Friday, December 14, 2007
I have a reputation for being a fast digger. So they needed someone to go to a site we are working on to dig out the postholes in a pithouse, and I volunteered.
Patti and I left the office at 5 AM and got back at a little before 6 PM- it was a 2.5 hour drive each way since we were going a few miles north of Gila Bend. We only got really lost once and sorta lost another time.
Hohokam pit structure.
The Hohokam placed posts around the perimeter of their houses, along with a few to help hold up the roof. In the above picture, you can see the back row of postholes that I cleaned out. They are usually filled with dig with bits of charcoal and ash. Two of them had burned posts still in them, one about 5 inches in diameter.
Entrance way.
I helped find and clear out the groove around the entrance to the house. There was probably some sort of matting placed in the groove to make a vestibule opening that could be closed off to keep cold air out in the winter. Beyond the grooved-entrance way is a large circular fire hearth and an apron of plastered floor. There was probably an elevated wooden floor in the rest of the house, with only the post holes for a few floor supports remaining.
I forgot to ask how old the site is, it is somewhere between A.D. 650 and 1400.
Space Age Lodge.
If I ever have to stay in Gila Bend, I'm going to stay at this motel. Above the restaurant is a large UFO. So cool, but I didn't get a picture of it.
Jimbo will be jealous, on the way back we drove past an irrigation canal and I saw about 5 great blue herons and over 25 white egrets, along with several small and large hawks.
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Patti and I left the office at 5 AM and got back at a little before 6 PM- it was a 2.5 hour drive each way since we were going a few miles north of Gila Bend. We only got really lost once and sorta lost another time.
Hohokam pit structure.
The Hohokam placed posts around the perimeter of their houses, along with a few to help hold up the roof. In the above picture, you can see the back row of postholes that I cleaned out. They are usually filled with dig with bits of charcoal and ash. Two of them had burned posts still in them, one about 5 inches in diameter.
Entrance way.
I helped find and clear out the groove around the entrance to the house. There was probably some sort of matting placed in the groove to make a vestibule opening that could be closed off to keep cold air out in the winter. Beyond the grooved-entrance way is a large circular fire hearth and an apron of plastered floor. There was probably an elevated wooden floor in the rest of the house, with only the post holes for a few floor supports remaining.
I forgot to ask how old the site is, it is somewhere between A.D. 650 and 1400.
Space Age Lodge.
If I ever have to stay in Gila Bend, I'm going to stay at this motel. Above the restaurant is a large UFO. So cool, but I didn't get a picture of it.
Jimbo will be jealous, on the way back we drove past an irrigation canal and I saw about 5 great blue herons and over 25 white egrets, along with several small and large hawks.
