along the entire plateau which I have termed the neck is scarce, and has nowhere more than 1 m.--39 in.--in depth. The eastern corner of this wall, as far as it can be made out, is 12 m.--39 ft.--from the eastern wall of circ.u.mvallation. From this point on there extends one continuous body of ruins, one half of which at least (the southern half), if not two-thirds, as the ground plan will show, exhibits nothing else but foundations of small chambers indicated by shapeless stone-heaps and depressions. The northern part is in a better state of preservation; a number of chambers are more or less perfect, the roofs excepted,[102] and we can easily detect several stories retreating from east to west. About 9 m.--30 ft.--from its northern limits a double wall intersects the pile for one half of its width. The ruins beyond it, or rather the addition, is in a state of decay equal to that of the southern extremity. The western side is, generally, in a better state of preservation than the eastern, especially the north-western corner. Along the eastern side upright posts of wood, protruding from stone-heaps, often are the only indications for the outline of the structure. Along the north-west, however, such posts are enclosed in standing walls of stone, at distances not quite regularly distributed, but still showing plainly that here, at least, the outer wall presented an appearance similar to Pl. II., Fig. 4.

At the place where I measured, the upright posts stood at about 1.39 m.--4 ft. 6 in.--from each other; the projecting wall was 2 m.--6 ft. 6 in.--long, and 0.63 m.--2 ft.--thick; the retreating wall 1.40 m.--4 ft.

6 in.--long, and 0.33 m.--13 in.--thick. The posts themselves were sometimes, but not always, backed, or even encased in adobe sheaths, built up like little chimneys in the wall itself. This mode of construction was possibly peculiar to the western side alone, and gives it a slight appearance of ornamentation, as well as more strength, the projecting walls acting like b.u.t.tresses.

The whole structure, taking the sides of the _debris_ as they are now scattered, extends nearly north and south 140 m.--460 ft.--and east and west about 16 m. to 26 m.--50 ft. to 80 ft.--thus forming a rectangle of 140 m. 20 m.--460 ft. 65 ft. To determine the exact size of the building I proceeded to measure each compartment for itself, judging that the total number of these apartments, adding to their sizes the thicknesses of the walls, would finally give, within a few decimetres, the exact length and width of the house. On the ground plan I have numbered this building B.[103]

Beginning at the north-west corner, I ran my line almost due east to within 10 m.--33 ft.--of the circ.u.mvallation, where I found the north-east corner indicated by a broken post of wood. Along this line I met the following sections from west to east: 2.92 m.--9 ft. 6 in.; then a gangway, 1.55 m.--5 ft.; chamber, 3.22 m.--11 ft.; gangway, 1.21 m.--4 ft.; and three chambers, 2.09 m., 2.72 m., and 2.72 m.--7 ft., 9 ft., and 9 ft.--respectively, thus giving, adding to it eight walls of a uniform thickness of 0.33 m.--13 in.,--a total width of 19.07 m.--63 ft.

Its length was easily found to be 8.56 m.--28 ft.; the northern appendix, therefore, forming a rectangle of 8.5 m. 19 m.--28 ft. 63 ft.,--and containing, as the ground-plan shows, ten rooms and two corridors, the latter running through the structure from north to south.

It will also be noticed that the two middle rooms are the largest, measuring each 4.28 m. 3.22 m.--14 ft. 10 ft. I must also advert, here, to the fact that this structure is extremely ruined, and that the east part of it exposes the surveyor to dangerous errors.

The line _a b_, and its continuation eastwardly to _c_, appears to form the main northern wall of the whole structure. Here the annex, just described, terminates. This wall is of unequal thickness. In the north-westerly projection from _a_ to _b_, a length of 8 m.--26 ft.,--its thickness is 0.63 m.--2 ft.; from _b_ to _c_, on the eastern line, it is only 0.33 m.--13 in.--thick. This inequality indicates also a division of the structure to the southward, as far as the line _d d d_, into two longitudinal sections. The western one, whose four corners are respectively _a_ _b_ _d_ _d_ in the diagram, contains eighteen rooms of equal size, measuring each 3.71 m. 2.25 m.--12 ft. 7 ft.; it is consequently, inclusive of the rear wall and the sides, 24.24 m. 8.08 m.--80 ft. 27 ft. The eastern division, comprised within the area _b_ _c_ _d_ _d_, has fifteen rooms, or five longitudinal rows of three, whereas the western has six rows of three. The rooms east must therefore be larger than those west, and we see that they measure from east to west respectively, 2.25 m., 2.28 m., and 2.28 m.--7 ft., 7 ft. 6 in., and 7 ft. 6 in.: from north to south, 3.60 m., 5.07 m., 4.43 m., 4.13 m., and 3.43 m.--12 ft., 17 ft., 15 ft., 14 ft., and 11 ft. It is a rectangle, or rather trapezium, 22.31 m. 7.81 m.--70 ft. 25 ft.,--consequently the width of the building _B_ is somewhat less on the line _d d d_ than on the line _a b c_. The cause of this singular contraction I have found, and shall afterwards indicate.

Then follows a transverse section (_d d d e e_), containing two rows of six rooms each, or twelve in all, of very unequal sizes, as the ground-plans show. This entire section appears to be trapezoidal. The line _d d d_ is 15.89 m.--52 ft.--long; the line _e e_ 16.33 m.--53 ft.; _d e_ measures 7.42 m.--24 ft.--along the west, and 8.04 m.--27 ft.--along the east. Rooms marked _II_ and _III_ are particularly irregular, having, as the diagram shows, not less than six corners.

From _e e_ to _f f_, another transverse section, this time of four rows of six each, or twenty-four cells in all, those of each row being of equal length, to wit 3.65 m.--12 ft.; and in width from east to west, respectively: 2.25 m., 2.78 m., 3.18 m., 2.63 m., and 4.40 m.--7 ft., 9 ft., 10 ft., 9 ft., and 14 ft. (the last measure being the aggregate of the two eastern compartments, the longitudinal part.i.tion being nearly obliterated). To the south of _f f_ a further slight change occurs, inasmuch as the three eastern rooms, instead of being respectively 2.68 m., 2.20 m., and 2.20 m.--9 ft., 7 ft., and 7 ft.,--now become 2.25 m., 2.33 m., and 2.32 m.--7 ft., 8 ft., and 8 ft. From _f f_ to _g g_, the southern limits of the structure, the whole structure is badly ruined; and while the rooms can be counted, measurements are possible only in a few places. Still I am satisfied that no great error lies in the a.s.sumption that they were, taken longitudinally, all equal to the six rooms contained in the transverse row south of the line _f f_, that is, 3.65 m.--12 ft.--from north to south; and in width, counting the cells from west to east, respectively, 2.25 m., 2.78 m., 3.18 m., 2.25 m., 2.33 m., and 2.32 m.--7 ft., 9 ft., 10 ft., 7 ft., 8 ft., and 8 ft. The section, _f f g g_, which forms the southern and largest portion of the house (_B_), contains, therefore, twenty-two transverse rows of six chambers each, or one hundred and thirty-two apartments on the ground-plan; and it forms a rectangle running from north to south and east to west respectively of 80.30 m. 15.11 m.--260 ft. 50 ft.

The general dimensions of this building (_B_), therefore appear as follows:--

Length from north to south, east side 133.81 m.--440 ft.

" " west side 134.92 m.--442 ft.

Width of northern appendix 19.07 m.-- 63 ft.

Width along line _a b c_ 19.07 m.-- 63 ft.

" " _d d d_ 15.89 m.-- 52 ft.

" " _e e_ 16.33 m.-- 53 ft.

" " _f f_ 15.24 m.-- 50 ft.

Width of line _g g_, approximated 15.70 m.-- 51 ft.

From the appearance of the ground-plan, as I have been compelled to give it, it would result that the "first floor" contained two hundred and eleven cells, or rooms. Such is, however, not the case. The builders of this extensive fabric had not the means of preparing the hard rock foundation by removing it wherever it protruded over an average level.

While giving a uniform height to their structure, they accommodated its ground-plan to the sinuosities of the rock. Out of this accommodation the irregularities noticed in the construction have mainly arisen. Pl.

II., Figs. 1, 2, 3, will ill.u.s.trate this statement.

Pl. II., Fig. 1.--Cross-section of _B_ along the line a b c, north end; _a b_, actually visible top-line; _c d e f g h_, rock; _i k_, top of probable highest story, now destroyed.

I have every reason to a.s.sume that this cross-section holds good for the entire division (_a b c d d_). From _d d_ on to _f f_ the distance between the rim of the _mesilla_ to the east and the house is greatest; the top-rock bends also to the west about _e e_, and there the irregularities noticed on the diagram about the chambers (_II_ and _III_) come in. They evidently result from an effort to conform the general plan to both the lateral and vertical deviations of its base.

About the line _f f_, while the same number of chambers (six) remains in every transverse row, there is but one story below the general surface to the east. I may safely a.s.sume that south of the line _f f_ all the rooms of the first floor were on the same level. Pl. II., Figs. 2 and 3 will ill.u.s.trate this point. As far as I could detect, the line _e e_ can be admitted as the one where one of the two lower stories disappears, and but one remains on the east side lower than the rest.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE II PLAN OF SECTIONS OF BUILDING B.]

I have everywhere a.s.sumed _four_ stories. It is at least certain that there were not less than four. When Coronado visited the pueblo in 1540, he found "the houses with four stories."[104] Sr. Mariano Ruiz told me that "they all were of three stories;" but then he mentioned, below, the "casas de comodidad," thus indicating that the lowest story was used for store-rooms. It is very apparent from the ruins that, as I have indicated in the cross-sections, the western wall was unbroken, whereas from the east the stories rose in four retreating terraces. The western wall already mentioned was given additional strength, by means of the b.u.t.tresses, of which I have given a small outline. The winds blow very fiercely over the _mesilla_, especially from the north-west; there is no tree to be seen on or about it, not even a cedar-bush, higher than a couple of feet at most. Against such blasts the solid wall was necessary, while the many intersecting part.i.tions inside gave additional strength. It was a very solid structure as against winds, notwithstanding the comparative thinness of the walls,--0.63 m.--2 ft.--being their greatest width, and 0.33 m.--13 in.--their average.

With reference to the cross-sections, it now becomes possible to approximate the total number of chambers, apartments, or cells, contained in the entire building; a point impossible even to estimate from the ground-plan alone.

Leaving aside the northern appendix, about whose elevation I have not even means of conjecture, it becomes evident that the section whose four corners are marked respectively _a_, _c_, _d_, _d_, had the following number of compartments, starting with the lowest story, and remembering that, as above stated, one longitudinal row had six, and the other five, rooms:--

Lowest story 5 Second story 5 Third story 3 6 + 5 23 Fourth story 3 6 18 --- Total 51 rooms.

_Brought forward_ 51 rooms.

The section _d d e e_ had probably the same arrangement, and therefore, there being but two transverse rows, it contained in all 18

Section _e e f f_ contained on lower story 4 Second Story. 5 4 20 Third story. 4 4 16 Fourth story. 3 4 12 -- 52

Section _f f g g_:-- Lower story. 22 6 132 Second story. 22 5 110 Third story. 22 4 88 Fourth story. 22 3 66 -- 396 ---- Total number of rooms contained in building _B_ 517

These rooms are very nearly of equal size, the largest one being _III._ 2.85 m. 4.78 m.--9 ft. 16 ft.--on one side, and 3.71 m.--12 ft-on the other, with an entering angle; the smallest room adjoining to it measuring 2.25 m. 2.70 m.--7 ft. 9 ft. The entire structure, therefore, presents the appearance of a honeycomb, or rather of a bee-hive, and perfectly ill.u.s.trates, among the lower degrees of culture of mankind, the prevailing principle of communism in living, which finds its parallel in the lower cla.s.ses of animals. Tradition, historical relation, and a.n.a.logy, tell us that this house was used as a dwelling,[105] and that consequently it was, to all intents and purposes, a communal house.

The height of the various stories it is almost impossible to determine.

I have measured walls which appeared to be perfect, and they gave me an average of 2.28 m.--7 ft. 6 in.--elevation. Should such be the rule, the western wall of the building, at its greatest height south, would have risen about 11 m.--36 ft.

The northern appendix I have ignored in the above computation, because its whole appearance gives no ground for definitive statements. It seems really to be an annex, and in fact the whole building seems to have progressed, in its construction, from south to north, in point of date and time.

The southern portion of the building--the one which appears to have been erected on a plane surface--was, in all probability, the one first built. The northern portions were added to it gradually as occasion required. This is further shown by the fact that in these northern sections, along the line _a, b, c_, parts of the third story wall are patched with regular adobe bricks, about half as large as those in the church, but still made by the same process.[106] The rest of the structure is exclusively composed of stone.

It is to all intents and purposes a stone house. Two kinds of rocks predominate among the material; a slaty, gray and red, sandstone,--highly tabular, easily broken into plates of any size,--and a sandstone conglomerate, containing small pebbles from the size of a pea up to that of a small hazel-nut,--the whole rock of a gray color.

When freshly broken or wetted, this conglomerate becomes very friable, and so soft that goats have left the impression of their feet on scattered fragments. When dry it becomes hard, and is always very heavy.

Both kind of rocks are found in the vicinity of the _mesilla_. Besides these, loose pieces of stone from the bluff itself, boulders from the creek, of convenient size, enter into the composition of the walls.

Sometimes the latter consist exclusively of slabs of sandstone superposed; again there are polygonal fragments of rocks piled upon one another, with courses of tabular sandstone, forming, so to say, the basis for further piling; the foundations are usually boulders and the hardest rocks, also of greater width. There are no walls of dressed stone, but the rocks are broken to a suitable size, as may be done with any stone maul or sledge, or even by smas.h.i.+ng with the hand and another rock. In fact the whole stone-work must be termed, not masonry, but simply judicious and careful piling.[107] In performing it, great attention has been paid to having the vertical surfaces as nearly as possible vertical; but this end could be reached without the use of the plumb-line, and with the aid of mere ordinary eyesight, for the rooms are so small, and the part.i.tions so thin, that anything not "true"

could, and can yet be, "shoved" into position by a mere steady, slow push; carefully watched on the opposite side. The same applies to the angles, although they are tolerably accurate. As a general thing, the transverse walls appear to be continuous, and the longitudinal part.i.tions to have been added afterwards, but there are also instances of the contrary. In this respect the sinuosities of the rocky foundation seem to have determined the mode of action. To fill up the gaps between the stones, and to coat them with a smooth surface within the chambers what appears to be earth from the surrounding bottoms has been flung into the crevices, thus forming a natural mortar, and at the same time a "first coat" of plaster of varying thickness. This in turn is covered with a thin white layer (now of course turning into gray, yellow, and flesh-red) much resembling our plaster, but whose composition I am unable to determine. (Specimens of the mud, containing small gravel and minute particles of mica, are sent with the other collections, also fragments of the white coating for a.n.a.lysis.[108])

The woodwork proper appears not to have had any connection with the strength or support of the walls, but simply to have been erected within and among the walls as a scaffold for the ceilings, which are also the floors of the higher stories. Upright posts of cedar and pine, stripped of their bark, but not squared, are, as I have already shown, set inside of the stone wall, at more or less even distances. As far as I could ascertain, these distances are regulated by the size of the rooms. These posts are coa.r.s.ely hacked off at the upper end, and over them other similar beams are laid longitudinally, sometimes fitted over the posts with chips wedged in. Such is the case in a room in the northern wing of the building marked _A_, of which I shall hereafter speak.[109]

On these longitudinal beams other ones rest, laid transversely, and imbedded in the wall on the opposite side. On these again longitudinal poles are placed, also at intervals varying according to the dimensions of the chambers, and on them transversely, a layer of brush, or splinters of wood, closely overlapping each other; and the whole is capped by about .20 m.--8 in.--of common clay or soil. Pl. III., Fig. 1, is a front view of the wooden scaffold in a lower story room, and of the ceiling which it supports.

_a_, clay and lower seam of brush or splinters.

_b_, transverse poles or beams, in case the beams are lacking.

_c_, longitudinal beam.

_d_, upright posts.

In most cases, however, the beams are transverse and the poles longitudinal, and this is where the beam (_c_) is lacking, as in the interior apartments, where the ceiling appears as in Pl. III., Fig. 2: _a_, clay; _b_, brush or splinters; _c_, poles; _d_, beams; _e_, wall.[110]

The diameter of the upright posts is, on an average, 0.28 m.--11 in.,--but even sometimes as great as 0.33 m.--13 in.,--the longitudinal and transverse beams are scarcely less thick, whereas the poles are about 0.05 m.--2 in.--across. The splinters seem to have been obtained by splitting a middle-sized tree, and tearing out thin segments.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE III SECTIONS OF BUILDING B.]

Pl. III., Fig. 4, is a ground plan of the floor of room marked _I_ on the diagram. This room is on the eastern row of the third floor, therefore an outer room.

_c_, longitudinal poles.

_d_, the end of the transverse beams projecting from the other room.

_e_, the transverse beams, resting in the wall on both sides.

On the latter rested a thin layer of brush and a compact ma.s.s of clay, 0.20 m.--8 in.--thick. The clay, or rather soil, is very hard and was probably stamped or pounded.