FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119  
120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   >>   >|  
. Dance rock and kiva, Walpi.] Little masonry now remains on this site, but here and there a fragment aids in defining the general plan of the pueblo. In general form the village was a large rectangle with a line of buildings across its center, dividing it into two unequal courts, and a projecting wing on the west side. As may be seen from the illustration, one end of the ruin forms a clearly defined rectangular court, composed of buildings mostly two rooms deep. Here, as in other ruins of Tusayan, the arrangement about inclosed courts is in contrast with the parallelism of rows, so noticeable a feature in the occupied villages. At the east end of the ruin are several curious excavations. The soft sandstone has been hollowed out to a depth of about 10 inches, in prolongation of the outlines of adjoining rooms. Such excavation to obtain level floors is quite unusual among the pueblo builders; it was practiced to a very small extent, and only where it could be done with little trouble. Any serious inequality of surface was usually incorporated in the construction, as will be noticed at Walpi (Pl. XXIII). Vestiges of masonry indicating detached rooms were seen in each of the courts of the main rectangle. On the slope of the hill, just above the broad ledge previously described, there is a fine spring, but no trace of a trail connecting it with the pueblo could be found. This village was advantageously placed for defense, but not to the same degree as Payupki, illustrated in Pl. XIII. PAYUPKI. The ruin called Payupki (Pl. XIII) occupies the summit of a bold promontory south of the trail, from Walpi to Oraibi, and about 6 miles northwest from Mashongnavi. The outer extremity of this promontory is separated from the mesa by a deep notch. The summit is reached from the mesa by way of the neck, as the outer point itself is very abrupt, much of the sandstone ledge being vertical. A bench, 12 or 15 feet below the summit and in places quite broad, encircles the promontory. This bench also breaks off very abruptly. As may be seen from the plan, the village is quite symmetrically laid out and well arranged for defense. It is placed at the mesa end of the promontory cap, and for greater security the second ledge has also been fortified. All along the outer margin of this ledge are the remains of a stone wall, in some places still standing to a height of 1 or 2 feet. This wall appears to have extended originally all along
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119  
120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

promontory

 

village

 

courts

 
pueblo
 

summit

 

defense

 

places

 
sandstone
 

Payupki

 

rectangle


masonry

 

remains

 
buildings
 

general

 

degree

 
height
 

occupies

 

PAYUPKI

 

standing

 

illustrated


called
 

advantageously

 
originally
 

previously

 

extended

 

appears

 

Oraibi

 

connecting

 
spring
 

Mashongnavi


greater
 

vertical

 

security

 

abruptly

 
breaks
 

encircles

 

arranged

 

abrupt

 
margin
 

extremity


separated

 

northwest

 

symmetrically

 

fortified

 
reached
 

extent

 

rectangular

 

composed

 
defined
 

illustration