18
Above and to the left of the rooms you have just left is another corner window. On the morning of the winter solstice in December the rays of the rising sun shine through this window and strike the opposite corner of the room behind it, a fact that is probably more than coincidental. We know that in the 11th century Indians in Mexico were making solar and lunar observations and calculations that were in some respects more sophisticated than were possible in most of Europe.
The long low ridge in front of the pueblo was the trash dump. It was built up of ashes from the firepits, floor sweepings, construction debris, bones, food refuse, human waste, scraps from craftwork, broken pottery—everything that was no longer of any use. With only a little imagination one can picture the mound with a band of small, naked children playing “king of the hill”, and with foraging turkeys, and dogs burying or digging up bones.
Four story wall [photo by Hal Malde]