SOUTHWESTERN MONUMENTS
SPECIAL REPORT

By James W. Brewer, Jr., and Erik K. Reed

Fewkes' Figure 8

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS WORK IN ROOM 7 AT WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT

Assembled by J. W. Brewer, Jr.

*******

J. W. Fewkes (22nd Annual Report, Bureau of American Ethnology)

Notes of the Summer of 1896

Room E (Room 7*) has two stories, and the floor beams and rafters are still in place but buried under debris. A high wall extends from the eastern wall of Room E, crossing a depression in the cliff which is bridged by logs serving as a foundation. — — — — —

The rooms of the second section (North Unit) (Fig. 8), several of which are well preserved, are lower than those of the first section, (South Unit) and the detritus has covered the base so completely that the mesa is inconspicuous.

---

*Present designation.

---

Room A (Room 1) is nearly square and is built on two rectangular rocks, the top of which forms the floor. One of the rocks forms a side of the lower story of the adjoining Room B (Room 4), which is in the best condition of any in this section. The walls of this room are well preserved and it was occupied as a habitation by a herder a few winters ago.* There is a lateral doorway through the wall on one side (east), and in one corner (southwest) is a fireplace communicating with a chimney, which will be later described. — — — — —

---

*During later excavation of Room 4, in 1933, a San Francisco newspaper with the date of 1889 was found on the floor.

---

A chimney like structure is one of the most conspicuous objects in this part of the ruin. It rises from the mass of debris covering Room E (Room 7) and communicates with the fireplace in Room B (Room 4), but a vertical line from its top is 7 feet 10 inches from the nearest wall of the room in which the fireplace is situated. Whether this chimney is aboriginal or not, or whether it is a chimney at all are open questions.

Excepting its state of preservation and fine masonry, no evidence was found that it is of more recent date than the walls of the rooms. If it is an aboriginal chimney, which is doubtful, the structure is unique. It may be a ventilator, comparable with the chimney like structures described by Mindeleff in the kivas of Canyon de Chelly.

******

A. Tenbroeck Williamson (Report of CWA Excavation in 1933-34)

(True Copy)

Room 7

A.T.W.——693

The upper fill of fallen wall was removed from Room 7. Because the allotted quota of laborers was not maintained, it was impossible to complete the excavation of this room. Of importance was the proof, since there was no tying into the wall, that the chimney in this room was not aboriginal. This is counter to a belief of Dr. Fewkes. Three beam holes in the east wall indicate a E-W direction for the roof beams.

Artifacts recovered from Room 7:

Ladle handle - Baby-in cradle-type
Fragment cotton cloth (2)
Bone implement fragment (3)
Glycymeris fragment, incised

Photographs in association with Room 7:

405.87
406.111

Room designation after Fewkes.

Room plan (after plan of Museum of Northern Arizona).

Reprinted from Southwestern Monuments Monthly Report for March, 1936, page 162, by J. W. Brewer, Jr.,

430 Archeology, History

From partially excavated Room 7. A larger than average, much broken pot washed out. I collected the pieces and put them together on a slack Sunday afternoon. The olla is of coarse paste, rough smudged exterior; also interesting is a row of 3/4 inch coiled rosettes just below the neck.

****************