ASM Occasional Electronic Papers No. 1: Homol'ovi IV

Chapter Seven:
Architecture, cont.

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Structure 101

Figure 7.17 Structure 110, SE wall

Phase, Location and Use: Tuwiuca Phase, Room Row 2, Unknown Use.

Discussion: As noted in the introduction to this chapter, the lower four to five rows of rooms are built over a midden created by occupants of higher rows of rooms. This phenomenon has been recorded at every other village excavated by the Homol'ovi Research Program. Often, these structures are ephemeral because their walls were adobe or they were so close to the modern surface they almost completely eroded away. This is the case with structure 101, which lies southwest of structure 202. Only one to two courses of stone from the east wall and the southeast corner of this structure are preserved (Figure 7.17). The other three walls are not preserved and only patches of the probable floor were preserved. There are no fill or features associated with the structure. The floor sits on or is continuous with the plaza surface 4, discussed below, which is the latest extensive plaza uncovered at the site. The preserved sections of the structure enabled assignment of a number, but its ephemeral nature prevented drawing any other conclusions, even structure size or use.

Structure 110

Phase, Location and Use: Tuwiuca Phase, Room Row 2, Unknown Use.

Area and Wall Information: Structure 110 was tested with only a 50 cm-wide trench along the north wall of the structure exposing a 50 cm-section of the east wall, but not extending to the west wall. The structure lies on the upslope side of structure 10 and was excavated to expose buried walls in the area to complete the map of the village and evaluate the condition and age of archaeological deposits. Only 1.30 m of the north wall was exposed. It is poorly constructed of variable sized tabular sandstone cemented with abundant adobe mortar. It abuts to the east wall, which is similarly constructed and only 50 cm exposed. Patches of 1-2 layers of plaster remain on the east wall.

Roof: The only evidence of the roof recovered during excavation was adobe chunks.

Floor: The floor was packed earth that overlay slope wash and probably ephemeral plaza surfaces, if the strata beneath structure 10 are reliable indicators. No subsurface excavations took place in structure 110. The limited excavations precluded definitive determination of room use or the presence or absence of floor features. The general lack of discoloration of walls and floor and the ephemeral nature of the floor suggest the structure was probably used for storage.

Fill: The structure was covered by 20-40 cm of slope wash. Within the structure was 90 cm of fill, the upper 60 cm of which was generally disturbed by vandalism. The undisturbed fill was designated stratum 2. Stratum 2 consisted of three levels, all containing mixtures of wall fall and roof fall. The 10 cm of fill above the floor contained light trash consisting of mostly ash and charcoal. The fill suggests abandonment of the structure and site was nearly coincidental, if not contemporary.

Discussion: As with structure 10, structure 110 seems to be a late addition to Homol'ovi IV. It rests on cultural fill, is crudely constructed, and all indications are that it had minimal usage before being abandoned, probably at the end of the occupation of the village. The limited excavations preclude any definitive conclusions about the structure, but its presence indicates little space on the south and east sides at the foot of the Homol'ovi IV butte went undeveloped.

Chapter: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

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