This pueblo (pl. 19, _c_), from a comparative point of view, is one
of the most interesting ruins in the Hovenweep, and is situated on
the very edge of the canyon on the North Fork not far from where it
begins. It is the simplest form of prehistoric pueblo, or the unit[47]
of a pure type, made up of a centrally placed circular ceremonial room
(fig. 10, _K_) embedded in rectangular rooms, six in number (_A-F_).
The resulting or external form is rectangular, oriented about due north
and south; the southern side, which formerly rose from the edge of the
canyon, being much broken down and its masonry precipitated over the
cliff.
[47] The “unit type” was first recognized by Doctor Prudden in his
illuminating studies of the pueblos of the San Juan Basin. The author
was the first to point out its existence in cliff-houses of the same
area.
The central kiva (fig. 10) is made of exceptionally fine masonry and
shows by what remains that it had mural banquettes, and pilasters to
support the roof, with other features like a typical kiva of the Mesa
Verde cliff-houses. A side entrance opens in one corner into a small
room (fig. 10, _G_) in which ceremonial objects may have been formerly
stored (pl. 32, _b_).
The kiva of Unit type House is architecturally the same as those with
vaulted roofs at Spruce-tree House, Cliff Palace, and Far View House on
the Mesa Verde. A similar structure, according to Prudden,[48] occurs
at Mitchell Spring Ruin in the Montezuma Valley, and near the Picket
corral. The same type was found by Morley[49] at the Cannonball Ruin
and by Kidder[50] in a kiva on Montezuma Creek in Utah, where clusters
of mounds would appear to be composed of single or composite ruins of
this type. This small pueblo was probably inhabited by one social unit,
and may be regarded as the first stage of a compound pueblo.
[48] Circular Kivas in San Juan Watershed. Amer. Anthrop., n. s. vol.
16, no. 1, 1914.
[49] Excavation of the Cannonball Ruins in southwestern Colorado. Amer.
Anthrop., n. s. vol. x, no. 4, 1908.
[50] Explorations in southeastern Utah. Amer. Journ. Archæol., 2d ser.,
vol. xiv, no. 3, 1910.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.—Ground plan of Unit type House.]