Plate LXXIX. Zuñi terraces.
The growth of the village has apparently been far beyond the original expectation of the builders, and the crowded additions seem to have been joined to the clusters wherever the demand for more space was most urgent, without following any definite plan in their arrangement. In such of the ancient pueblo ruins as afford evidence of having passed through a similar experience, the crowding of additional cells seems to have been made to conform to some extent to a predetermined plan. At Kin-tiel we have seen how such additions to the number of habitable rooms could readily be made within the open court without affecting the symmetry and defensive efficiency of the pueblo; but here the nucleus of the large clusters was small and compact, so that enlargement has taken place only by the addition of rooms on the outside, both on the ground and on upper terraces.
Plate LXXX. Old adobe church of Zuñi.
The highest point of Zuñi, now showing five terraces, is said to have had a height of seven terraces as late as the middle of the present century, but at the time of the survey of the village no traces were seen of such additional stories. The top of the present fifth terrace, however, is more than 50 feet long, and affords sufficient space for the addition of a sixth and seventh story.
The court or plaza in which the church (Pl. LXXX) stands is so much larger than such inclosures usually are when incorporated in a pueblo plan that it seems unlikely to have formed part of the original village. It probably resulted from locating the church prior to the construction of the eastern rows of the village. Certain features in the houses themselves indicate the later date of these rows.