Photomontage of Room 64 showing all sectors. Sample locations are indicated in red.

Finishes Analysis: Room 64

Architecture
The exterior façade of Room 64 is finely constructed with well-shaped, dressed and coursed masonry and displays a complex, full finish scheme. The façade contains a large central doorway with loopholes flanking the opening. The exterior of Room 64 originally extended uninterrupted to Room 59 to the south creating one large exterior wall. This was later divided by the cross-wall between Kiva R and the court of wall 67. Kiva R was also constructed after Room 64 because the wall plaster extends behind the kiva's rear wall. Kiva R appears never to have been roofed.

The earliest published view of the exterior of Room 64 is that by Nordenskiöld (1893).

Surface Finishes-Stratigraphy

The exterior was finished with a complex, full finish scheme composed of a red leveling plaster followed by a red wash. The large battered doorway was articulated with a gray aura. The inner doorjamb reveals were red plastered. The exterior walls of Room 64 and 59 display clear evidence of the multiple application of mud balls in gray, white and yellow mortar and handprint smears. Incised pictographs of birds and a T-shaped doorway were also documented. Evidence of the application of mud balls are found elsewhere at Cliff Palace on the nearby façade of Speaker Chief House and on the cliff walls and roof behind Room 64. According to Sally Cole, rock art specialist, applications of mud as hand swipes and mud balls are still used by the Hopi today to mark and bless houses as well as individuals, e.g., women pelt grooms before marriage at home. Mud ball evidence is also found at several open rock art sites associated with figures in the area. This phenomenon is unique to the Four Corners region and according to Cole has not been found elsewhere.

Room 64 had not been previously analyzed. After initial field investigation, representative samples from the wall field, aura, and mud ball smears were selected. The wall was found to possess two red layers including the leveling mortar. The auras were applied in two campaigns--gray and yellow--directly on the red plaster. Surface characteristics of the finishes in Room 64 exhibit very little application striations made with the hand. Only three colors were found in Room 64. A conjectural plaster finishes scheme was made in gouache based on the Munsell color match.

Fabric Analysis
No qualitative analysis was done on the finishes of Room 64. Visual examination revealed that the plaster and wash layers are not separated by soot. This may suggest a single campaign, however it would not be likely for an exterior wall to display soot accumulation unless in association with an outside hearth as is sometimes found in open areas. The two aura colors at least suggest that the aura was reapplied and its color changed. A conjectural plaster finishes scheme was made in gouache with the actual Munsell color. The thickness of the plaster finishes layers averages between 200 µm - 450µm. The thickness of the leveling mortar varies but is greater, measuring between 500µm -1cm. Most of the aggregate is anhedral and irregular, very few grains are subhedral.