University of Virginia Library

THE ENCLOSING WALLS

In successive efforts to confine these mounting accumulations and
to limit their dispersal, the Late Bonitians erected rock fences or
barriers around both mounds—fences that were raised or replaced
as necessity required. But the interesting fact is that neither enclosure
was begun until village waste had filled the old watercourse
fronting the pueblo and piled up 7 or 8 feet above the valley floor as
it existed at the time.

The retaining walls about Pueblo Bonito's two principal refuse
mounds are not unique but they are more extensive, and more purposeful
than any other known to me (fig. 23).[1] Architecturally they
vary from nondescript stonework faced on the outside only to good
second- and third-type masonry finished on both sides. Steps for the
convenience of burden bearers led over the wall nearest the pueblo.

Because a sand-filled trench showed that the West Mound enclosure
had been examined previously we turned our attention to that

Remnants of earlier second-type masonry walls were buried at the northeast corner of
Kiva G enclosure.

Plate 70

The north bench recess of Kiva G and, to left of it, crude masonry resembling
Old Bonitian stonework.

(Photographs by Neil M. Judd, 1922.)

Great Kiva A and its surroundings after excavation. The West Mound trench is
visible at middle left; stones were piled for wall repairs.

Plate 71

The south pillars, vaults, and other features of Great Kiva A were buried under
water-soaked sand and silt.

(Photographs by O. C. Havens, 1921.)

Two masonry pillars and adjoining vaults occupy the north floor of Great Kiva A.
Above, stones piled for wall repairs.

Plate 72

Five masonry steps with wooden fore-treads led from the north benches of
Great Kiva A to Room 148.

(Photographs by O. C. Havens, 1921.)

Plate 73

Left: Repairwork
in progress,
northwest arc of
Great Kiva Q, with
fireplace and west
vault in the foreground.

(Photograph by
O. C. Havens,
1924.)

Right: A 4-foothigh
foundation
built in a dug hole
and packed about
with shale supported
the northeast
pillar of Great
Kiva A.

(Photograph by
O. C. Havens,
1921.)

Great Kiva A from the north, showing fireplace, deflector, south pillars, east and
west vaults. Stones for wall repairs are stacked in Rooms 217-218.

(Photograph by O. C. Havens, 1921.)

Plate 74

The floor of Room 336 concealed older, partially razed walls and was itself covered by
an intermural kiva, subsequently demolished.

(Photograph by O. C. Havens, 1924.)

Plate 75

Upper: Overlooking the south side of Great Kiva Q was a small alcove with 4 steps to
West Court level.

Lower: The south pillars, fireplace, side vaults, and 3-pole ladder of Great Kiva Q.

(Photographs by O. C. Havens, 1924.)

Plate 76

Upper: Western flight of steps over north retaining wall, East Refuse Mound.

Lower: East steps, East Refuse Mound. North retaining wall shows behind workman.

(Photographs by O. C. Havens, 1924.)

Plate 77

Upper: The northeast corner of a second Late Bonitian retaining wall, East Refuse Mound.

Lower: A walled area at the northwest corner of the East Refuse Mound was occupied by a
crude stone circle, purpose unknown.

(Photographs by O. C. Havens, 1924.)

Fig. 23.-The South Refuse Mounds with enclosing walls and
transverse trenches. (From the original survey of O.B. Walsh.)

surrounding the East Mound. Here a rock wall originally 206 feet
long but now much disintegrated, screened the north side. At 80 feet
from its west end a flight of eight stone steps led up and over
(pl. 76, upper). The lowermost step, outside the barrier and without
foundation, measured 28 inches wide with a 24-inch tread; the
upper steps averaged about 15 inches wide and were protected from
encroaching debris by casually placed end-stones. At this stairway
the enclosing wall is double: an outer one of third-type masonry
18 inches thick and now 33 inches high built against second-type
masonry 24 inches thick.

A second series of eight stone steps crosses the same wall 85 feet
farther east (pl. 76, lower). In this case the retaining wall, 37 inches
high on the east side of the steps and 28 inches on the west side,
clearly had been breached to allow for the crossing. The upper steps
average 25 inches wide and, like those of the first flight, rest directly
upon mound refuse and are screened at the ends by dry-laid stones.
The bottom step, 43 inches wide with a 22-inch tread, lies outside
the wall and upon 4 inches of blown sand that covers a hard and
fairly uniform adobe surface.

Excellent third-type masonry, built upon a 12-inch foundation and
still 5 feet high, stands at the northeast corner of the enclosure
(pl. 77, upper). The corner foundation, in turn, rests upon an adobe
surface apparently continuing from that below the second series of
steps, 35 feet to the west. However superior the stonework at the
corner, it deteriorates rapidly southward along the east side: First,
two to four carelessly laid upper courses; then carelessness to a
greater depth (pl. 78, left). Halfway along its length the wall takes
a 5-foot outward jog, then south again to a low barrier, an apparent
improvisation, that extends east about 30 feet and there is
reduced to two uncertain courses. The opposite end of this extension
is lost under the earth dam of Wetherill's reservoir, but
farther west a few salvaged sandstone blocks again provide a rude
barrier (pl. 78, right).

The west end of this East Mound enclosure was originally constructed
of second-type masonry. Subsequently a nondescript addition
of three or more courses was piled on top. Still later, after the
middle section of this addition had collapsed outwardly, a new and
equally nondescript substitute was built 3 feet outside the original
(fig. 23). At the new northwest corner a rock-fenced area was provided
for some unknown purpose, its adobe floor dipping unevenly
toward the west and the middle of it occupied by a crudely built
stone circle 45 inches in diameter (pl. 77, lower).

An exploratory north-south trench at this point (fig. 24, b) revealed
stratified village debris sloping down from east and west.
To keep it in bounds, retaining walls had been erected at the near
end of each mound but later debris had overflowed them. Subsequently
both walls were raised a few courses and were again overflowed.
Nevertheless, under these accumulations and apparently on
the same adobe stratum as that in the fenced area noted above, we
happened upon evidence of limited, unscreened domestic activity—
a slab-lined fireplace 19 inches below the surface and 15 inches above
the base of the West Mound enclosure.

At 85 feet south of its northeast corner this West Mound enclosure
is abutted by a foundationless, nondescript wall 19 inches high
by 22 inches wide—a wall that extends east and south until lost among
broken stonework projecting from the East Mound. Although some
of these fragmentary walls may have been built to check the outward
spread of mound rubbish others clearly were designed to confine
floodwaters and direct them past the village. Here, again, the accumulated
floor sweepings, debris of demolition, and wind-blown
sand slope down and away from the mound crest.