The dense clustering of this village has
certainly in some instances thrown the weight of two, three, or even
four additional, stories upon walls in which no provision was made for
the unusual strain. The few supporting walls that were accessible to
inspection did not indicate any provision in their thickness for the
support of additional weight; in fact, the builders of the original
walls could have no knowledge of their future requirements in this
respect. In the pueblos of the Chaco upper partition walls were, in a
few instances, supported directly on double girders, two posts of 12 or
14 inches in diameter placed side by side, without reinforcement by
stone piers or buttresses, the room below being left wholly
unobstructed. This construction was practicable for the careful builders
of the Chaco, but an attempt by the Tusayan to achieve the same result
would probably end in disaster. It was quite common among the ancient
builders to divide the ground or storage floor into smaller rooms than
the floor above, still preserving the vertical alignment of the walls.
[Illustration: Plate LXVIII. Nutria, view.]
The finish of pueblo masonry rarely went far beyond the two leading
forms, to which attention has been called, the free use of adobe on the
one hand and the banded arrangement of ancient masonry on the other.
These types appear to present development along divergent lines. The
banded feature doubtless reached such a point of development in the
Chaco pueblos that its decorative value began to be appreciated, for it
is apparent that its elaboration has extended far beyond the
requirements of mere utility.
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