The round holes in a line between the doorways were beam sockets. Poles of pinyon pine and/or juniper formed the ceilings and spanned the width of the room.
Cross-section Drawing of a Roof.
The interior plaster of the west wall was made from caliche, ground fine in a stone mortar and with the gravel sifted out. This plaster is more than 650 years old.
Names cut into the plaster date from the last half of the last century, and were cut into the plaster before the ruin was protected by the Federal government. Because of these names, and the fact that the interior of the Casa Grande may easily be vandalized, visitors are permitted to enter the ruin only on ranger-conducted guided tours.
8. Southeast Corner.
The walls of the Casa Grande are heavy and massive, ranging in thickness from 4½ to 1¾ feet. To save work and to reduce weight on the foundation, the Indians narrowed the walls as they built them up. The outside surface bows inward as the wall rises. The inside surface, however, is nearly vertical. (See [photo]).
Southeast Corner of the Casa Grande