Pl. LXXVIII gives a general view of these higher terraces of the village
from the southeast. A height of five distinct terraces from the ground
is attained on the south side of this cluster. The same point, however,
owing to the irregularity of the site, is only three terraces above the
ground on the north side. The summit of the knoll upon which the older
portion of Zu?i has been built is so uneven, and the houses themselves
vary so much in dimensions, that the greatest disparity prevails in the
height of terraces. A three-terrace portion of a cluster may have but
two terraces immediately alongside, and throughout the more closely
built portions of the village the exposed height of terraces varies from
1 foot to 8 or 10 feet. Pl. LXXIX illustrates this feature.
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.
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