Plate X. A small ruin near Moen-kopi.
[ MOEN-KOPI RUINS.]
A very small group of rooms, even smaller than the neighboring farming pueblo of Moen-kopi, is situated on the western edge of the mesa summit about a quarter of a mile north of the modern village of Moen-kopi. As the plan shows (Fig. 4), the rooms were distributed in three rows around a small court. This ruin also follows the general northeastern trend which has been noticed both in the ruined and in the occupied pueblos of Tusayan. The rows here were only one room deep and not more than a single story high at any point, as indicated by the very small amount of débris. As the plate shows, nearly the entire plan is clearly defined by fragments of standing walls. The walls are built of thin tablets of the dark-colored sandstone which caps the mesa. Where the walls have fallen the débris is comparatively free from earth, indicating that adobe has been sparingly used. The walls, in places standing to a height of 2 or 3 feet, as may be seen in the illustration, Pl. X, show unusual precision of workmanship and finish, resembling in this respect some of the ancient pueblos farther north. This is to some extent due to the exceptional suitability of the tabular stones of the mesa summit. The almost entire absence of pottery fragments and other objects of art which are such a constant accompaniment of the ruins throughout this region strongly suggest that it was occupied for a very short time. In Chapter III it will be shown that a similar order of occupation took place at Ojo Caliente, one of the Zuñi farming villages. This ruin is probably of quite recent origin, as is the present village of Moen-kopi, although it may possibly have belonged to an earlier colony of which we have no distinct trace. This fertile and well watered valley, a veritable garden spot in the Tusayan deserts, must have been one of the first points occupied. Some small cliff-dwellings, single rooms in niches of a neighboring canyon wall, attest the earlier use of the valley for agricultural purposes, although it is doubtful whether these rude shelters date back of the Spanish invasion of the province.
Fig. 4. Ruin near Moen-kopi, plan.
A close scrutiny of the many favorable sites in this vicinity would probably reveal the sand-encumbered remains of some more important settlement than any of those now known.
[ RUINS ON THE ORAIBI WASH.]
The wagon road from Keam’s Canyon to Tuba City crosses the Oraibi wash at a point about 7 miles above the village of Oraibi. As it enters a branch canyon on the west side of the wash it is flanked on each side by rocky mesas and broken ledges. On the left or west side a bold promontory, extending southward, is quite a conspicuous feature of the landscape. The entire flat mesa summit, and much of the slope of a rocky butte that rises from it, are covered with the remains of a small pueblo, as shown on the plan, Fig. 5. All of this knoll except its eastern side is lightly covered with scattered débris. On the west and north sides there are many large masses of broken rock distributed over the slope. There is no standing wall visible from below, but on closer approach several interesting specimens of masonry are seen. On the north side, near the west end, there is a fragment of curved wall which follows the margin of the rock on which it is built. It is about 8 or 10 feet long and 3 feet high on the outer side. The curve is carefully executed and the workmanship of the masonry good. Farther east, and still on the north side, there is a fragment of masonry exhibiting a reversed curve. This piece of wall spans the space between two adjoining rocks, and the top of the wall is more than 10 feet above the rock on which it stands. The shape of this wall and its relation to the surroundings are indicated on the plan, Fig. 5. On the south side of the ruin on the mesa surface, and near an outcropping rock, are the remains of what appears to have been a circular room, perhaps 8 or 10 feet in diameter, though it is too much broken down to determine this accurately. Only a small portion of the south wall can be definitely traced. On the south slope of the mesa are indications of walls, too vaguely defined to admit of the determination of their direction. Similar vestiges of masonry are found on the north and west, but not extending to as great a distance from the knoll as those on the south.