SOUTHWESTERN MONUMENTS
SPECIAL REPORT

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:

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 bowls—a 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)

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

ROOM 7 WUPATKI
(omitted from the online edition)

CATALOGUE

Burial 43

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

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:

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

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 urban—a 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.

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