Gateways, arranged for defense, occur in many of the more compactly-built ancient pueblos. Some of the passageways in the modern villages of Tusayan and Cibola resemble these older examples, but most of the narrow passages, giving access to the inner courts of the inhabited villages, are not the result of the defensive idea, but are formed by the crowding together of the dwellings. They occur, as a rule, within the pueblo and not upon its periphery. Many of the terraces now face outward and are reached from the outside of the pueblo, being in marked contrast to the early arrangement, in which narrow passages to inclose courts were exclusively used for access. In the ground plans of several villages occupied within historic times, but now ruined, vestiges of openings arranged on the original defensive plan may be traced. About midway on the northeast side of Awatubi fragments of a standing wall were seen, apparently the two sides of a passageway to the inclosed court of the pueblo. The masonry is much broken down, however, and no indication is afforded of the treatment adopted, nor do the remains indicate whether this entrance was originally covered or not. It is illustrated in Pl. CII.
Plate CII. Remains of a gateway in Awatubi.
Other examples of this feature may be seen in the ground plans of Tebugkihu, Chukubi, and Payupki ([Fig. 7], and Pls. [XII] and [XIII]).
In the first of these the deep jambs of the opening are clearly defined, but in the other two only low mounds of débris suggest the gateway. In the ancient Cibolan pueblos, including those on the mesa of Tâaaiyalana, no remains of external gateways have been found; the plans suggest that the disposition of the various clusters approximated somewhat the irregular arrangement of the present day. There are only occasional traces, as of a continuous defensive outer wall, such as those seen at Nutria and Pescado. In the pueblos of the Cibola group, ancient and modern, access to the inner portion of the pueblo was usually afforded at a number of points. In the pueblo of Kin-tiel, however, occurs an excellent example of the defensive gateway. The jambs and corners of the opening are finished with great neatness, as may be seen in the illustration (Pl. CIII). This gateway or passage was roofed over, and the rectangular depressions for the reception of cross-beams still contain short stumps, protected from destruction by the masonry. The masonry over the passageway in falling carried away part of the masonry above the jamb corner, thus indicating continuity of bond. The ground plan of this ruin ([Pl. LXIII]) indicates clearly the various points at which access to the inner courts was obtained. On the east side a noticeable feature is the overlapping of the boundary wall of the south wing, forming an indirect entranceway. The remains do not indicate that this passage, like the one just described, was roofed over. In some cases the modern passageways, as they follow the jogs and angles of adjoining rows of houses, display similar changes of direction. In Shupaulovi, which preserves most distinctly in its plan the idea of the inclosed court, the passageway at the south end of the village changes its direction at a right angle before emerging into the court ([Pl. XXX]). This arrangement was undoubtedly determined by the position of the terraces long before the passageway was roofed over and built upon. [Pl. XXII] shows the south passageway of Walpi; the entrances are made narrower than the rest of the passage by building buttresses of masonry at the sides. This was probably done to secure the necessary support for the north and south walls of the upper story. One of the walls, as maybe seen in the illustration, rests directly upon a cross beam, strengthened in this manner.
Plate CIII. Ancient gateway, Kin-tiel.
One of the smaller inclosed courts of Zuñi, illustrated in [Pl. LXXXII], is reached by means of two covered passages, bearing some general resemblance to the ancient defensive entrances, but these houses, reached from within the court, have also terraces without. The low passage shown in the figure has gradually been surmounted by rooms, reaching in some cases a height of three terraces above the openings; but the accumulated weight finally proved too much for the beams and sustaining walls—probably never intended by the builders to withstand the severe test afterwards put upon them—and following an unusually protracted period of wet weather, the entire section of rooms above fell to the ground. This occurred since the surveying and photographing. It is rather remarkable that the frail adobe walls withstood so long the unusual strain, or even that they sustained the addition of a top story at all.