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009 - The Aztec Ruins Today · Aztec Ruins National Monument, New Mexico

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  Speaker 1: Section eight of Aztec Ruins National Monument, New Mexico. This
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  Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Read by Prettipah Aztec Ruins National Monument,
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  Speaker 1: New Mexico by John M. Corbett. The Aztec Ruins to
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  Speaker 1: day Aztec Ruins National Monument consists of an enclosed area
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  Speaker 1: of twenty seven acres containing six major archaeological complexes of
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  Speaker 1: rooms and structures, and at least seven or eight small
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  Speaker 1: amounts which may contain structures or may simply be trash
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  Speaker 1: and refuse mounts from the larger occupation zones. Two of
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  Speaker 1: these major complexes have been excavated, the West Ruin and
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  Speaker 1: the Hubbard Mound. Two of the others, the East Ruin
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  Speaker 1: and Mount F, have been tested. Mount F is evidently
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  Speaker 1: very similar to the Hubbard Mound. The Xtruin, if excavated,
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  Speaker 1: might be similar in most respects to the West Ruin,
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  Speaker 1: both in appearance and time of occupation. As to whether
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  Speaker 1: the smallermounds contain trash or house remains, only thorough archaeological
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  Speaker 1: investigations can tell Morris's diggings, and subsequent small tests have
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  Speaker 1: indicated there may be earlier developmental poeblo remains underlying the
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  Speaker 1: main prehistoric complexes. Also, such remains might still be found
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  Speaker 1: under the wind blown sand in the flatter areas between
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  Speaker 1: the major ruins. No real archaeological work has ever been
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  Speaker 1: done in the monument area to determine the possible extent
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  Speaker 1: of such earlier remains. The two main sites seen by
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  Speaker 1: the visitor to the monument are therefore the West Ruin
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  Speaker 1: and the Hubbard Mound. The West Ruin was the one
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  Speaker 1: first entered by early settlers in the late nineteenth century.
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  Speaker 1: The profuse remains caused extensive digging and looting for about
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  Speaker 1: a decade. Then, under the ownership first of John R.
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  Speaker 1: Kuhn's and later of HD Abrams, the area was given
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  Speaker 1: a certain amount of protection. During nineteen sixty to twenty one,
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  Speaker 1: the American Museum of Natural History excavated extensively in the
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  Speaker 1: West Ruin under the guidance of Morris. To day, three
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  Speaker 1: forts of this ruin has been excavated, cleared, and stabilized
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  Speaker 1: so that you may gain a first hand impression of
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  Speaker 1: its original appearance. The remaining one fourth is largely unexcavated,
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  Speaker 1: and for all anyone knows, may contain archaeological riches equal
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  Speaker 1: to any recovered in the early days or during the
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  Speaker 1: excavations by the American Museum of Natural History. Although some
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  Speaker 1: of the rooms and walls seen by the first white
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  Speaker 1: settlers in the valley have now collapsed, evidence of at
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  Speaker 1: least three stories is still clearly visible in several places
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  Speaker 1: in the ruin. The main part consists of three sides
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  Speaker 1: of a rectangle, with a slightly bowing outer wall on
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  Speaker 1: the fourth side composed of single rooms, which seals off
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  Speaker 1: the central plaza. The only entrance into the pueblo was
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  Speaker 1: the one along the path by which visitors enter the ruin.
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  Speaker 1: To day, the poeblow was built of yellowish brown and
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  Speaker 1: tanned sandstone blocks, most of them shaped into rectangles by
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  Speaker 1: pecking or grinding to support the weight of the upper rooms.
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  Speaker 1: The lower walls are much thicker and are composed of
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  Speaker 1: rubble fill with an outer veneer wall of the better
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  Speaker 1: shaped rectangular blocks. In many places, the spaces between them
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  Speaker 1: are filled with small chinking stones set in adobe mud.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes broken pieces of pottery vessels were used for spalls. Originally,
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  Speaker 1: the walls were plastered with layers of adobe, most of
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  Speaker 1: which unfortunately have eroded away. One unusual feature in the
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  Speaker 1: west ruin consists of two very fine bands of green
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  Speaker 1: sandstone blocks which extend horizontally along the west outer wall
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  Speaker 1: of the pueblo and into a few of the interior
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  Speaker 1: rooms of the southwest corner. There are indications in a
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  Speaker 1: few places that originally there may have been three such
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  Speaker 1: parallel bands. The north and northwest sides of the ruin
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  Speaker 1: contained the most extensive building remains. The highest walls and
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  Speaker 1: best construction still exist there, and one can see evidence
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  Speaker 1: of at least three stories. Also in the north portion,
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  Speaker 1: along the extreme back row of rooms at the ground level,
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  Speaker 1: there is a series of seven rooms, each of which
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  Speaker 1: has its original ceiling intact. These seven were the first
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  Speaker 1: entered by early relic hunters, who found most of the
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  Speaker 1: original doorways to the south sealed up, and who broke
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  Speaker 1: through the walls of each room in an easterly direction.
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  Speaker 1: These breeches in the walls have been repaired but left open,
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  Speaker 1: so that to day you can go from one room
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  Speaker 1: to the next along the path taken by the early explorers,
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  Speaker 1: rather than through the doorways used by the Indians from
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  Speaker 1: the plaza. The Indians gained access to these northwestern rooms
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  Speaker 1: by entering the west side rooms, then turning at right angles,
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  Speaker 1: they proceeded northward through the doorways and rooms until they
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  Speaker 1: reached the final row of rooms at the north Although
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  Speaker 1: not all are open to the public because of their
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  Speaker 1: difficulty of access, there are nineteen rooms in the ruin
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  Speaker 1: which still have their original ceilings intact. In making a ceiling,
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  Speaker 1: the Indians used two or more main stringers, that is,
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  Speaker 1: large beams of pine or juniper, which they set into
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  Speaker 1: the walls of the room at a height of eight
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  Speaker 1: or nine feet. Traversing the shorter dimension of the room,
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  Speaker 1: running at right angles to the stringers, they placed cottonwood
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  Speaker 1: poles or splints of juniper, and over these reeds, rushes
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  Speaker 1: or woven matting. Upon this they put adobe mud, which
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  Speaker 1: was well packed to make a firm roof, or, if
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  Speaker 1: there was to be another room above it, a stout floor.
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  Speaker 1: Since the entire ruin has not been excavated, it is
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  Speaker 1: possible there may be more rooms with ceilings intact, or
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  Speaker 1: others in which, although the ceilings have collapsed, the first
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  Speaker 1: floor walls and part of the second remain As far
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  Speaker 1: as we can tell from the excavated rooms and from
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  Speaker 1: the surface evidence, there are two hundred and twenty one
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  Speaker 1: first story rooms. There are interiors of one hundred and
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  Speaker 1: nineteen second story rooms, and at least twelve third story rooms.
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  Speaker 1: When originally inhabited, there were many more than the three
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  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty two rooms that we can count today. Generally,
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  Speaker 1: access from one room to another was by doorways that
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  Speaker 1: led from the back or side portions of the pueblo
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  Speaker 1: out toward the central plaza. However, several rooms also had
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  Speaker 1: lateral doorways, many of which had at one time been
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  Speaker 1: sealed up, either by the first inhabitants or by the
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  Speaker 1: second group. When burials were made in a room, it
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  Speaker 1: must have been necessary to seal all the doorways, unless
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  Speaker 1: the bodies were placed in subfloor pits or covered with
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  Speaker 1: dirt or debris. Among the second story rooms in the
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  Speaker 1: northeastern section are four special doorways, each placed in the
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  Speaker 1: corner of a room so that it connects with the
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  Speaker 1: adjoining diagonal room. As far as we know, corner doorways
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  Speaker 1: occur only in second story rooms, with the possible exception
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  Speaker 1: of the double doorway mentioned below. One corner doorway leads
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  Speaker 1: into a room that had four normal doorways, one in
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  Speaker 1: each side. We do not know if this room had
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  Speaker 1: a special function, but it was the most accessible in
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  Speaker 1: the entire Poe Blow. One corner doorway is possibly unique
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  Speaker 1: in the entire southwest. Beneath it is a second and
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  Speaker 1: much smaller one, which led from the second floor level
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  Speaker 1: into a first floor room which could be entered only
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  Speaker 1: by this means. Although there is a step arrangement in
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  Speaker 1: this lower doorway, it is so small and its roof
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  Speaker 1: is so low that it must have been a matter
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  Speaker 1: of crawling rather than walking through it. This doorway enters
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  Speaker 1: the lower room so high in the wall that it
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  Speaker 1: would also have been necessary to have a ladder inside
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  Speaker 1: the room to enter or leave it. In addition to doorways,
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  Speaker 1: many rooms, especially toward the back or sides of the
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  Speaker 1: Poe Blow and in the lower tiers, had one or
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  Speaker 1: two openings about a foot square high in the back wall.
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  Speaker 1: These are above the height of an average man even today,
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  Speaker 1: and could not have served as view halls or windows
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  Speaker 1: for the Indians. They must have been put there for ventilation.
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  Speaker 1: There are a few other openings in some walls which
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  Speaker 1: are not as large as the average doorway or as
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  Speaker 1: small as the ventilators. Usually these are placed at a
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  Speaker 1: medium height in the room and could well have served
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  Speaker 1: as windows to allow a view from one room to another.
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  Speaker 1: None of these so called windows, however, opens to the
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  Speaker 1: rear or sides of the pueblo, nor is any known
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  Speaker 1: that opens onto the plaza in front. Not counting the
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  Speaker 1: great kiva which bulks so large in the plaza, excavations
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  Speaker 1: have revealed at least twenty nine other kivas or ceremonial chambers. Several,
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  Speaker 1: especially in the southeast corner, underlie the main structure and
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  Speaker 1: may represent kivas from the earlier or developmental Pueblo period.
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  Speaker 1: Besides the cluster of small kivas around the southeastern corner,
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  Speaker 1: there is a second grouping of larger kivas among the
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  Speaker 1: rooms in the northeast corner and out into the northeastern
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  Speaker 1: part of the plaza, where a rather large Chaco type
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  Speaker 1: kiva is located. A third cluster composed of smaller mesa
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  Speaker 1: Verde type keyhole kivas, is located near the southwestern corner
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  Speaker 1: of the pueblo, and Morris found scattered remains of one
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  Speaker 1: or two other kivas toward the front of the southwestern part.
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  Speaker 1: The Great Kiva, or House of the Great Kiva, as
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  Speaker 1: Morris called it, is centrally located in the south side
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  Speaker 1: of the plaza. It is essentially circular in form and
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  Speaker 1: has two distinct parts. The inner part the Kiva Proper,
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  Speaker 1: has a floor about eight feet below the surface at
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  Speaker 1: ground level, and surrounding this inner section is an outer
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  Speaker 1: circle of fourteen arc shaped rooms. Twelve of these are
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  Speaker 1: essentially similar, but the other two are markedly different. One
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  Speaker 1: is merely an open passage about three and a half
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  Speaker 1: feet wide, which leads directly from the plaza to the
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  Speaker 1: head of the south stairway. The other is a large
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  Speaker 1: rectangular alcove like structure on the north side of the
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  Speaker 1: Kiva Proper, with the stairway leading up into it from
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  Speaker 1: the Kiva floor. On the north and west sides of
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  Speaker 1: this alcove there is a low bench like structure around
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  Speaker 1: the inner wall, and on the south side are water
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  Speaker 1: appear to be a piece of a wall and two
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  Speaker 1: rectangular masonry blocks. Toward the center back portion of the
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  Speaker 1: alcove is another low, square masonry structure, which may have
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  Speaker 1: been an altar. When excavated, this latter structure had burnt
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  Speaker 1: poles embedded in the north side, as though it once
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  Speaker 1: had a small roof or some kind of entablature over it.
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  Speaker 1: The kiva proper is forty one feet three and a
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  Speaker 1: half inches wide at floor level and forty eight feet
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  Speaker 1: three and a half inches wide at a height of
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  Speaker 1: three feet above the floor. This difference is caused by
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  Speaker 1: two benches or concentric rings, which completely encircle the kiva base.
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  Speaker 1: At the north end, three masonry steps led to the
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  Speaker 1: second bench, which at this point formed a fourth step
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  Speaker 1: in the stairway leading to the alcove. Above this, another
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  Speaker 1: masonry step was surmounted by five sets of double juniper
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  Speaker 1: logs set in the sides of a recess with an
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  Speaker 1: average rise of nine and a half inches each. These
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  Speaker 1: logs formed the final steps leading from the kiva floor
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  Speaker 1: into the north alcove. Originally there had also been a
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  Speaker 1: stairway on the south side leading to the small exit
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  Speaker 1: at that point. Some time while the kiva was in use,
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  Speaker 1: these stairs had been eliminated. The two benches had been
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  Speaker 1: filled in smoothly at that point, and the recess above
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  Speaker 1: had been partially closed. The modern wooden stairways at both
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  Speaker 1: these points have been placed there by the National Park
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  Speaker 1: Service for the convenience of visitors. On the floor of
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  Speaker 1: the Kiva are remains of the central altar or fire pit,
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  Speaker 1: flanked on either side by two large rectangular stone lined pits,
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  Speaker 1: the bottoms of which are well below the kiva floor.
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  Speaker 1: These pits, often referred to as foot drums, may have
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  Speaker 1: served at other times as hiding places for the shamans
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  Speaker 1: or medicine men who performed magical rites during ceremonies. Surrounding
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  Speaker 1: the Kiva at ground level are twelve similar arc shaped
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  Speaker 1: chambers of varying dimensions, which represent components of the building
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  Speaker 1: as last used sometime during one or another of the
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  Speaker 1: several alterations made by the Indians on the Great Kiva.
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  Speaker 1: Every door from the plaza into these peripheral chambers was
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  Speaker 1: sealed with masonry. The floor of the rooms was adobe
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  Speaker 1: without much sign of use, and the quantity of gypsum
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  Speaker 1: found by Morris indicates they may have been painted white.
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  Speaker 1: Once the outer doors were sealed. Entrance was doubtless by
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  Speaker 1: way of the niched vertical stairways in front of each room,
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  Speaker 1: about ten inches from the top bench. In front of
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  Speaker 1: most of the alcove rooms Morris found a slot eight
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  Speaker 1: and a half inches wide and eight inches deep which
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  Speaker 1: continued to the top of the wall. About a foot apart.
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  Speaker 1: In each niche were two round junipes sticks laid side
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  Speaker 1: by side with their ends extending into the masonry. On
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  Speaker 1: the east side of the kiva, the veneer facing of
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  Speaker 1: the wall had fallen, and it could not be positively
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  Speaker 1: determined if these alcove rooms also had similar slot stairways
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  Speaker 1: in front of them. If they did not, the rooms
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  Speaker 1: would have been non functional in connection with the kiva proper,
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  Speaker 1: and therefore the present day restoration shows them correctly. That
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  Speaker 1: the Great Kiva was originally roofed was determined by Morris's
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  Speaker 1: finding the remains of four rectangular columns, counter sunk below
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  Speaker 1: the level of the kiva floor and composed of alternating
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  Speaker 1: courses of masonry and wooden poles. Each course of wooden
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  Speaker 1: poles was laid at right angles to the alternating one below.
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  Speaker 1: Each column was supported by three thick circular sandstone blocks,
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  Speaker 1: evidently to prevent the weight of the columns and the
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  Speaker 1: roof they supported from pressing them down into the soft
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  Speaker 1: ground or spreading out the footings. In the excavation of
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  Speaker 1: the kiva fill. Morris also found many pieces of charred timbers,
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  Speaker 1: so that although we do not know the exact method
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  Speaker 1: of roofing the kiva, one method which the Indians could
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  Speaker 1: have used has been duplicated in the modernary construction. Evidently,
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  Speaker 1: the kiva burned and was then abandoned. Just to the
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  Speaker 1: northwest of the main ruin at Aztec is a small
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  Speaker 1: tri walled ceremonial structure known as the Hubbard Site. Sixty
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  Speaker 1: four feet in diameter. It consists of three concentric walls
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  Speaker 1: of stone and adobe, with a small twenty four foot
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  Speaker 1: circular kiva enclosed in the center. This kiva is not
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  Speaker 1: directly connected with any of the tri walls. There is
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  Speaker 1: a space one and a half feet wide between the
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  Speaker 1: outer shell of the kiva and the inner side of
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  Speaker 1: the nearest wall. There are remains of eight roof pilasters,
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  Speaker 1: a central fireplace, a deflector, and a ventilator shaft in
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  Speaker 1: the kiva. On the south side are openings in the
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  Speaker 1: two outer walls, one directly behind the other, so that
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  Speaker 1: access could have been along this passage and then up
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  Speaker 1: over the roof of the kiva and down into it
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  Speaker 1: through the smokehole. None of the rooms in the outer
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  Speaker 1: two circles connect in any way with the Kiva. There
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  Speaker 1: are seven rooms of roughly equal size within the inner circle.
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  Speaker 1: An eighth room might be the one mentioned above, which
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  Speaker 1: forms part of the passage leading out to the south.
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  Speaker 1: These rooms do not connect with each other, and access
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  Speaker 1: to each of them must have been through the roof.
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  Speaker 1: In the outermost circle, there are thirteen rooms, with another
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  Speaker 1: constituting the outer portion of the south passage. This is
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  Speaker 1: the same number of alcoves as surrounded the Great Kiva,
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  Speaker 1: except that in the latter case two were entranceways. Here
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  Speaker 1: in the Hubbard Mound, there is no north alcove entranceway
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  Speaker 1: as there is in the Great Kiva. In the outer
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  Speaker 1: circle of rooms, the first four east of the south
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  Speaker 1: entrance opened into each other through a lateral doorway, and
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  Speaker 1: the next two rooms around to the northeast also opened
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  Speaker 1: into each other. The following room toward the north was
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  Speaker 1: self contained. Proceeding around to the west, the next five
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  Speaker 1: rooms all opened on each other through lateral doorways. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: on the southwest there is a single room not connected
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  Speaker 1: to any other. None of the rooms in the outer
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  Speaker 1: circle opened on to any In the inner circle or
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  Speaker 1: to the outside, except for one doorway on the west,
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  Speaker 1: which led to the series of five interconnecting rooms. The
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  Speaker 1: separate rooms and the other series of connecting rooms must
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  Speaker 1: have been entered through the roof. Extending southward from the
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  Speaker 1: triwall structure are two massive parallel walls made of cobblestones
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  Speaker 1: laid in thick mortar, and two more equally massive walls
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  Speaker 1: extend westward. From these, there are scattered smaller walls, also
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  Speaker 1: of cobblestones. While we do not know their original dimensions,
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  Speaker 1: they suggest rectangular enclosures which may have contained house rooms
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  Speaker 1: of lighter construction. The ruins contained within the Aztec Ruins
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  Speaker 1: National Monument constitute a complex of prehistoric remains representative of
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  Speaker 1: several different construction periods. Different groups of Indians seem to
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  Speaker 1: have been involved at various times, and only further excavation
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  Speaker 1: will fully clarify their relationships. End of Section eight.