Historical Introduction to Studies Among the Sedentary Indians of New Mexico Part 7

The annexes _I I_ are trapezoidal enclosures of stone-work as high as a man's breast, and respectively of the sizes indicated on the ground-plan. The northern one is divided lengthwise into two compartments; the southern is open to the south. Both appear to be new and unfinished. From the centre of the last one protrude two well-squared heavy timbers. These timbers are in a singularly unfit position; they cannot be accounted for, and convey the impression that they were carried hither from some other totally different construction.

They look almost forlorn. Whence they came, and for what purpose they were brought,--what was the object in erecting the enclosures _I I_,--I do not intend to speculate upon, unless they are recently constructed store-rooms ("Almacenas").

Across the pa.s.sage-way _N_, both southward from the line _g g_ and eastward from _I_, fitting into it to the east and barring access to the great court from the "neck," lies the south wing of _A_,--a rectangle of 27.25 m.--90 ft.--from W. to E., and 13 m.--43 ft.--from N. to S., including the walls. It is much decayed and overturned; the northern side is far less so than the southern; nowhere are there any signs of repairs. Here the rows of rooms must be taken transversely (from W. to E.). There are 5, each with 7 chambers, measuring in succession from N.

to S. 2.00 m., 2.00 m., 3.09 m., 2.40 m., and 2.00 m.--6 ft. 6 in., 6 ft. 6 in., 10 ft., 8 ft., and 6 ft. 6 in; and from W. to E. 3.61 m.--12 ft. each. Two of these transverse rows appear to be on the southern slope, and three on the upper level towards the court.

Here I have again reached the pa.s.sage-way _R_, my original point of departure. Before entering into an examination of the other particulars of the building, as well as of its annexes and surroundings, I shall make once more a rapid circuit, to give an idea of its size, and also attempt a rude computation of the number of rooms it contained.

Lengths of the eastern wing from _f_ to _B_ (E. side N. and S.) 51.66 m.--170 ft.

3.40 m.-- 12 ft.

15.81 m.-- 52 ft.

3.13 m.-- 10 ft.

11.32 m.-- 37 ft.

7.84 m.-- 25 ft.

----------------- Adding 28 walls a 0.28 m.--11 in., total 93.16 m.--306 ft.

_Brought forward_ 93.16 m.--306 ft.

Lengths of the north side from _B_ to _a_ 12.00 m.-- 40 ft.

from _a_ to _A_ 17.28 m.-- 57 ft.

6 transverse walls a .28 m.--11 in. 1.68 m.-- 6 ft.

---------------- 30.96 m.--102 ft.

Length from _A_ to _n_ 8.10 m.-- 27 ft.

_n_ to _m_ 8.38 m.-- 27 ft.

_m_ to _o_ 2.51 m.-- 8 ft.

_o_ to W. corner of _L_ (estimated) 5.00 m.-- 16 ft.

W. corner of _L_. to _p_ 16.17 m.-- 53 ft.

_p_ to _y_ 2.10 m.-- 7 ft.

_y_, southward, to line _g g_ 33.44 m.--110 ft.

pa.s.sage-way N .00 m.-- 6 ft. 6 in.

Width of western section of W. wing (about) 7.48 m.-- 25 ft.

Length of south wing 13.00 m.-- 43 ft.

28 transverse walls a .28 m.--11 in. 7.84 m.-- 26 ft.

---------------- 106.02 m.--348 ft. 6 in.

Width of S. wing 27.25 m.-- 90 ft.

Pa.s.sage _R_ 4.00 m.-- 13 ft.

From _R_ to _f_ (about) 4.00 m.-- 13 ft.

Line _f f_ 15.73 m.-- 52 ft.

8 longitudinal walls a .28 m.--11 in. 2.24 m.-- 7 ft.

---------------- Total length to _f_, my point of departure 53.22 m.--175 ft.

------------------ Entire length of circuit of building _A_ 283.36 m.--928 ft.

Adding to this 15 m.--49 ft.--for the probable periphery of mound _H_, and 64 m.--210 ft.--for the perimeter of a southern annex to the south wing, which I have not yet described, we reach a perimeter of 362 m.--1,190 ft.--in all. Comparing these figures with those given about the great ruins of the Rio Chaco by Dr. W. H. Jackson,[120] and of the pueblo of Las Animas River by my friend the Hon. L. H. Morgan,[121] it will be seen that this building, _A_, at Pecos is probably the largest aboriginal structure of stone within the United States so far described, and that it will even bear comparison with many of the aboriginal ruins of Mexico and Central America.[122]

The size of the interior court can now be easily determined. It is 64 m.--210 ft.--from N. to S., and 19.28 m.--63 ft.--from E. to W. Its area covers therefore 1,235 sq. m.--13,230 sq. ft.,--or about one fourth of an acre; whereas the entire _debris_, measured as well as possible, scatter over more than two acres of ground.

For the computation of the number of rooms in the whole pile, cross-sections are necessary. (Pl. V., Figs. 1-8.) The height of each story is about the same as in _B_, to wit, 2.28 m.--7 ft. 6 in.

Fig. 1, section of west wing about _l l_, from west to east.

Fig. 2, lines _b b_ and _a B_.

Fig. 3, section of west wing along _h h_.

Fig. 4, line _d d_, north, up to south line of _C_.

Fig. 5, section of west wing along line _g g_.

Fig. 6, line _f f_, southern boundary of east wing, and for the entire rectangle up to _E_.

Fig. 7, cross-section of north wing, line _A n_, from north to south.

Fig. 8, south wing, from north to south.

It is possible that the second row, from S. to N., had two superposed chambers, but I am not positive of it, and therefore do not include it in the computation of rooms which will follow.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE V SECTIONS OF BUILDING A.]

It will be seen that, according to the ground plan and sections, the east wing had five stories, the north wing two, the west wing successively two, three, and four, and the south wing four. Looking at the buildings from the great court, the south presented an unbroken front of a two-story wall, the east successively walls of four, three, and two stories; the north side formed two, and the west side, from north to south, in succession, two, three, and four terraces. In this manner, not only was the building remarkably well accommodated to the great irregularities of the surface, but even a tolerably uniform height was attained, well agreeing, therefore, with the description of "Cicuye," as Castaneda saw it in 1540. "The houses have four stories, terraced roofs all of the same height, along which one can make the circuit of the entire village without meeting any street to intercept the pa.s.sage.[123] Here we must remember that the widest gateway is 4 m.--13 ft.--wide,--an expanse easily spanned by common beams used by the Indians in their house architecture.

An attempt to compute the number of rooms in _A_ results as follows:--

Rectangle _f f e e_, 18 longitudinal rows of 6 rooms and 5 stories.

1st story 18 2d story 5 18 90 3d story 4 18 72 4th story 3 18 54 5th story 2 18 36 --- 270 rooms.

(_d d c c_) 1st story and 2d story on the slope, and 3 rooms per row.

1st story 3 2d story 3 3d story 4 3 12 4th story 3 3 9 5th story 2 3 6 -- 33 "

--------- _Carried forward_ 303 rooms.

_Brought forward_ 303 rooms.

(_b b a B_) 6 rows of 4 rooms, and 3 stories on the slope.

1st, 2d, and 3d story, each 4 12 4th story 3 4 12 5th story 2 4 8 -- 32 "

(North wing) 2 stories, easily computed as 20 "

(_k m l l_) 1st story 5 4 20 2d story 5 2 10 -- 30 "

(_l l h h K_) Lowest story 12 2d story 12 4 48 3d story 12 2 24 -- 84 "

(_h h K g g I_) Lowest story 4 2d story 4 3d story 4 4 16 4th story 4 2 8 -- 32 "

(South wing) From E. to W.

Lowest story 7 2d story 7 3d story 7 3 21 4th story 7 2 14 -- 49 "

Adding for the southern annex a probable number of 35 "

--------- Building _A_ contained in all not less than 585 cells.