Major Antiquities
Under this term are included those immovable prehistoric remains which, taken together, constitute a cliff-dwelling. The architectural features—walls of rooms and structures connected with them, as beams, balconies, fireplaces—are embraced in the term “major antiquities.” None of these can be removed from their sites without harm, so they must be protected in the place where they now stand.
In a valuable article on the ruins in valley of the San Juan and its tributaries, Dr. T. Mitchell Prudden[10] recognizes in this region what he designates a “unit type;” that is, a ruin consisting of a kiva backed by a row of rooms generally situated on its north side, with lateral extensions east and west, and a burial place on the opposite, or south, side of the kiva. This form of “unit type,” as he points out, is more apparent in ruins situated in an open country than in those built in cliffs. The same form may be recognized in Spruce-tree House, which is composed of several “unit types” arranged side by side. The simplicity of these “unit types” is somewhat modified, however, in this as in all cliff-dwellings, by the form of the site. The author would amend Prudden’s definition of the “unit type” as applied to cliff-houses by adding to the latter’s description a bounding wall connecting the two lateral extensions of the row of rooms, thus forming the south side of the enclosure of the kiva. For obvious reasons, in this amended description the burial place is absent, as it does not occur in the position assigned to it in the original description.
PLAZAS AND COURTS
As before stated, the buildings of Spruce-tree House are divided into a northern and a southern section by a street which penetrates from plaza G to the rear of the cave. ([Pl. 1.]) The northern section is not only the larger, but there is evidence that it is also the older. It is bounded by some of the best-constructed buildings, situated along the north side of the street. The rooms of the southern section are less numerous, although in some respects more instructive.
There are practically the same number of plazas as of kivas in this ruin. With the exception of C and D, each plaza is occupied by a single kiva, the roof of which constitutes the central part of the floor of the square enclosure (plaza). The plazas commonly contain remnants of small shrines, fireplaces, and corn-grinding bins, and are perforated by mysterious holes evidently used in ceremonies. Their floors are hardened by the tramping of the many feet that passed over them. The best preserved of all the plazas is that which contains kiva G. It can hardly be supposed that the roof of kiva A served as a dance place, which is the ordinary office of a plaza, but it may have been used in ceremonies. The largest plaza of the series, in the rear of which are rooms while the front is inclosed by the bounding wall, is that containing kivas C and D. The appearance of this plaza before and after clearing out and repairing is shown in [plate 3]; the view was taken from the north end of the ruin.
From the number of fireplaces and similar evidences it may be concluded that the street already mentioned as dividing the village into two sections served many purposes. Most important of these was its use as the open-air dwellings of the villagers. Its hardened clay floor suggests the constant passage of many feet. Its surface slopes gradually downward from the back of the cave, ending at a step near the round room in the rear of kiva G. This step marks also the eastern boundary of the plaza (G) which contains the best preserved of all the ceremonial rooms of Spruce-tree House.
The discovery by excavation of the wall that originally formed the front of the village was important. In this way was revealed a correct ground plan of the ruin ([pl. 1]) which had never before been traced by archeologists. When the work began, this wall was deeply buried under accumulated débris, its course not being visible to any considerable extent. By removing the fallen stones composing the débris the wall could be readily traced. In the repair work the original stones were replaced in the structure. As in the first instance this wall was probably about as high as the head, it may have been used for protection. The only openings are small rectangular orifices, the presence of one opposite the external opening of the air flue of each kiva suggesting that formerly these flues opened outside the wall. Two kivas, B and F, are situated west of this wall and therefore outside the village. There are evidences of a walk on top of the talus along the front of the pueblo outside the front wall, and of a retaining wall to prevent the edge of the talus from wearing away. (Pls. 4, 5.)