Exploration of a pit house village at Luna, New Mexico / by Walter Hough.

  • Walter Hough
Date:
1919
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Exploration of a pit house village at Luna, New Mexico / by Walter Hough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    there is a slope of 25 feet to a set-off 16 inches high, apparently the back of a bench 4 feet wide. The depth here is 31 inches from the surface of the deposit in the pit. From this bench the ground slopes about 12 to 16 feet and merges into the level floor of the pit. The deposit here is 50 inches deep. There was thus a circular floor for dance purposes, about 50 feet in diameter, with 196 feet of bench around it for spectators. This amphitheater pit, approximately 265 feet in circumference and nearly 10 feet deep, was probably sur¬ rounded with a palisade. It will be seen that the earth deposit in the pit (50 inches) is about that which levels the pit houses, but the great pit being 10 feet deep is not filled, and hence it is the only surviving landmark of the ancient village. The labor of excavating the great dance pit or kiva was great, and the work seems to show that the population of Pit Village was large enough to furnish a good force of willing hands. As no tools of stone for digging were Fig. 8.—Plan and sections showing construction of pit houses. found, it appears probable that the excavation was made with dig¬ ging sticks and the earth removed in skin bundles. Enough has been learned through the tentative exploration to enable us to essay a restoration of the pit village as it may have appeared centuries ago. The data shows that the excavation and the added height given by the removed earth would be about 8 feet, leaving thus 3 feet of the house above ground. The roof would be supported on eight posts about 10 feet long. The sides of the house above ground would be wattle and daub, or wattled and banked with earth. (Fig. 8, a, 5, c.) Judging by the height of the earth embankment thrown up in the excavation of the pits during the present work, the measurements suggested, as well as the banking, seem plausible. It would be easy thus for the Indian to walk up on his roof and descend through a hatchway by means of a notched ladder as used by the Pueblos. The appearance of the cluster of
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