SOUTHWESTERN MONUMENTS
SPECIAL REPORT
![FURTHER EXCAVATION J.W. BREWER, JR.](smsr-13-0137k.jpg)
When Mr. Erik Reed was detailed to Chaco Canyon
National Monument, the excavation of Room 7 at Wupatki was continued
from November 5 by the writer.
At this time the fourteen feet and seven inches north
of an irregular E-W partition had been cleared to the 'A' floor level.
This was the last occupied first story floor level in this room.
In the west wall there is a ventilator 1'3" from the
south wall (inside). Since the top of this vent is located 11" below the
A floor level, its use could be determined only through further
excavation of the trash pile south of the partition.
Excavation of the Trash Pit
The south five feet of this room appears to be a
trash dump separated from the north part of the room by a wall of
vertical and horizontal sandstone slabs; this wall, partly destroyed,
once extended downward to a depth of 2'3", from the level of floor A to
undisturbed shale. (The sandstone shelf noted in the north end of the
room (Reed) does not continue south of the partition.)
Removing the trash in arbitrary six-inch layers, a
small cyst (12" N-S by 13" E-W by 15" deep) was found 24" from the
south wall (inside). The east wall of Room 7 is the east side of the
cyst. The upper fill in the cyst was similar to that found throughout
the pit (ash, bones, sherds, sticks, and stones). At a depth of ten
inches and against the north side the edge of a coiled basket, or tray,
was found (Catalog No. 405.R7D.1). The bottom one inch of the cyst was
entirely covered with partly burned clumps of grass.
Against the north side (outside) of the cyst is a
vertical stone slab that forms the south side of Burial 43.
In the trash pit a small block of hardened level
occurs at a depth of one foot, seven inches in the SE corner. At the
same level another block of hard packed clay appears against the
partition of the E-W center. Angling toward the ventilator from this
block are three vertical and then two horizontal sandstone slabs. On top
of the hardened level and flush on the first vertical slab, rests a
nearly horizontal stone that suggests the remains of a covered channel
ventilator. (Sub-floor channel ventilators have been noted in Rooms 46
(Hargrave) and 43 (Van Valkenburgh)).
I believe that after the room was abandoned the south
end was used as a trash dump, and that stones once used in the wall
(partition) and in the vent channel (?) were later used to construct the
cyst and Burial 43.
Artifacts found in the trash pit are as follows:
405 R7D.2 | Cane tube |
.3 | Cane tube |
.4 | Fire drill |
.5 | Fire hearth |
Burial 41
The excavation of Burial 39 revealed a skull bone on
the north side of the cyst 10" below floor level B.
This was thought to be a north-south burial until a
test hole 6" to the north of Burial 39 and through three floor levels
produced no supporting evidence.
Working this test hole to the south at a depth of 10"
no bones were encountered, until the edge of Burial 39 was reached,
revealing that the evidence upon which Burial 41 had been based was only
a fragment of skull (a complete parietal bone).
Suspecting more of this burial might be found at a
greater depth, Burial 39 was removed. One inch below the bottom of this
cyst another parietal (right) bone was found and, with the removal of
that inch of fill the parietal bone was seen to be resting on a frontal
and upper jaw bone. On the same level and against the wall the occipital
bone was found. All of the skull bones mentioned above apparently
belonged to one individual.
No other bones or offerings were recovered in this
burial, which appears to have been the re-burial of a youth's skull.
Burial 43
Burial 43 is that of a seven (?) year old child. It
lies at right angles to the east wall and parallels the disrupted
partition on the south (fourteen feet from the north wall). The north
side of the burial is the space formerly occupied by the E-W partition;
at the east (head) end a vertical slab leans on the east wall of Room 7;
at the west (foot) end and south side are also vertically placed slabs.
Eight inches from the west end a three-inch pine beam once spanned the
burial, supported by one of the vertical slabs on the south and inserted
into a hole hollowed on the north side. The purpose of this beam was to
support a stone lid or cover for the burial; this stone cover was found
over the west end of the burial, still resting on the beam except on the
north end where the beam was rotted and fallen. (Catalog No. of beam:
F.405 R7.5).
The bottom of the cyst is one foot, nine inches below
the B floor level; the cyst is one foot, three and one-half inches wide
and two feet, nine inches long.
The child was wrapped (or dressed) in a cotton fabric
and placed on a mat, which in turn had been placed on a thin layer of
cinder in the bottom of the cyst. The arms and legs were extended and
the head tipped slightly forward, because of the inadequate size of the
cyst. The child was then covered with a mat upon which burial offerings
were placed as follows: A pair of nested bowlsa black on white jar
(Cat. No. 405 B43.3) inside a corrugated redware bowl (Cat. No. 405
B43.2)placed three inches to the right of the neck. A single black
on white jar (Cat. No. 405 B43.1) placed slightly above and to the right
of the hips on a coiled basket or plaque (preserved only directly under
the jar). Above the right knee a Flagstaff Red bowl (Cat. No. 405 843.5)
was nested into a black and white bowl (Cat. No 405 B43.4). Between the
knees a small black on white cup (Cat. No. 405 B43.6) was nested into a
slightly larger black on white cup (Cat. No. 405 B43.7). A glycymeris
shell bracelet (Cat. No. 405 B43.9) was intact around the left humerus.
Scattered (possibly by rodents) throughout the cyst were 86 small
bivalve shells and 48 olivella shells (Cat. No. 405 843.8). They were
most numerous about the neck and eight of the olivellas were lying
together under the skull, longitudinally parallel with the perforated
end toward the head of the burial. About the right wrist were found
seven olivella shells ground off on both ends, probably a bracelet (Cat.
No. 405 B43.10). (Beam 405 R7.5 complacent, McGregor)
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ROOM 7 WUPATKI
(omitted from the online edition)
CATALOGUE
Burial 43
NPS
NA405 B43.1 | B/W jar with vertical handle
Diam. 4" Ht. 3" |
.2 | Undescribed corrugated
bowl with white exterior decoration Diam. 6-1/2" Ht. 3" |
.3 | B/W jar with vertical
handle Diam. 4-3/4 " Ht. 4-1/2" |
.4 | B/W bowl with horizontal
handle Diam. 7-5/8" Ht. 4" |
.5 | Flagstaff Red bowl Diam.
4-1/2" Ht. 3" |
.6 | B/W cup with horizontal
handle Diam. 3-5/8" Ht. 2" |
.7 | B/W cup with vertical
handle Diam. 4-3/8" Ht. 2-1/2" (unfinished cross hatchure on
exterior) |
.8 | Shell necklace (Glycmeris
and olivella bacteria) |
.9 | Glycymeris bracelet
(?) |
.10 | Bead bracelet
(olivella) |
NPS
F405 R7.5 | Beam speciment (complacent; McGregor) |
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Disposition of Backdirt
The back dirt from Room 7 was used to fill a
depression in the trail along the outside of the west wall of Room 18
and the south half of Room 7, and a hole left by CWA five feet west of
Room 7. To get.a trail across this hole, a "dry masonry" wall had been
constructed 4-1/2 feet west of the west wall of Room 7. This wall has
also been covered with back dirt.
A trench in Room 18 was also filled to help eliminate
a pocket that compelled surface water to seep into the room. This is
another unexcavated, unrestored room that probably contains as much
valuable information and as many artifacts as Room 7.
Recommendations
In view of the several unexcavated floor levels known
to exist in Room 7 and the occurrence of burials in that room below
floor level, further investigation of the lower floors might be
advisable.
I recommend the reconstruction of Room 7 and the
replacing, under glass, of all the burials with their artifacts.
The door into Room 5 should be sealed and a new one
built into the west wall as it is restored, The north, south, and east
walls are now standing at sufficient height to support a roof.
In addition to the burials this room is large enough
to accommodate at least four museum cases and several wall charts,
etc.
In reconstruction of the roof two 3' square skylites
should be provided toward the eastern half of the roof. This would
permit light for display of B 43. Two windows in the west wall would
also help lighten the room.
A thorough study should be made of the pottery.
****************
Technical identifications of artifacts recovered.
Shell material was identified by Mr. George Willett
of the Museum of Los Angeles as follows:
NPS/NA405 R7.23 Conus comptus gld. (?)
NPS NA405 R7.15 ? ?
NPS/NA405 B43.8 Olivella Bacteria (Little Olive)
NPS NA405 B43.9 Glycymeris
Miscellaneous (1.) - Cardium elatum (Giant Cockle)
"The material probably comes from the Gulf of
California." (Comstock)
The laboratory report of Dr. Volney H. Jones of the
University of Michigan follows:
| Report No. 90 |
Date of receipt of material | November 23, 1936. |
Received from | National Park Service, Wupatki Nat'l Monument per J. W. Brewer |
Collected by | Brewer? |
Where collected | Wupatki Monument, Arizona |
Name of site | Wupatki |
Other circumstances | From Room No. 7, Wupatki. Tree-ring date 1168 A.D. |
Description Original No. |
Laboratory No. 1273. |
A fragment of loosely woven textile with about 8
threads to the centimeter in each direction. The threads running in one
direction are of some what larger diameter than those in the other
direction. As there is nowhere a selvage edge it is impossible to
determine which is warp and which is waft. The weave is a simple
over-one, under-one or plain weave. It is probably, but not necessarily
loom woven.
The material is cotton, very likely Hopi cotton
(Gossypium hopi) as this species seems to have been the only
one grown in the region in prehistoric times. There is no evidence
that the textile had been dyed.
|
Lab. Report No. 1274 |
Four fragments of shells which seem to be of gourds
(lagenaria vulgaris). It is difficult to distinguish the gourds,
squashes, and pumpkins by shells alone as the stems and seeds are the
criteria by which they are usually determined. However, the stem scar on
one of the fragments leaves little doubt as to the identity in this
case.
Gourds were commonly used in the Southwest, and
elsewhere as well, in the manufacture of rattles, containers, dippers,
etc. The Hopi at present have four different shapes of gourds, each
separately named and grown for a special purpose.
|
Lab. Report No. 1275. |
A corn cob about 7.5 cm. in length and 2 cm. in
diameter. It formerly had eight rows of kernels, and shows the
elliptical cross-section characteristic of Southwestern corn. This cob
is somewhat smaller than that of the corn commonly grown today in the
Southwest but is not otherwise unusual in any way. It appears to have
been of flour type.
It is interesting to note that the kernels were
removed in the green, or roasting-ear state, as evidenced by the bases
of the kernels still adhering to the cob. It had probably been steamed
or roasted before eating, but does not show any effects of scorching in
the process.
|
Lab. Report No. 1276. |
An ear-stalk of corn of average size and appearance.
It is not possible to distinguish the type of corn from which it
came.
|
Lab. Report No. 1277. |
One half of shells of a walnut, 18 mm. in diameter,
none of the kernel now present.
Walnuts grow in the canyons of southern New Mexico
and southern and central Arizona. These were formerly considered to be
all of one species, Juglans rupestris, but have since divided.
The westermost which has a larger nut and differs in other respects is
now considered as a separate variety (Juglans rupestris var.
major) by some authors and as a separate species (Juglans
major) by others. Juglans rupestries extends only into the
southeastern corner of New Mexico, while Juglans major occurs
across southern New Mexico and Arizona extending in central Arizona
almost as far north as Flagstaff. Wupatki appears to be somewhat north
of its range but it is not impossible that it occurs in sheltered
canyons nearby.
The diameter of the nut of Juglans rupestris
is given as 15-20 mm. and that of Juglans major as 20-35 mm. but
there is some overlapping. Since the present specimen is 18 mm. in
diameter it more nearly resembles Juglans rupestris in size, but
if it is of this species it has been carried considerably out of its
range. We are more inclined to believe that it is a small specimen of
Juglans major from nearby.
These western walnuts which are so small as to offer
only a negligible source of food were, however, sometimes eaten by
Indians. They were also carried considerably out of their range for use
as ornaments. They have been found at both Aztec and Pueblo Bonito with
holes drilled in them for suspension and one from Bonito was decorated
with turquoise inlay. There is no indication that the present specimen
had been brought to Wupatki for any purpose other than as food or as a
curiosity.
|
Lab. Report No. 1278. |
Four tubular reed pipes and one segment of
reed of much smaller diameter. These may be described as
follows:
a. One pipe 4 cm. in length and 1.5 cm. in diameter.
The internode has been punctured. No material remains in the pipe but
there is evidence of burning.
b. One pipe 5 cm. in length and 1.6 cm. in diameter.
The internode has been punctured and there is evidence of burning. There
is no material in the pipe.
c. One pipe 3.5 cm. in length and 1.2 cm. in
diameter. The internode has been punctured and there is evidence of
burning. Some partly burned material remains in the pipe.
d. One pipe, now broken, but formerly about 4.5 cm.
in length and 1.4 cm. in diameter. The internode had been punctured and
there is evidence of burning. Some partly burned material came from the
pipe.
e. A segment of reed 8.5 cm. in length and .8 cm. in
diameter. Appearing to have not been fashioned as a pipe but possibly
waste material from pipe manufacture.
These pipes are of the type commonly called
"ceremonial cigarettes" in the Southwest. Such pipes seem to have been
used both in ceremonial smoking and as offerings. The present lot are of
the customary material, Reed Grass (Phragmites communis) and in
general are similar to others which we have seen in being composed a
node and parts of two adjacent internodes.
These differ in several respects from reed pipes from
the Gila region examined by us and by Mr. Charlie Steen. (See: Steen,
Charlie R., Ceremonial Cigarettes, Southwestern Monuments, Monthly
Report, Oct. 1935, Supplement pp. 287-292). Only about one-third of
those from the Gila region had the node punctured while it is punctured
in all of the present specimens. All of the present specimens show signs
of burning while few of those from the Gila had been burned. None of the
present specimens have any wrapping or ornamentation while this was
common among those from the Gila.
The material in the pipes from the Gila region
examined by us was crushed tobacco leaves held in place by a plug of thin
folded inner bark of creosote bush. The material found in two of the
present specimens is definitely not of the same material and arrangement.
The material is of small half cylinders of bark as taken from some
stem or root, apparently from some woody plant. It bears no resemblance
to either tobacco or creosote bush. The material seems uniform and there
was no plug to hold it. We have so far been unable to identify this
bark.
The pipes from the Gila region seem in most cases to
have been for offerings rather than for smoking, but these from Wupatki
apparently were designed and used for smoking. Fewkes has reported
having observed the ceremonial smoking of reed pipes by the Hopi.
|
Lab. Report No. 1279. |
A cocoon of some insect of the order Lepidoptera,
probably that of a butterfly. Identified by Professor F. M. Gaige,
Curator of Insect Division, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan
Museums.
|
Lab. Report No. 1280. |
Badly disintegrated strips and rads of strips of
leaves of Yucca, apparently of Yucca baccata. Some of the strips
are twisted and knotted seeming to have been used as thongs.
|
Lab. Report No. 1281. |
A pod of the plant commonly
called Devil's Horns or Unicorn Plant, Martynia sp.
A number of species of this genus occur in the Lower
Sonoran zone of southern Arizona and southward. Only a single species
occurs in the Upper Sonoran zone in the vicinity of Wupatki, this is
Martynia louisiana, the specimen is doubtless of this
species.
Among the Apache, Papago, and Yaqui the seeds of
these plants are eaten. Fiber from the pods enters into the
ornamentation of the baskets of the Papago and Pima. The purpose of the
present specimen evidently was not for food as the seeds are still
present. Also there is no evidences that the fiber was removed for
basketry and indeed there is no record of Martynia fiber having been
used thus except in the Gila region. Hough has reported the ceremonial
use of Martynia louisiana in the soyaluna paho of the Hopi.
Possibly some such use may account for the presence of the specimen at
Wupatki.
This is the first archaeological specimen of Martynia
which has come to our attention.
|
Lab. Report No. 1282. |
Two beans and several fragments of bean pods. In
size, shape and other characteristics these strongly suggest Lima beans
(Phaseolus lunatus) and we have no doubt that they are of this
species.
Lima beans are, of Central or South American origin
and have been found in archaeological sites in Peru. They have been
collected from various tribes of North American Indians and their
aboriginal cultivation in North America apparently has never been
questioned. However, much to our surprise a hasty examination of our
files and of archaeological literature reveals no previous
archaeological Lima beans in North America. If a more careful survey
fails to show any such evidence these specimens will assume great
significance and importance. Kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)
are quite common in archaeological sites in the Southwest and other
parts of North America.
|
Lab. Report No. 1283. |
Portion of stem, two seeds, and
several fragments of shells of pumpkin. The stem and seeds are of
Cucurbita moschata and the shells appear to be of the same species
but exhibit no definite diagnostic characters. Cucurbita moschata
is common in archaeological sites in the Southwest. A variety of Striped
Cushaw pumpkin of this species was widely cultivated throughout the
Southwest and has persisted to the present.
|
Lab. Report No. 1284 |
Tube and trap-door of the nest of a trap-door
spider. Identified by Professor F. M. Gaige, Curator of the Insect
Division, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan Museums.
|
Lab. Report No. 1285. |
Basal portion of a yucca leaf, seeming to be of
the narrow leafed yucca, yucca glauca. No suggestion as to
its purpose is offered.
|
Lab Report No. 1286. |
A disintegrated and broken cotton boll.
This checks well in size and other characteristics with bolls of Hopi
cotton, Gosypium hopi in cur collections and doubtless is of this
species which seems to have been the only species grown in the Southwest
in aboriginal times.
|
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Conclusion
The writer agrees with Mr. Reed that Room 7 was
apparently abandoned in the latter days of the prehistoric occupation of
Wupatki.
The south wall of Room 4 is abutted by the west wall
of contiguous Room 5 and 6 at an almost right angle (see Room Plan).
Taking advantage of this much construction, the builders of Room 7 made
an extension of 6 feet, 4 inches to the already existing 6 feet, 2
inches of south wall of Room 4, thus forming the north wall of Room 7.
The west walls of Rooms 5 and 6, of course, were the east wall of the
newer Room 7. Constructing the south and west walls for Room 7 the
northwest and southwest corners were tied, while the east end of the
south wall abutts the west wall of Room 6 as the added portion of the
north walls abutts Room 4. The presence of these two tied corners is
unusual, "ties" are almost unknown in the earlier rooms of the
Pueblo.
The only door in evidence in Room 7 is in the east
wall, 4 feet, 3 inches above the floor level! I believe this unnatural
height of the door entered on the second floor level of Room 5
(unexcavated). The chinking with small stones, to bring the sides up
evenly, indicates the restoring of a wall through which an opening for
the door had been made. A beam specimen taken from the fill in this door
(possibly a fallen lintel) dates 1168 (McGregor), with the outside ring
present.
Some of the pottery types found in the fill of room 7
are of the latest types found at Wupatki (Hargrave). Of the decorated
wares, polychrome sherds are as much in evidence as black-on-whites.
Sherds from a "Little Colorado" type vessel appearing
to have a small glazed panel were forwarded to Mr. F. G. Hawley of the
Inspiration Copper Company, who tells us the following: "By dissolving
off a considerable amount of the paint in a mixture of nitric and
hydrofluoric acid and concentrating this in a platinum dish I was able
to get very good tests for both copper and lead by the electrolytic
method. Apparently more copper than lead but very distinct tests for
both."
Of special interest are the four infant and two youth
burials in this room.
In some localities it was the custom to bury infants
inside of pueblo rooms, while the adults were buried outside. Haury
shows us that at Canyon Creek Ruin (Medallion Paper #14, 1934):
"Forty burials were found during the excavations.
Infants, and in rare cases adults, were buried below the floors of
rooms. Adults and youth were placed on two artificially constructed
terraces on the talus slope below the west end of the house."
Such a practice is not indicated at Wupatki. Of the
26 human burials excavated at Wupatki (not including Room 7) 18 were
inside burials. Of these 18, ten were adult. On the other hand, of the
eight outside burials three were children. This indicates that
Wupatkians did not observe the custom of the Canyon Creekers, or of the
modern Hopis.
The answer to why so many children, and no adults,
were buried here in Room 7 seems to be only that so many children
died.
Bearing in mind that all four of these infant burial
pits were definitely cut through the last occupied first story
floor level in Room 7, and assuming this indicates a high rate of
infant mortality, let's turn to Dr. H. S. Colton's excellent paper "The
Rise and Fall of the Prehistoric Population of Northern Arizona."
(Science, October 16, 1936)
"Haury has shown us that droughts were sometimes so
bad that there were considerable migrations of peoples, and there is no
doubt that persons in early days were subject to deficiency diseases.
Droughts no doubt lead to starvation, disease, migration and to wars,
but droughts were probably on the long run not much worse in the years
after 1100 than in the eight hundred years that preceded. The tree ring
specialist can see no real difference in rainfall. As you will see
later, the big decline in population began long before the 23-year
drought, the great drought that ended in 1300, which certainly was a
major catastrophe in pueblo history.
"Lack of vitamins would hardly be a serious factor in
causing deficiency diseases. But there is a neglected factor leading to
a population decrease which seems very much stronger than any of these.
This factor might be summed up in the words 'bad sanitation'.
"After 1100 the people changed their habits. and
constructed masonry structures with flat roofs in which several families
dwelt in closely contiguous rooms. It marked a change from rural
conditions to urbana change from a family or a small group of
families living in detached one-roomed houses placed near their farm
plot, to a condition of many families living in multi-storied apartment
houses and walking some distance to reach their fields. I want to stress
the fact that the change occurred in northern Arizona about 1100 A.D.
The statement may not apply to the area east of the Chinle Valley and
certainly does not apply at all, to New Mexico or Colorado.
"The pueblo family lives in crowded quarters.
Families live close together, and the excreta are deposited in the
narrow plazas, streets, middens, and passages near the houses. Were it
not for the arid climate, conditions would be impossible.
"The infant mortality of the Hopi children under wo
years of age after the summer rainy season is very great. In 1934 nearly
all the children under two years of age died of infantile dysentery at
Shungopavi and also at First Mesa.
"Our studies show us that the population of northern
Arizona increased seven fold between 600 A.D. and 1100 A.D. This was
possible by the introduction of agriculture, together with the custom of
families living in isolated houses.
"During the next eight hundred years, when urban
communities such as Wupatk grew up, the population decreased. This
decrease was equal to the previous gain. We do not have to postulate
nomads, we do not have to postulate drought. The mere fact that people
lived in crowded tenements under bad sanitary conditions, and so
could not raise their children is a sufficient explanation to
account for a loss of population. (The underscoring of "could not raise
their children" is mine.)
On the evidence presented in Room 7 Wupatkians "could
not raise their children" at that time.
Assuming Room 7 was constructed about 1168, used as a
living room abandoned and used for a burial ground, the evidence found
in this room might contribute to the answer to "Why was Wupatki
abandoned?"
The latest tree-ring date yet obtained at Wupatki is
1205 A. D. (National Geographic Society, Pueblo Bonito Series #V, Dr.
A. E. Douglass, 1935) indicating that toward the latter years of Wupatki
occupation a high rate of infant mortality may have led the inhabitants
to abandon the Pueblo.
Cottonwood charcoal found on the floor and in the
trash pit greatly predominates pine.
Possibly this fact supports Dr. Douglass' theory of
receding pine forest on Woodhouse Mesa one half mile south of the
Pueblo.
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