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ASM Occasional Electronic Papers No. 1: Homol'ovi IV Chapter Seven:
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Surface Structures
Structure 4
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Figure 7.10 Structures 4 and 5, plan view (Illustration Doug Gann) |
Figure 7.11 Structure 4, profile, view west (Illustration Doug Gann) |
Phase, Location and Use: Tuwiuca Phase, Room Row 1, Storage.
Area and Wall Information: The area of structure 4 is approximately 4.26 sq. m (Figure 7.9). All f four walls are masonry with adobe mortar using unmodified green Moenkopi sandstone ranging from 11 cm to 42 cm in length. The average slab is about 15 cm long. This wall is also built on leveling fill overlying 47 cm of plaza fill. The east wall predates the other walls of the structure and has one vertical slab facing the wall near the northeast corner.
Roof: No evidence on the nature of the roofing material was preserved.
Floor: The structure has two floors. Floor 1 is made of prepared adobe and in excellent condition. Feature 1 is a square hearth measuring 24 cm by 25 cm. It is situated against the south wall. The hearth is capped by a sandstone slab as well as lined with 3 sandstone slabs. The hearth had 2 strata associated with it. Stratum 1 is crumbly brown soil with small pieces of sandstone. Stratum 2 is a powdery, fine ashy layer with a small amount of charcoal. There were no artifacts within the hearth. Floor 2 is 5 cm below floor 1. It is made of packed cultural material that is patchy in areas. It has no features.
Fill: The shallow nature of the fill, ranging from 20 cm to 25 cm, limits the quality and quantity of the fill. However, the 30 cm of fill beneath the structure that was evidently brought in to level the area before construction can be added to the discussion. The plaza surfaces and fill beneath the fill unit will be covered under the discussion of the plaza. The stratigraphy is very simple. The upper stratum is overburden, resulting from the accumulation of slope wash from higher portions of the village. The single stratum within the walls is predominantly adobe, either from wall or roof fall, or both. Artifact density and cultural material is scarce indicating this stratum was created after the structure, and probably the village, was abandoned. The original floor is simply the compacted version of the cultural fill added to level the plaza for construction of the rooms in this area of the site. Stratum 3 is the designation for the added fill. It ranges from 20 cm to 30 cm thick and is undifferentiated fill. It is mostly sandy with occasional pockets of ash and charcoal and a few artifacts. Its structure suggests it was borrowed from a nearby midden area and used to level the area prior to construction of structures 4 and 5 on the southern edge of the village.
Discussion: Structure 5, like structure 4, is shallow, but has a more complex life history. Stratum 1 is a layer of hard adobe wall or roof fall and very few artifacts. Floor 1 is directly beneath this adobe fall and is a prepared adobe surface about 5 cm thick. In association with this floor is feature 1, a hearth. Floor 1, the surface and the 5 cm of prepared fill are called Stratum 2. Stratum 2 lies directly on top of floor 2. Floor 2 is a hard packed surface with an ash layer overlying it, just like in structure 4. This floor is not as well defined and found only around the center portion of the room. No features are associated with this floor.
Stratigraphy and the condition of the walls show that this room was built off an already existing room using the wall of the room as the east wall of structure 5. A thick stratum just below floor 2 indicates that 20-30 cm of fill was used to cover the plaza and to create a new building surface. The south and west walls are constructed on this stratum. A pothole from the room to the north removed the entire north wall. At one time structures 4 and 5 were probably one room with the occupation surface consisting of structure 4's floor and the structure 5's floor 2. If this was indeed the case, then the middle wall was added at one point, the prepared adobe surface of floor 1 was laid in structure 5, and the hearth was constructed. This remodeling created a habitation room changing its use from being part of a large storage structure.
Structure 5
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Figure 7.13 Structure 5, profile, view west (Illustration Doug Gann) |
Phase, Location and Use: Tuwiuca Phase, Room Row 1, Habitation
Area and Wall Information: The area of the structure is uncertain since the north wall is missing; however, it is approximately 4.13 sq. m (Figure 7.12). The three remaining walls, all in fairly good condition, are masonry made of unmodified green Moenkopi sandstone, using adobe for the mortar. All the existing walls are abutted (see Figure 7.10). The south wall is 2.50 m long, 28 cm high and 24 cm thick. The wall is constructed of horizontal sandstone slabs 15 cm to 38 cm long. The wall is built on top of 30 cm of cultural material, which was probably a leveling layer that overlies 58 cm of plaza fill. The west wall is 1.65 m long, 29 cm high and 25 cm thick. It is constructed of horizontal sandstone slabs measuring from 21 cm to 38 cm long. This wall is also built on top of a leveling layer of cultural material that rests on top of 65 cm of plaza fill (Figure 7.13). The east wall measured 1.65 m long, 53 cm high and 20 cm thick. It is built of horizontal slabs measuring from 11 cm to 42 cm in length. The average slab is about 15 cm long. This wall is also built on leveling fill overlying 47 cm of plaza fill. The east wall predates the other walls of the structure and has one vertical slab facing the wall near the northeast corner.
Roof: No evidence on the nature of the roofing material was preserved.
Floor: The structure has two floors. Floor 1 is made of prepared adobe and in excellent condition. Feature 1 is a square hearth measuring 24 cm by 25 cm. It is situated against the south wall. The hearth is capped by a sandstone slab as well as lined with 3 sandstone slabs. The hearth had 2 strata associated with it. Stratum 1 is crumbly brown soil with small pieces of sandstone. Stratum 2 is a powdery, fine ashy layer with a small amount of charcoal. There were no artifacts within the hearth. Floor 2 is 5 cm below floor 1. It is made of packed cultural material that is patchy in areas. It has no features.
Fill: The shallow nature of the fill, ranging from 20 cm to 25 cm, limits the quality and quantity of the fill. However, the 30 cm of fill beneath the structure that was evidently brought in to level the area before construction can be added to the discussion. The plaza surfaces and fill beneath the fill unit will be covered under the discussion of the plaza. The stratigraphy is very simple. The upper stratum is overburden, resulting from the accumulation of slope wash from higher portions of the village. The single stratum within the walls is predominantly adobe, either from wall or roof fall, or both. Artifact density and cultural material is scarce indicating this stratum was created after the structure, and probably the village, was abandoned. The original floor is simply the compacted version of the cultural fill added to level the plaza for construction of the rooms in this area of the site. Stratum 3 is the designation for the added fill. It ranges from 20 cm to 30 cm thick and is undifferentiated fill. It is mostly sandy with occasional pockets of ash and charcoal and a few artifacts. Its structure suggests it was borrowed from a nearby midden area and used to level the area prior to construction of structures 4 and 5 on the southern edge of the village.
Discussion: Structure 5, like structure 4, is shallow, but has a more complex life history. Stratum 1 is a layer of hard adobe wall or roof fall and very few artifacts. Floor 1 is directly beneath this adobe fall and is a prepared adobe surface about 5 cm thick. In association with this floor is feature 1, a hearth. Floor 1, the surface and the 5 cm of prepared fill are called Stratum 2. Stratum 2 lies directly on top of floor 2. Floor 2 is a hard packed surface with an ash layer overlying it, just like in structure 4. This floor is not as well defined and found only around the center portion of the room. No features are associated with this floor.
Stratigraphy and the condition of the walls show that this room was built off an already existing room using the wall of the room as the east wall of structure 5. A thick stratum just below floor 2 indicates that 20-30 cm of fill was used to cover the plaza and to create a new building surface. The south and west walls are constructed on this stratum. A pothole from the room to the north removed the entire north wall. At one time structures 4 and 5 were probably one room with the occupation surface consisting of structure 4's floor and the structure 5's floor 2. If this was indeed the case, then the middle wall was added at one point, the prepared adobe surface of floor 1 was laid in structure 5, and the hearth was constructed. This remodeling created a habitation room changing its use from being part of a large storage structure.
Structure 10
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Figure 7.15 Structure 10, plan view (Illustration Doug Gann) |
Figure 7.16 Structure 10, profile, view south (Illustration Doug Gann) |
Phase, Location and Use: Tuwiuca Phase, Room Row 1, Storage
Area and Wall Information: The area of structure 10 is 3.12 sq. m (Figure 7.14). All of the walls are made of unshaped sandstone slabs. The mortar used in the walls is reddish-brown silty clay, which is almost non-existent in the south wall. The north wall measures 1.60 m long, 44 cm high and 31 cm wide (Figure 7.15). A pothole destroyed the northwest corner of the wall; however; the rest of the wall is in good shape. The stone size of this wall is fairly consistent ranging from 24 cm by 26 cm to 31 cm by 32cm. The wall is less then 50% mortar and there is no evidence that the wall was ever repaired. The north wall is bonded with the east wall and abuts the west wall. The south wall measures 1.62 m long, 41 cm high and 21 cm to 38 cm thick. The top courses of the wall tend to slump into the structure (Figure 7.16). The size of the stones in the wall is very variable. About 50% of the wall is mortar. The south wall was apparently built at the same time as the west wall but after the east and north walls were constructed. This wall abuts with the east wall and bonds to the west wall. The east wall measures 1.90 m long, 56 cm high and 26 cm wide. It is in stable condition. The size of the stone slabs is fairly consistent about 20 cm to 32 cm long. There is less mortar then stone. There may be plaster at the southern end of the east wall. About 1.30 m from the north wall the single course construction ends. Apparently the remainder of the single course wall was dismantled down to a footer and replaced with a double coursed wall that doesn't start until 26 cm above the footer. The footer continues under the south wall. This east wall abuts with the south wall and bonds with the north wall. Finally, the west wall measures 1.97 m long, 46 cm high and 24 cm wide. This wall starts tall and then stair-steps down to the northwest corner, which is obliterated. The stone slabs are variable in size ranging from 2 cm by 29 cm to 22 cm by 70 cm. About 50% of the wall is mortar. As mentioned before, the south wall and the west wall appear to be the result of a single remodel event.
Roof: No evidence on the nature of the roofing material was preserved
Floors: Floor 1 is constructed of unprepared packed earth and is only about 50% intact due to rodent disturbance and vandalism. No features were present on the existing floor. Its lack of preparation and absence of ash or charcoal suggest structure 10 was a storage room. Floor 2 is located only 2-4 cm below Floor 1 and is probably part of the same floor that has been remodeled numerous times. Two plaza surfaces below structure 10 were also uncovered and will be discussed in the plaza discussion. No features were found on any of the surfaces.
Fill: The fill to structure 10 was disturbed by a large vandal hole in the middle of the room. This hole destroyed almost half of the floor and about two-thirds of the fill. The remaining undisturbed fill consisted of natural levels of fill, including probably roof and wall fall near the top floor. Little to no cultural material or strata also suggest the struc ture was abandoned and not reused even as a midden. This may indicate it was in use to the end of the occupation of Homol'ovi IV. There is a moderate amount of charcoal and trash between the structure floor and the upper plaza surface, which is 10 cm below the floor.
Discussion: Structure 10 is a storage room that suffered considerable disturbance through rodent and human activity prior to excavation. It lies on the lowest row of rooms, the same row as structures 4 and 5, and is one of the last rooms built at Homol'ovi IV. It seems to be in an area formerly used as plaza that was gradually subdivided and modified, with the construction and subsequent remodeling of structure 10 one of the last modifications of this space. The remodeling is suggested by modifications in the east wall. Although partially vandalized, the absence of features, sooting on the walls, and discoloration of the floor point to a nonhabitation, or storage, function. The virtual absence of artifacts and the presence of possible roof fall on the floor and natural fill also point to a probable abandonment of the village at the same time structure 10 stopped use.
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