The Coolidge examiner., 1930-06-13

At RUINS
(By IRWIN HAYDEN
Continued from last week.

A few days ago | mentioned a
fragment Of cloisonne inlay found
in pit in House 3. This fragment
has been somewhat critically exam
ined and the following facts deter
mined: 1t has a stone backing,
which seems to have been painted
with some dark paint. Over this
paint an overlay of a thick white
paint was applied. Part of this was
painted red and then parts of thee
whit scraped away. leaving parts
of the stone base to show through
as partitions.
A nice question now arises: If
such was the method, is the piece
truly a specimen of cloisonne in
lay? Webster defines cloisonne as
an adjective meaning ''inlaid be-
tween partitions; said of a sur
face decoration in enamel when the
designs are outlined with bent wire
fillets secured to the ground"
The specimen under discussion is
not enameled and the partitions are
not of bent wires. Hence, by def
inition, it is not an example of cloi-
some inlay; but it nightly resem-
bles it and so l shall call it cloi-
sOnne-like inlay, although it is not
an inlay at all
This somewhat insane procedure
is right in line with archaeological
practice, | think, in that it names
an object or type of decoration aft
er something far-fetched in the way
of resemblance, insisting on super
ficial quality largely for the reason
that it is too difficult a mental pro-
cess to undertake the Identification
of essential qualities.
In Line With Practice
Certainly no one would be justi-
fled in naming an overlay an inlay.
even though parts of the overlay
have been scraped away; but what
shall we call it?
In the southeast corner of the
area there was a low-lying mound.
/ had the fresno run through it and
we dug a few test holes in the
trench. 1t was noted that the dis
turbed soil was very deep. Later
eon | had the trench deepened and
We found portion of what seemed
10 be standing wall.
Investigation by Virginia devel-
oped the pit which l mentioned a
few days ago and which | thought
might possibly turn out to be a Gre
nation pit Alas, there is no evil
dence of use from cremations; but
there is every reason to believe
that there is a great cooking pit.
where great feasts were prepared.
The completely excavated pit is
eight feet in diameter and three
feet deep, in shape af a basin. In it
is a smaller basin. The sides are
apparently plastered with caliche
and the plaster is literally caked
with carbonized grease and smoke
and charcoal and ashes, seemingly
identical with the black crust found
on cooking pots in every site where
they are found.
The pit contained many small
boulderS, the size of a fist or lar
ger. These show the effect of heat.
Then there were few charred YER
.tbrae of ungulate or hoofed ami
mails, deer or elk or mountain
sheep. A few potsherds were also
found, but these had not been
burned.
To the eastward we found two
more such pits which are smaller.
There can be no doubt but that
here were prepared community
meals, perhaps for feasts. Person
ally | have never seen or heard of
such pits. They have not been
found in the neighborhood of the
Casa Grande ruins. w did not
find them in or near the compound.
venture the opinion, based on the
numerous animal bones, horns of
elk, deer, mountain sheep, that the
early stages of the canal-builder
culture here in the Gila country
depended quite largly on hunting
for sustenance.
First Encountered
We are constantly reminded in
this work of ours that things are
relative, after all. We take great
delight in the trash mounds. They
are full of odds and ends which go
far toward helping us piece togeth-
er a picture of the people who made
them. Yet we are utterly disgusted
to see how people of the present
day are dumping their rubbish on
other peoples land, even on the
land belonging to the Casa Grande
National Monument. A village dump
which is more than 300years old is
good hunting ground for ANTIGUA
rians. There is nathing disgusting
rians. There is nothing disgusting
eliminated by the alchemy of time.
naught remains but decay-resisting
bones, potsherds, flints, etc., with
now and then bit Of basket, per-
haps, or even textile, which has
been protected hV Surroundino o.