The rooms in Cliff Palace, now numbered from 1 to 94,
include all those on the ground floor, but do not embrace the second,
third, and fourth stories nor the elevated ledge rooms secluded in the
crevices of the cave roof at a high level. Their classification by
function already having been considered, a brief enumeration by form and
other characters will be given.
Room 1, situated at the extreme southern end,
presents no striking features except that one of its entrances is by
stairs through the floor from kiva A. Its western and northern walls are
of masonry; the remaining sides are formed by the vertical cliff.
The walls of room 2 are constructed of masonry on the
northern, western, and southern sides; the eastern side is the cliff
face. As the floor of this room is made of hardened clay laid on small
sticks, it was at first supposed that a human burial was concealed
beneath, but excavation showed no signs of an interment.
Room 3 (pl. 17) is a square inclosure between walls
of other rooms. A portion of its floor is level with that of rooms 1 and
2, but a projecting rock forms an elevated bench on the eastern side.
On the underside of this rock there are pictographs, apparently
aboriginal, one of which has a well-known terrace form, recalling the
outlines of a T-shaped doorway and the white figures on the outer wall
of the ledge room above mentioned.
Room 4 is three stories high, without openings into
adjoining rooms or exterior entrances. Its western corner is rounded
below and angular above.
Room 5 was apparently two stories high, with a
fireplace in its southeastern corner. The foundation rests on a large
rock. The arrangement of post holes in the south and west walls of this
dwelling is exceptional, and their purpose enigmatical. There is a
passage from room 5 to the neighboring plaza, which is occupied by kiva
D.
Room 6 is a small rectangular chamber, about 2 feet
square and 7 feet high; it has an entrance on the western side into room
7, and, as it utilizes the walls of the adjacent rooms it was doubtless
built subsequent to them. Evidences of rebuilding or secondary construction
of walls on old foundations are so numerous in this section of the
ruin that this may be the oldest part of Cliff Palace.
Rooms 7, 8, and 9 are outside rooms, the western
walls of which are more or less broken, while the front is entirely
destroyed. It appears that their connected roofs once formed a terrace
overlooking kiva D on the west. There are doorways in walls of one of
these rooms, but entrance may have been gained by means of hatchways. It
was approached from plaza B by the aid of ladders or stone steps.
Room 11, which may be called the square tower, is the
only four-story building standing in Cliff Palace, its walls reaching
from the floor to the roof of the cave. When work began on this building
the whole northwestern angle had fallen, and the remaining walls were
tottering. To prevent total destruction, the entire corner was built up
from a foundation laid on the floor level of the neighboring kiva. A
small entrance to the ground floor, or the lowest of the four rooms, is
from a banquette (10) on the western side, where there is a passageway
from this lower story of room 11 to room 12, situated in its rear. Room
12 has a good floor, and room 11 a fireplace in the southwestern corner
of the lowest room of the square tower. Almost all the beams of the
higher rooms of this tower had been taken out leaving nothing but the
holes in the walls to indicate the former existence of floors. The
beams now connecting the walls were placed there by our workmen to serve
as staging and for tying the sides together. The second and third
stories of the square tower are also without floors. Their inner walls
are plastered a reddish color, in places whitewashed, and the third wall
is decorated with interesting paintings. In the western wall of the
second story was a small window, and portions of a large T-shaped
doorway still show on the northern wall of the third story. Split sticks
support the section of wall from the top of this doorway to the roof of
the cave. From the arrangement of its rear walls it would appear that
the whole of this tower was built subsequently to the rooms back of it,
which extend on each side, north and south. The repair of a doorway of
the northern wall was difficult; the foundation walls of the eastern and
northern corners of the tower being slabs of stone set on edge, quite
inadequate to support the lofty wall above. This insufficient foundation
leads to the belief that when the base of the square tower was
constructed there was no thought of erecting upon it the four stories
that we now find. (Pl. 12, 13a, 14a.)
Some of the rooms of the square tower bear evidence
of having been living rooms, and possibly the approaches to the upper
chambers were by ladders from the outside; otherwise the T-shaped
doorway on the northern side, above the painted room, remains
unexplained.
Room 12, situated east of the square tower, has no
characteristic features, being more a passageway than a room, opening at
one end into room 13 and connecting with kiva D at the other end.
Room 13 likewise presents no distinctive features;
its rear wall is considerably blackened by smoke, and it has a large
square window opening into room 12.
A large part of the front walls of rooms 14, 16, and
24 has fallen, having been destroyed by falling water. To obviate
future destruction, the southwestern corner of room 16 was repaired
with cement, thus preventing further harm from dripping water. Rooms 16
and 24 evidently formed a front terrace, perhaps one story high, their
rear wall being the front wall of rooms 17 and 18.
Rooms 17 and 18 are of two stories; both are square.
The upper part of its walls shows that a portion of room 18 was formerly
one story high and that the walls were erected before those of room 17.
A coping of masonry around three walls is a feature of room 18, the
construction of which is superior to that of room 17. This room has a
large front window and two smaller openings higher up in the second
story of the western wall. The combined front walls of rooms 17 and 18
may be ranked among the finest examples of masonry in Cliff Palace. The
large embrasures made in this wall by vandals were repaired.
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Plate 18. KIVA H, BEFORE REPAIRING (photographed
by R. G. Fuller)
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Rooms 19 and 20 also present fine examples of masonry
and were evidently constructed before rooms 21, 22, and 23. The inner
walls of room 19 were plastered; the outer wall was left rough. Room 20
shows crude masonry; its rear wall is the vertical cliff, and the inner
surfaces of the three remaining walls of the upper story were plastered,
and painted with yellow sand or pigment. Apparently the lower
room was used as a granary, having no entrance, except possibly through
a hatchway in its roof, which forms the floor of the room above. The
presence of sticks projecting from the walls of this room adds weight to
the conclusion that it was used for storage. There is no indication of a
fireplace.
Room 22 has a stepping-stone, which may have
facilitated entrance, projecting from the wall under an opening that
probably served as a doorway.
Room 23 has a fireplace in one corner, and rooms 25,
26, and 27, which are situated in a row, have for their rear wall the
vertical face of the cliff. Although these rooms are only one story
high, the roof of the cave slopes down low enough in the rear to form
their roofs. The outer walls were plastered, and each room was entered
by a separate doorway. Although their side walls were somewhat
destroyed, they appear not to have been intercommunicating. It is, in
fact, rare to find a doorway from one room into another on the same
level, or suites of rooms communicating with one another, but chambers
one above another are generally provided with hatchways.
Room 28 is a two-story structure of excellent
masonry, with an entrance on its southern side and a window frame of
stone. Its second story formerly opened on the western side into room
29. Not much now remains of the plastering that once covered the inner
walls of room 28, but the interior walls of room 29 still show
well-preserved plaster. Although the latter room has excellent masonry,
its southern wall, or that facing kiva J, is entirely destroyed. The
floor was so well preserved that but little work was required to put it
in good condition.
Rooms 30 to 33 are represented almost entirely by the
side walls, the front walls being more or less destroyed. Their floors
lie on the same level as those of the second terrace, and their roofs
may have been continuous with the third terrace. There is indication of
a room (unnumbered) in the southwestern corner of plaza J, and another,
too mutilated to be described, on the second terrace below it.
Room 34 is irregularly rectangular in shape; its
floor is on the leve] of the roof of kiva H. It has good masonry and a
smoothed stone sill with a groove cut in the upper surface for the slab
that formed the door. Its interior walls show evidences of
plastering.
Room 35, situated on the same level as the kiva roof,
has no window, but there is an opening directly into kiva H. Its roof
is a continuation of that of the kiva, and has the old rafters, some
still in place, supporting a few of the flat stones which formed the
upper walls. As this chamber opens directly into the kiva, we may regard
it as a repository for kiva paraphernalia;a the Hopi designate a
similar chamber Katcinakihu, "Katcina house." On the roof of
this room the writer set in place a smooth, ovoid stone with flat base,
artificially worked. Possibly this stone was formerly used as an
idol.
aThe Mongkiva at Walpi has such a chamber
which is closed by a door and is opened only when paraphernalia for
certain ceremonies are desired, in the Warrior House at Walpi there is a
similar chamber ordinarily closely sealed, in which the fetishes of the
Warrior Society are kept. Masked dancers among the Pueblos are called
Katcinas and the masks they wear would naturally be kept in a house
(kihu) called "Katcinakihu."
In Hano, a pueblo on the East mesa of the Hopi, masks
are kept in a special room back of a living room, a custom common to
all the Hopi. There is no evidence that the Cliff Palace people
performed masked dances.
The most picturesque building of Cliff Palace is the
round tower, room 36, perched on a high rock overlooking kivas G and H.
From it the observer may have a fine view of the entire ruin and the
canyon, especially the view down the latter, which is unsurpassed. This
tower is not unlike other towers in the San Juan and Mesa Verde regions,
one of the most perfect of which is that in Navaho canyon, repeatedly
figured. This prominent tower is built of worked stones laid in reddish
mortar, and apparently was plastered both inside and outside. It is two
stories high, but is without a floor in the upper story, or a roof. The
theory in certain quarters that this round tower formerly extended to
the roof of the cave is not accepted by the author, who believes that it
was formerly only a few feet higher than at present. The break in the
upper wall adds much to its picturesque character, which is likewise
increased by its association with neighboring buildings. The round
tower has a doorway in its lower story, and above is another smaller
opening, possibly a window. Several small peepholes are present on the
western side. The sides of this structure are symmetrical its walls
slanting gradually inward from the base upward, and its vertical lines
curving slightly on the western side. (Pl. 4a, 11.)
Room 37 is a well-preserved room with a metataki, or
grinding bin, in the middle.
While rooms 38 and 39 appear to be living rooms, they
present no special peculiarities. The northern wall of room 39 was
wholly undermined and tottering when the work of repair was commenced,
so that its foundations had to be built up from the floor of kiva M. To
make this difficult repair work effective it was necessary to enlarge
the base of the wall, making the side of kiva M curve slightly inward
and thereby insuring a good foundation.
The walls of rooms 41 and 42 are well preserved; the
top of the cave served as the roof. These rooms were entered from the
plaza containing kiva M. In room 42 a stepping-stone is set in the outer
wall below the doorway, the object being to facilitate entrance. It is
said that this room, the roof of which shows signs of smoke, was
occupied by campers while engaged in rifling the ruin of its
contents.
Plate 19. SOUTHEASTERN WALL OF KIVA Q, BEFORE REPAIRING
(photographed by F. K. Vreeland)
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The cluster of rooms numbered 43 to 45 have
well-constructed walls, but they have been considerably mutilated. Pegs
from which, no doubt, objects were formerly hung, project from the
smoothly plastered interior walls of one of these rooms.
Rooms 47 and 48 show the holes of floor joists, so
placed as to indicate two stories. These rooms form the southern side
of the court, which extends from the main plaza of the settlement to the
round rooms at the northern extremity. In front of room 50 there is a
low platform from which one steps into the room through an entrance
situated about midway of its length.
Room 51 has a very well preserved fireplace in the
northwestern corner and a doorway about midway in the northern wall. Its
well-plastered walls show impressions of the hands and fingers of the
plasterers.
The eastern side of the "street"a is bordered
by rooms 60 to 63, inclusive, which open into it. In the wall of the
last room (61) to the south there is a small peephole that enabled the
owners to see from within the room anyone entering the street from the
court. Room 59, probably the largest angular room in Cliff Palace, is
without an entrance. Its high walls form a part of the northern and
eastern ends of the court and almost the whole western side of the
street. A large embrasure in its southern wall had been repaired by the
ancient masons before Cliff Palace was deserted. North of room 59
remains of the foundations of rooms (not numbered on the plan) were
found, and it may be possible that at this point there was a small open
space, without a kiva; if so, it would have been exceptional in Cliff
Palace.
aA passage or inclosure surrounded by high
walls is called kisombi by the Hopi.
Rooms 66 and 68 are round rooms, not kivas, although
possibly ceremonial in character. From the roof of room 66, the walls of
which are now lower than formerly, it was possible to pass on a level
into one of the series of ledge rooms previously described. The floor of
room 68 is exceptional in being lower than that of the cave outside, so
that on entering it one descends by a step or two. Room 67 appears to
have been more a passageway (kisombi) than a room, a step from it
leading down to the level of the triangular plaza in front of the
Speaker chief's House, south of room 70.
Room 70 is a milling room, with two well-preserved
metatakis in one corner, each with a set of metates. In the wall above
these mealing troughs there is a small window through which the women
engaged in grinding corn could see the passers through the court east
of this room. The opposite corner is occupied by a fireplace, and the
adjacent wall is pierced by a doorway with elevated threshold, through
which one passed from the milling room to the broad Speaker-chief's
platform south of rooms 71 and 72.
The inclosed space west of rooms 71 and 73 is
separated from the rear of the cave by a high wall which shuts off
entrance on this side. The series of rooms numbered 71 to 74, and the
two rooms west of these, form, with the banquette and the neighboring
plaza, what is here arbitrarily designated the Speaker-chief's House,
the walls of which consist of some of the finest masonry in Cliff
Palace. It is protected on the western side by a high, well-plastered
wall extending southward from the corner of room 72, so placed as to
shield the plaza from storms from this side. The banquette south of
rooms 72 and 73 is also finely plastered, and is approached from the
plaza by a single step. This banquette probably was designed for the use
of the Speaker-chief, but a similar structure on the eastern side of the
plaza quarter served another purpose.
The masonry, the doors and windows, and other
structural features of the Speaker-chief's House are the best in Cliff
Palace. Lintels, jambs, and door and window sills are of smooth-dressed
stones and project beyond the wall. The rear rooms of this cluster
extend to the roof of the cave, being three stories high, while those in
front are two stories in height. The line of holes shown in plate 15
indicates the former position of rafters, but all signs of woodwork
have disappeared from this section of the ruin.
On the western side of the Speaker-chief's House are
two rooms, 79 and 80, likewise, well built. The former has a banquette
extending across the eastern side, and the latter is triangular in
shape, with the exterior side rounded. The foundations of these rooms
rest upon a large rock that has settled and cracked, the crack extending
vertically into the walls, showing that it has developed since the wall
was constructed.
The inclosures 76 to 78, extending to the cave roof,
are more like granaries for the storage of corn. They are built of flat
stone slabs placed on edge, and rest on bowlders that have fallen from
the cave roof, which is here lower than in the middle part of the
cavern. Of these inclosures, 78 is the best preserved, all holes in its
angles being skillfully closed with adobe mortar, so that even now if
the door were replaced it would be almost rat proof. The door opening is
square, and is situated at the western side. There is no adequate
evidence that these rooms served as turkey houses, as some have
interpreted them.
The rear walls of rooms 89 and 90 are well preserved,
but those in front have been completely destroyed. The former has a
banquette like that of the Speaker-chief's House. The walls of rooms
situated north and east of kiva U, now reduced in height, formerly
extended to the roof of the cave, which is here somewhat lower than in
the middle of the cavern. The existence of these former walls is indicated
by light bands on the smoke-covered surface of the cave roof, and
fragments of clay still adhering to the side of the cliff show that the
walls here were two and three stories high.
In rooms 84, 85, and 86 the builder took advantage of
the cliff for rear walls. The middle of the floor of 84 has a depression
lined with vertical slabs of stone, evidently a fireplace, as it
contained a quantity of wood ashes. In the floor on the eastern side of
this fireplace there is a short trench also lined with stone and
containing wood ashes, the relation of which to the other inclosure is
unknown. It appears that this exceptional structure was not used in the
same way as the fireplaces so constantly met with in other rooms, but
that it might have been used for baking paper-bread, called piki
by the Hopi. In a corner of room 91 there is another depression, half
under the floor, covered with a flat stone, that appears quite likely
to have been used for this purpose. Unlike the fireplaces sunken in the
floor, the one in room 84 is partially or wholly above the floor, its
confining stones being several inches above the floor level.
Room 92 is the best example of a milling room in
Cliff Palace. It has four grinding bins, or metatakis, arranged side by
side, with all the parts entire and in working condition. When
excavation was begun in this part of the ruin these structures were
wholly concealed under fallen rocks. As streams of water from a vertical
cleft in the cliff poured down upon them after exposure during periods
of rain, it was necessary to construct a roof to protect them.a
The discovery of this and of other grinding rooms shows that the
cliff-house metatakis are the same in structure as those in the Hopi
pueblos. In an inclosure south of these metatakis was found a granary.
Fragments of walls projecting from the cliff west of room 93 show the
former existence of rooms in this section, but as their front walls have
been obliterated by the downpour of water their form is obscure.
aOn the top of the rock that forms the
foundation of the walls of these rooms, and south of them, are hollows
or grooves where the metates were ground, and shallow pits used in some
prehistoric game. There are similar pits In some of the kiva floors.
There are in Cliff Palace 23 ceremonial rooms that
may be called kivas.a These consist of two types: (1) generally
circular or cylindrical subterranean rooms, with pilasters to support
the roof, and with fireplace, deflector, and ventilator. (2) Circular or
rectangular rooms with rounded corners, without pilasters, fireplace,
or deflector. In the first group may be placed provisionally a subtype
(kiva M, for example), without pilasters but with a single large
banquette. As this subtype is the dominant one in the western part of
the San Juan drainage, it may be necessary later to regard it as a type.
As a rule rooms of the second type are not subterranean, but are
commonly surrounded by high walls, being entered by a doorway at one
side. There are 20 rooms pertaining to the first type and three to the
second type in Cliff Palace.b
aThe word kiva, now universally
employed in place of the Spanish designation "estufa" to designate a
ceremonial room of ihe Pueblos, is derived from the Hopi language. The
designation is archaic, the element ki being both Pima and Hopi
for "house." It has been sought to connect this word with a part of the
human body, and esoterically the kiva represents one of the underworlds
or womb of the earth from which the races of man were born. It is highly
appropriate that ancient ceremonies should take place in a kiva, the
symbolic representation of an underworld, for many of the ceremonies are
said to have been practiced while man still lived within the Earth
Mother. The word kiva is restricted to subterranean chambers,
rectangular or circular, in which secret ceremonies are or were held,
and the term kihu is suggested for ceremonial rooms above ground.
The five kivas at Walpi are examples of the true kiva, while the Flute
chamber may be called a kihu.
bThe so-called "warrior room" in Spruce-tree
House belongs to the second type.
The majority of the kivas are situated in front of
the secular buildings, but several are in the rear of the cave, with
high rooms in front of them. The largest cluster of kivas on the cave
floor lies in the so-called plaza quarter, which takes its name from the
open space occupied by the kivas in that section. The rooms on the
terraces, especially those near the southern end of the ruin, were
covered with fallen rocks and other debris when the excavation and
repair work began. The walls of most of the kivas, whether in front or
in the rear, were greatly dilapidated and in all instances it was
necessary to rebuild them to the level of the plazas in which the kivas
are situated.
Following comparisons with modern pueblos, there is
every reason to suppose that the kivas preserve the oldest types of
buildings of the cliff-dweller culture, and it is believed that the form
of these archaic structures is a survival of antecedent conditions. They
belonged to the men of different clans, as in a measure is the case
among the Hopi at the present day, with whom every kiva is spoken of as
that of a certain man who is a clan chief. The male and female members
of every Hopi clan have affiliation with certain kivas (a survival of
archaic conditions), and in certain clan gatherings, as the dramatic
exhibition which occurs in March, the celebration takes place in their
respective kivas.
As the kiva is the men's room, and as religious
exercises are largely controlled by men, such ceremonies occur in kivas,
which are practically the ceremonial rooms.a
aIn certain ceremonies of Hopi women's
societies the kiva has also come to be a meeting place for these
sororities and where they erect their altars.
KIVAS OF THE FIRST TYPE
All kivas of the first type are constructed on the
same general plan, the different parts being somewhat modified by
surrounding conditions. While their general form is circular or
cylindrical, some are square with rounded angles, others oblong, and
others more or less heart-shaped. Their diameter and height vary
according to circumstances, but this type is always subterranean when
possible, even though excavation in the rock may be necessary.
The walls of the kivas are sometimes double, and the
masonry is generally well constructed. The walls show evidences of
plastering, which is decorated in some instances with paintings or
incised figures. The number of pilasters is commonly 6, but 4 and 8
are also evident; rarely, as in kiva M (the subtype), all are missing.
Between these pilasters are the so-called banquettes, one of which is
usually larger than the others. The banquettes are generally built 3 or
4 feet in height, consequently they could scarcely have been intended
for seats.
The pilasters are commonly rectangular, sometimes
square, the size being about uniform from base upward. In rare instances
a pilaster has a cubby-holeb in one side. Where circumstances
require the ventilator penetrates the rear portion of the pilaster, but
the flue never enters the side of the kiva under a pilaster.
bThese small holes, generally square, are
usually found in the wall below the banquette.
The pilasters, which are almost universal in kivas of
the first type, as has been shown in the description and illustrations
of the eight kivas of Spruce-tree House, served as supports for the roof
beams. These rafters of pine rested upon and served to support other
logs laid one over another, so that finally the roof opening was
covered. Across the middle of the walls, at the top, two long parallel
logs were placed, in order to add stability to the roof structure. These
beams were set far enough apart to allow a hatch midway between their
ends, which served the purpose of an entrance and also permitted the
escape of smoke from the fire directly below.
Over the framework of logs were laid small sticks,
filling the interstices, and above these was spread a layer of cedar
bark; the whole was then covered with clay, thus bringing the upper
surface of the roof to the level of the adjacent plaza. Whether the kiva
walls projected above the plaza and roof level is unknown, but possibly
they did, and there may have been a slight elevation of the hatchway, as
in the Hopi kivas. It is commonly believed that the kiva roof was level
with the surrounding plaza and that the entrance was through a hatchway,
but no depression or other sign of a ladder or of its resting place on
the kiva floor has yet been found in any of the Mesa Verde ruins.
The floors of the kivas are commonly of hardened
adobe; unlike those of the Hopi kivas they are never paved with stones,
but the natural rock often serves for that purpose. It is not rare to
find the surface of solid rock that forms the kiva floor cut down a few
feet to a lower level. Although generally smooth, when the floor is the
natural rock there are sometimes found in it small, cup-like, artificial
depressions similar to those in the horizontal surfaces of the cliff or
in slabs of detached rock.
The fire-pit, which is found in all kivas of the
first type,a is a circular depression situated slightly to one
side of the middle of the room. While generally lined with adobe, slabs
of stone sometimes form its border, and it is also to be noted that one
or two of these small stones sometimes project above the floor level.
The fire-hole is sometimes deep, and is generally filled with wood
ashes, indicating long use.
aThe fire in these rooms was more for light
than for heat, for when roofed a large fire would have produced so much
smoke and heat that the occupants would be driven out. The character of
the ashes indicates that logs were not used as firewood, but that the
prescribed kiva fuel was, as at Walpi, small twigs or brush. No evidence
of lamps has been found in cliff-dwellings, the lamp-shaped pottery
objects having been used for purposes other than illumination.
Every kiva of the first type has a lateral passageway
for the admission of air, opening into the chamber on the floor level,
generally under the large banquette. This passage, or tunnel, here
designated a flue communicates either directly with the outside or turns
upward at a right angle and forms a small vertical ventilator which
opens at the level of the plaza. Between the entrance into the flue from
the kiva and the fire-hole there rises from the floor a device called
the deflector (sometimes called an altar), the object of which was to
prevent flames and smoke being drawn into the ventilator, or to evenly
circulate the inflowing fresh air in the chamber. This deflector may be
(1) a low stone wall, free on both ends; (2) a curved wall connected
with the kiva wall on each side with orifices to allow the passage of
air; (3) a stone slab in the kiva floor; (4) a bank, free at each end,
supported by upright stakes between which are woven twigs, the whole
being plastered with clay.b
bCosmos Mindeleff quotes from Nordenskiöld a
description of a Mesa Verde kiva, the deflector of which was made in the
same way.
The supposed functions of the flue, the vertical
passage, and the ventilator have been discussed by several
archeologists. The uses to which the flue has been ascribed are as
follows: (1) a chimney, (2) a ceremonial opening, (3) an entrance, (4) a
ventilator. There is no sign of smoke on the interior of the vertical
passage, which, being too small to admit a person, would seem to prove
the first and third theories untenable. In the Navaho National Monument,
where there are square rooms, or kikus, with banks similar to the
deflectors of the circular kivas, a door takes the place of the flue and
the vertical passage, and affords the only means for admitting fresh
air to the room. Although it may have originated as a simple entrance to
the room, it became so modified that it could no longer have served that
purpose, ceremonially or otherwise.
The position of the entrance to the Cliff Palace kiva
is yet to be definitely determined. Analogy, together with the structure
of the roof, would indicate that it was by means of a hatchway, but no
remains of a ladder were found, and no indication in the floor where a
ladder formerly rested is visible. It may be that the large banquette
indicates the position of the hatchway.a
aOn this supposition the large banquette may
have been the forerunner of the spectator's section in the modern
rectangular Hopi kivas, of which it is a modification.
The subterranean passageway under the flue and
beneath the floor of kiva V should not be overlooked in a study of the
origin and function of the ventilator. This structure is without
apparent connection with the ventilator, and yet it is so carefully
constructed under it that it may have had some relation, a knowledge of
which will eventually enlighten us regarding the meaning of both
structures.
The kivas of the Mesa Verde are much smaller than
those of Walpi and other Hopi pueblos, one of them being barely 9 feet
in diameter and the largest measuring not more than 19 feet, whereas the
chief kiva at Walpi is 25 feet long by 15 feet wide. Evidently kivas of
such diminutive size as those found at Cliff Palace could accommodate
only a few at a time, and it is probable that they were not occupied by
fraternities of priests but by a few chiefs; indeed, the religious
fraternity, as we understand its composition in modern pueblos, had in
all probability not yet been developed. Nevertheless the smallest kiva
in Cliff Palace is as large as the room in Walpi in which the Sun
priests, mainly of one clan, celebrate their rites.
KIVA A
Kiva A (pl. 17) is the most southerly kiva of Cliff
Palace, the first of the series excavated in the talus, its roof having
been on the level of the cave floor, or the fourth terrace. The walls of
this kiva required little repair. Its height from the floor to the top
of the walls is 8 feet 6 inches, and from the floor to the top of the
pilasters 7 feet; the height of the banquette is 3 feet 6 inches. The
interior diameter is 11 feet. There are six pilasters, with an average
breadth of 20 inches; the distance between them averages 4 feet 6
inches.
The opening into the ventilator is situated in the
southwestern wall; its height is 2 feet 4 inches, the breadth, at the
base, 14 inches, contracted to 11 inches at the top. The deflector,
which is broken, is a thin slab of stone. The distance from the flue
opening to the deflector is 2 feet 6 inches, and from the deflector to
the round fire-hole 8 inches. The diameter of the fire-hole is 1 foot 8
inches, its depth 2 feet. Its western side is lined with small stones
set on edge.
There were possibly 4 niches in the side wall of the
banquette, 3 of them on the east, measuring respectively 16 by 20 by 12
inches, 9 by 9 by 12 inches, and 3 by 3 by 5 inches, and the remaining
one situated north by east from the middle of the kiva and measuring 6
by 4 by 8 inches.a
aThe measurements of the kivas here given were
determined by Mr. K. G. Fuller, who served us voluntary assistant during
the summer.
There is a subterranean passageway (pl. 17,
b), 6 feet 6 inches long, from this kiva into room 1, and also a
tunnel (pl. 17, a), 6 feet in length, between kivas A and B. The former
has stone steps and rises above the banquette; its width averages 18
inches.
KIVA B
Kiva B adjoins kiva A, and is the second of the
terraced rooms, its roof being originally on the same level as the
former. It is circular in shape, and the height from the floor to the
top of the room is 9 feet 6 inches. The height of the top of the
pilasters from the floor is 7 feet, and that of the banquette 3 feet 6
inches.
The inner diameter of the kiva is 13 feet 6 inches.
There are 6 pilasters, averaging 2 feet in width. The position of the
ventilator opening is south by west; its depth 4 feet, and height 2 feet
6 inches. The breadth of this opening at the top (it narrows somewhat at
the base) is 18 inches.
The deflectorb is a slab of stone about 3 feet
10 inches wide. The distance from the deflector to the kiva wall is 2
feet 6 inches, and from the deflector to the fire-hole 14 inches. The
diameter of the fire-hole measures 2 feet, and its depth 9 inches. The
distance from the ceremonial opening, or sipapu, to the fire-hole is 4
feet. The diameter of the sipapu is 4 inches and its depth the same.
There are 5 niches in the kiva wall.
bWith the exception of that in kiva Q there
has not been found in any deflector a large stone ("fire stone")
forming the cap or top. In deflectors formed of a slab of stone such a
"fire stone" on top would be impossible.
The masonry of this kiva is fairly good, its western
wall naturally being the most destroyed. The banquette over the tunnel
into kiva A is broader than any of the others. On the eastern side the
kiva walls are apparently double.
KIVA C
This kiva is circular; it measures 13 feet in
diameter, and 5 feet 6 inches from the floor to the top of the
pilasters. The height of the banquette is 3 feet. The number of
pilasters is 6; their average breadth is 2 feet.
The deflector is a stone wall laid in mortar; its
width is 3 feet 6 inches; the thickness, 8 inches. From the flue to the
deflector is 2 feet 4 inches, and from the same to the fire-hole, 8
inches. The diameter of the fire-hole is 2 feet, its depth 1 foot. The
sipapu is 2 feet from the fire-hole; it is 6 inches deep and 4 inches in
diameter.
The masonry of this kiva was in very poor condition,
most of the upper part being wholly broken down. There are 4 niches in
the walls. The surface is thickly plastered and shows a deposit of
smoke. The pilasters are of uniform size. The deep banquette is situated
above the flue back of the deflector.
KIVA D
Kiva D is square, with rounded corners; it is 13 feet
in diameter; its walls are 10 feet high and measure 7 feet from the
floor to the top of the pilasters. The height of the banquette is 4
feet. The number of pilasters is 6; their average distance apart is 4
feet 6 inches, and their width 2 feet. The eastern wall of this kiva is
the side of the cave, and the whole was inclosed by high walls. On the
southern side of the kiva is a passageway. The walls of the kiva and the
cave roof above it are blackened with smoke. There are two deep
banquettes.
The flue opens in the western wall of the kiva; its
height is 2 feet, and its width at the top is 13 inches. The distance
from the flue to the deflector is 2 feet 6 inches; from the deflector to
the fire-hole, 13 inches. The diameter of the fire-hole is 2 feet and
its depth 1 foot. The distance from the fire-hole to the sipapu is 2
feet 2 inches; the diameter of the latter is 3 inches. This kiva has 5
finely made rectangular niches in the walls. The walls are well
plastered and were painted yellow. Wherever the masonry is visible it is
found inferior to none except possibly that of kiva Q.a
aThis kiva, which is one of the best in cliff
Palace, is illustrated by Nordenskiöld.
KIVA E
Kiva E is square, with rounded corners; it measures
11 feet 6 inches in diameter, and is 9 feet 10 inches high. The
elevation of the banquette is 4 feet, and of the pilasters 7 feet. The
number of pilasters is 6. The flue opens on the western side.
The deflector consists of a wall of stone, 2 feet
high; its width is 3 feet 6 inches, the thickness 9 inches. The distance
from the deflector to the flue is 1 foot 10 inches, and from the
fire-hole 3 inches. There are 4 mural niches. As the projecting rock on
the eastern side interfered with the symmetry of this kiva, when
constructed it was necessary to peck the rock away 8 inches deep over an
area 10 feet square, thus exhibiting, next to the floor of kiva V, the
most extensive piece of kiva stone-cutting in Cliff Palace. Although
this kiva was generally in a fair state of preservation, it was
necessary to rebuild much of the eastern wall.
The fire-hole of this kiva is lined with a rude jar
set with adobe mortar. No sipapu was discovered in the floor. Kiva E is
one of the few kivas in Cliff Palace surrounded by the walls of rooms.
As it is situated in the rear of the cave, projecting walls of the cliff
were necessarily cut away to a considerable extent in order to obtain
the form of room desired on the eastern side. This side of the kiva is
blackened by smoke antedating the construction of the room. There is
abundant evidence in this portion of the ruin of secondary construction
of buildings on the same site. Several walls built upon others show that
some rooms may have been abandoned and new ones added, an indication
that this portion of the ruin is very old, perhaps having the oldest
walls still standing.
KIVA F
Kiva F, situated on a lower terrace than the kivas
already described, is square, with rounded corners, and is 9 feet high.
The height of the pilasters is 6 feet 10 inches, and the top of the
banquette is 4 feet 1 inch above the floor. The diameter of the kiva is
13 feet. There are 6 pilasters; the distance between them averages 5
feet; their average width is 2 feet 4 inches. The deflector, a wall of
masonry, is 3 feet wide and averages 9 inches in thickness.
The deflector is 2 feet from the flue and 18 inches
from the fire-hole, which is 2 feet in diameter and the same in depth.
The distance from the fire-hole to the sipapu is 2 feet 4 inches. The
diameter of the sipapu is 2-1/2 inches, and its depth 5 inches.
There are 3 mural niches, similar to those previously
described. The roof of this kiva was of the same level as the floors of
rooms 16 and 24, the roofs of which overlooked the kiva situated in the
terrace below.
The walls of this kiva are black with smoke. The room
is surrounded by a second wall, the interval between which and that of
the kiva is filled with rubble.
KIVA G
This kiva may be called "heartshaped." Its height
from the floor to the top of the roof is 9 feet, and it measures 6 feet
from the floor to the top of the pilasters. The banquette is 4 feet
high, and the interior diameter of the kiva is 12 feet. The numbers of
pilasters is 6; their average breadth is a little more than 2 feet, and
the intervals between them averages 3 feet 6 inches.
The deflector is a stone slab 3 feet wide and 2 feet
high. The distance from the flue to the deflector is 2 feet; from the
deflector to the fire-hole 11 inches. The diameter of the fire-hole is 2
feet, its depth 18 inches. The sipapu is 2 feet 8 inches from the
fire-hole; its diameter is 2 inches, and its depth 4 inches. There are 4
mural niches.
This kiva is situated in the terrace below that last
mentioned, that is, in the second terrace, and was wholly buried when
excavations began. The roofs of rooms 30 and 31 overlooked this kiva,
their floors being on the same level as the kiva roof.
KIVA H
Kiva H (pl. 18) measures 8 feet from the floor to the
top of the wall, and 6 feet from the floor to the top of the pilasters.
The height of the banquette is 4 feet 6 inches. The diameter of the kiva
is 11 feet 6 inches.
The deflector is a curved stone wall joining the kiva
wall on each side of the flue.a It is built of stone, 7 feet 6
inches high, 10 inches wide, and 20 inches high. The deflector is 1 foot
6 inches from the flue and 15 inches from the fire-hole. The diameter of
the fire-hole is 2 feet and its depth 1 foot.
aA similar deflector is recorded by Mr. Morley
as existing in the Cannonball ruin, and is figured by Nordenskiöld from
the Mesa Verde.
The sipapu is situated 2 feet from the fire-hole it
is 3 inches in diameter and 4 inches deep.
There are 2 mural niches. Exceptional features of
this kiva are the curved deflector and the opening into a small room at
the northwestern straight from the kiva to the vertical ventilator, the
flue turns at a right angle midway in its course. The ventilator is
built at one corner of the kiva wall. As this kiva lies deep below the
base of the round tower, a fine view of these several characteristics
may be obtained from that point.
KIVA I
When work began there was no indication of the walls
of this kiva, except a fragment of one which at first was supposed to
belong to a small secular room. The kiva had been filled with debris by
those who had dug into the upper rooms, and a large holeb was
broken through the high western wall of kiva L, through which to throw
debris. The removal of this accumulation was a work of considerable
magnitude, and the repair of the kiva wall was very difficult, as it was
necessary to reconstruct the foundations that had been blasted away to
make the opening above mentioned.
bThis entrance in the wall appears in all
photographs of this portion of Cliff Palace.
When this debris was removed and the floor of the
kiva was reached, it was found that its walls were much disintegrated,
the component stones having practically turned into sand, necessitating
the construction of buttresses to support them. The dimensions of kiva I
are as follows: The height of the top of the wall from the floor is 8
feet, and that of the pilasters 6 feet 8 inches. The banquette rises 3
feet 8 inches above the floor. The interior diameter of the kiva is 10
feet 10 inches. The number of pedestals is 4, averaging 4 feet in
height.
The flue is situated at the southwestern side. The
distance from the flue to the deflector is 21 inches; from the deflector
to the fire-hole, 2 inches. There are two mural niches, one at the
northeast measuring 13 by 11 by 8 inches, and one at the southeast
measuring 13 by 11 by 7 inches. A dado, painted red, surrounded the
kiva, the color being most conspicuous, because best protected, in the
mural niches, half of which are above, half below the upper margin of
the dado. On this margin are traceable triangular figures like those on
the painted wall of room 11.
On the level of what was formerly the roof of this
kiva was set into the roof a vase covered with a flat stone and
containing desiccated bodies of lizards.a
aFor a note on a similar vase and its use, see
remarks on kiva S. It is probable that these dried lizards were regarded
by the Cliff Palace priests a very potent "medicine."
KIVA J
Kiva J is round; it is 14 feet in diameter and
measures 8 feet 4 inches from the floor to the top of the wall. The
height from the floor to the top of one of the pilasters is 5 feet 10
inches. The banquette is 3 feet 2 inches high. The deep banquette, as
is usually the case, is above the flue, which opens in the southwestern
wall. The number of pedestals is 6; their average breadth is 2 feet. The
deflector consists of a stone wall rising 20 inches above the kiva
floor. There are 7 mural niches. The kiva walls were thickly plastered
with adobe, and show the action of smoke.b
bFrom all appearances the kivas were plastered
from time to time after the walls had become blackened.
The open space east of the kiva, formerly continuous
with its roof, is somewhat larger than is usually the case, making this
the largest plaza in Cliff Palace, except that of the plaza quarter.
There are remnants of rooms southwest of the kiva.
KIVA K
Kiva Ka is round in form, and its height from
the floor to the roof is 7 feet. The height of the pilasters is 5 feet,
and that of the banquette 3 feet. The diameter of the kiva is 9 feet 6
inches. The pilasters are 5 in number, and average about 20 inches in
width. The deflector of this kiva is exceptional, being the only known
instance where this structure is constructed of upright stakes bound
with twigs or cedar bark and plastered with adobe.b The distance
from the flue to the deflector is 18 inches, and from the deflector to
the fire-hole, 8 inches. The diameter of the fire-hole is 20 inches, the
depth 8 inches. The walls of this smallest of the kivas are formed
partly of masonry, but in places the chamber is excavated out of solid
rock, the ancient builders having pecked away projections in order to
produce the desired form.
aThis kiva, one of the finest and in some
features the most exceptional in Cliff Palace, is not indicated in
Nordenskiöld's plan.
bNordenskiöld describes a ventilator
constructed in the same way.
The marks of smoke are clearly visible, especially on
the flue; and on the surface of the eastern side are scratched several
figures representing birds and other animals. Eyelets of osiers set in
the wall are also exceptional, and their use is problematical.
KIVA L
The height of kiva L is 7 feet 5 inches, that of the
pilasters 5 feet 4 inches, and of the banquette 3 feet 3 inches. The
diameter is 12 feet 2 inches. Number of pilasters 6. The flue opens on
the western side; its height is 2 feet. Only a single mural niche was
recognizable. The walls of this kiva were very badly damaged, the whole
of its front having fallen inward, covering the floor. The construction
of the room demanded considerable rock cutting, especially on the
eastern side, to secure the requisite depth. Whatever masonry remained in
position was, as a rule, good. Probably no kiva in Cliff Palace was more
dilapidated when work began. It had been used as a dump by those who had
mutilated the ruins, and a great opening had been torn in its western
wall. Excavations showed that the floor had been wholly destroyed.
KIVA N
The height of kiva N is 7 feet 4 inches, and that of
the pilasters 5 feet 4 inches. The banquette is 3 feet high. The
diameter of the kiva is 11 feet. There are 6 pilasters and 5 mural
niches.
This kiva was in bad condition when the work began,
but it is now in good repair and exhibits interesting features. The
deflector was wholly destroyed, and it was impossible to find the
sipapu. There are evidences of considerable rock cutting on the northern
side, and of a little on the eastern and southwestern sides. The kiva
walls are blackened by smoke.
KIVA R
The height of kiva P is 8 feet, its diameter 11 feet
3 inches. The height from the floor to the top of a pilaster is 5 feet
10 inches, and to the top of the banquette 3 feet 4 inches. The number
of pilasters is 6, and their average breadth about 20 inches.
From the flue to the deflector the distance is 2 feet
8 inches, and the deflector is situated 6 inches from the fire-hole.
There are 5 mural niches.
The walls of this kiva are much blackened by smoke.
The masonry is fair, but much broken on the northern and western sides.
There is evidence that a considerable amount of rock has been peeked
away on the northern side to the floor level. The kiva occupies almost
the whole open space in which it is constructed, and the walls of
neighboring buildings surround it on all sides, rising from the edge of the
kiva. In order to secure a level foundation, parallel beams to support
the floor were laid from a projecting rock to a masonry wail. The ends
of these logs project above the path that leads to the main
entrance.
KIVA Q
This kiva (pl. 19) is round in shape and measures 8
feet 6 inches from the floor to the top of the wall. There were formerly
eight pilasters, which averaged 18 inches in breadth. The height of the
pilasters is 6 feet, and of the top of the banquette 3 feet 3 inches.
The diameter of the kiva is 13 feet 8 inches.
The fire-hole is 22 inches from the deflector; the
thickness of the latter is 10 inches, and its width 3 feet 3 inches.
There are four mural niches, all in fine condition. Although the masonry
of this kiva is the finest in Cliff Palace, its whole western end is
destroyed. The floor west of the deflector has a slightly convex
surface.a
aIn ceremonial rooms of ruins in the Navaho
National Monument this curve is represented by a raised step.
No ceremonial opening, or sipapu, such as occurs in
several other Cliff Palace kivas, was found in kiva Q. At the place
where this feature usually appears the floor was broken, but as several
of the Cliff Palace kivas have no specialized sipapus it is possible
that this device may be looked for in another opening in the floor.
There are no sipapus in the Hano kivas of the East Mesa of the Hopi, and
the priests of that pueblo assert that the Tewa have no special hole in
the kiva floor to represent this ceremonial opening. Apparently the
Pueblos of the Rio Grande are like the Tewa of Hano in this respect. All
the kivas of Spruce-tree House and a number of those in Cliff Palace
have this ceremonial opening, thus following the Hopi rather than the
Tewa custom. Whether the fireplace was used by those who performed rites
in kiva Q as a symbolic opening into or from the "underworld" is
unknown to the writer. The subterranean passage in kiva V leading to
the fire-hole, but not entering it, is interesting in this particular.
Kiva V, however, as pointed out, has in addition to the fire-hole a
fine pottery-lined sipapu corresponding to the sipapus in Hopi kivas,
but made in the solid rock floor.
KIVA S
This kiva is square, with rounded corners. Its height
is 8 feet, and the height of one of the pilasters above the floor 5 feet
10 inches. The banquettes are 3 feet 3 inches above the floor. The
diameter of the kiva is 10 feet 4 inches.
The number of pilasters is 6; their average breadth
is 20 inches. The distance from flue to deflector, which is a slab of
stone, is 3 feet 2 inches, the height of the deflector is 1 foot 7
inches and its width 3 feet.
From the deflector to the fire-hole the distance is 7
inches. The diameter of the fire-hole is 2 feet, its depth 9 inches.
There are 2 mural niches. The large banquette is 3 feet 6 inches broad.
The shaft of the flue, after passing 18 inches under the kiva wall,
turns southeastward 4 feet 4 inches and then takes a vertical course.
The masonry of kiva S is fairly good. A jar is set into one of the
banquettes, and was perhaps formerly used for containing sacred
meal.a This receptacle was left as found, and a slab of stone
placed slantingly above it to shield it from falling stones. Under the
huge rock above it there are light masonry walls outlining diminutive
rooms used possibly for storage but not for habitation.
aAmong the Hopi at the present day certain
fetishes, as the effigies of the Great Plumed Serpent, are regarded as
so sacred that when not in use they are kept in jars set in a banquette,
the surface of which is level with the neck of the jar. These
receptacles are closely sealed with a stone slab when the images are
deposited in them. Possibly the jars set in the kiva banquettes of Cliff
Palace may have been used for a similar purpose: i. e., were receptacles
for fetishes held in such veneration that, as is the case with the Great
Serpent effigies of the Hopi, one even touching them may, in the belief
of the people, be afflicted with direful disorders.
KIVA T
This kiva stands on an elevated rock, and has double
walls, the intervals between the wall of the kiva and the outside walls
being filled with rubble.
The height of kiva T is 7 feet 6 inches, that of one
of the pilasters 6 feet 6 inches. The banquette is 3 feet 9 inches above
the floor. The diameter of the kiva is 10 feet 5 inches. There were
probably 6 pilasters and 2 mural niches. Although the greater part of
the walls of this kiva was destroyed, a deep banquette still remains
above the air shaft. The floor has the same level as the second terrace,
or one story above kiva S, the roof of which is consequently at the
level of the floor of kiva T.
Kiva T was in bad condition when work began, as part
of its front wall had fallen and only the tops of the others were
visible above the debris. Even the floor level was difficult to
determine.
KIVA U
The form of kiva U is round, and its height is 7 feet
6 inches. The height of one of the pilasters is 4 feet 11 inches, and
that of the banquette 3 feet 4 inches. The diameter of the kiva is 12
feet. There are 5 pilasters. The fire-hole is 4 inches from the flue;
the diameter of the fire-hole is 20 inches, its depth 6 inches. There
are 6 mural niches so arranged that two large niches are situated above
two small ones. The presence of but 5 pedestals is accounted for by the
joining of 2 above the flue. Much rock-cutting was necessary in
constructing this kiva, especially on the northern and southwestern
sides. As the front wall of the kiva had fallen, it had to be
practically rebuilt. The foundations were unstable, apparently having been
constructed on loose stones carelessly laid.
KIVA V
This kiva is round and measures 5 feet 6 inches from
the floor to the top of one of the pilasters. The top of the banquette
is 3 feet 4 inches above the floor. The diameter of the kiva is 12 feet
8 inches. The number of pilasters is 6 and their average breadth 20
inches.
The distance from the deflector to the line of the
wall is 23 inches; the height of the deflector is 22 inches, the
thickness 9 inches, and the width 3 feet 2 inches. The fire-hole is
18 inches from the sipapu; the latter is 10 inches deep and 3 inches in
diameter, and is lined with a pottery tube cemented in place. There are
three mural niches.
Kiva V is exceptional in the amount of rock-cutting
that was necessary for lowering the floor to the desired level. Probably
the greatest amount of stone-cutting was done in this kiva.
There remains to be mentioned a unique tunnel which
may eventually throw some light on ceremonial openings in the kivas of
cliff-dwellings. Just beneath the adobe floor, extending from a vertical
flue outside the kiva to the fire-hole which it does not, however,
enter, there is a passage through which a small person may crawl.
Exteriorly this opens into a vertical flue which was broken down; inside
it ends bluntly at the fire-hole. About midway of its length there
extends from it a lateral passageway, slightly curved, forming a
well-worn doorway. This curved passage opens through the kiva floor by a
manhole. The walls of these passages are constructed of good masonry.
Their function is unknown, but as most structures connected with kivas
are ceremonial, this may provisionally be called a ceremonial
opening.
It is evident that this ceremonial passage had
nothing to do or at least had no connection with the ventilator and
deflector of the kiva. The opening is situated under the floor, passing
in its course beneath the deflector, and its external opening is by a
vertical passage outside the ventilator. It also differs from the
ventilator in having a lateral branch likewise situated under the floor.
Passing to kivas outside the Mesa Verde region, we find homologous
passages recorded as present under the floor in Pueblo Bonito, a ruin on
the Chaco, and in the kiva of a ruin not far from Chama, where the
passage under the floor is excavated in solid rock. Evidently we have
in this structure a ceremonial opening the true significance of which is
yet to be determined. Is it connected with the Tewa concept that the
fire-hole is a sipapu, or was it used in fire rites that were performed
about the fireplace? These and other questions that might be proposed
must remain unanswered until more is known of similar passages in other
cliff-dwelling kivas.
A SUBTYPE OF KIVA (KIVA M)
The method of roof construction which is the main
difference that distinguishes a kiva of the subtype from one of the
first type, is due to the absence of pilasters. Kiva M of Cliff Palace
may be assigned to this subtype, although many examples of it occur in
ruins farther down the San Juan, as well as in the Navaho National
Monument and in Canyon de Chelly. Kivas of the subtype are similar to
those of the second type in that pilasters are absent, but they differ
from them in the presence of a large banquette and in the subterranean
position, which features also characterize the first type. The only
circular kivas known to the ruins near the East Mesa of the Hopi of
Arizona belong to the first type, two of which are found at Kukuchomo,
the two ruins on the summit of the mesa above Sikyatki.
The method of roofing a kiva of the subtype may be
clearly observed in the kiva of Scaffold House in the Navaho National
Monument.a The rafters here are parallel, and extend across the
top of the kiva, their ends resting on the wall. The middle beam, which
is the largest, is flanked on each side by another. Upon these
supporting beams are laid others at right angles. and on these were placed
the brush, bark, and clay that covered the roof. Entrance was gained by
means of a hatchway on one side of the roof near the large banquette,
which occupies a position, as respects the entrance and the place
supposedly occupied by the ladder and the fire-pit, similar to the
spectator's platform of a modern rectangular Hopi kiva, except that it
is higher above the floor and is relatively smaller. If the banquettes
were depressed and enlarged into a platform, the form of the kiva
being changed from circular to rectangular, thus modified the banquette
would form a structure like the spectator's platform of a typical modern
Hopi kiva.b
aSee Bulletin 50, Bureau of American
Ethnology.
bThe two circular kivas of Kukuchomo, near
Sikyatki, have this large banquette and in other respects resemble the
ruins of Canyon de Chelly. Kukuchomo marks the site of a settlement of
the Coyote clan of the Hopi in prehistoric times.
Perhaps of all the ceremonial rooms repaired the
walls of kiva M were in the most dangerous condition. The front of the
northern wall of room 39 had been undermined and was without foundation,
hanging without basal support except at the ends. A support was
constructed under this hanging wall, and to give additional strength the
foundations were rebuilt a little broader at the base than formerly,
causing the wall to bulge almost imperceptibly into the kiva. Although
no pilasters were seen, the deep banquette on the northwestern side
places it among the kivas of the first type.
KIVAS OF THE SECOND TYPE
The architecture of the two kivas O and R are so
different from those already considered that they are set apart from the
others in a second type. The form and structure of kiva W indicate that
this room also may be classed as of the same type. In the side canyon
north of that in which Cliff Palace is situated, where water was
obtained throughout the summer, there is another kiva, also supposed to
belong to the second type.c
cAs a huge rock had fallen from the roof of
the cave in which this kiva lies, since it was first occupied, it would
appear that the place was abandoned on that account.
The main difference in construction between the two
types of kivas is the absence of pilasters, which implies the absence of
a roof in the second type. The suggestion that a kiva of the second type
is simply an unfinished form of the first type has little to support it,
but whether the architectural difference in the two types has any
functional importance or meaning is unknown. It has been suggested that
one type was used by the Winter, the other by the Summer
people.d
dNordenskiöld's description of this kiva has
been quoted earlier in this paper. In the description of a ceremonial
room of a somewhat similar or of the same type in Spruce-tree House the
term "warrior room" is used; there is nothing to warrant this designation,
however, and it would be better to consider it simply as a kiva of
the second type.
KIVA O
Kiva O is rounded below and square above, with a
north-south diameter of 11 feet 10 inches, and an east-west diameter of
10 feet. 6 inches. The ventilator opens in the western wall. There are 2
mural niches.
Both the plastered floor and the deflector are
lacking, and there is no fire-hole nor sipapu. No roof or pilasters to
support it were detected. It is difficult to measure the surrounding
wall on account of its varying height. The masonry is good, but there
are no signs on the walls that a fire had ever burned within the
chamber. It would appear that this kiva was roofless, and that it had
broad banquettes at the northern and southern sides.
KIVA R
In shape this kiva is oval below and square above,
without pilasters or other evidences of a roof. There are no signs of a
floor, a deflector, or a fire-hole. The surrounding wall of the kiva is
high; apparently there was an entrance at the eastern side. Banquettes
are present on the northern and southern ends, and a narrow ledge skirts
the other two sides.
There are 4 mural niches; (1) south by east,
measuring 15 by 11 by 13 inches; (1) north by east, measuring 11-1/2 by
8 by 15 inches; (2) in the north wall, measuring 13 by 8 by 12 inches,
and 12 by 8 by 13 inches, the latter three being placed in a row and
separated by slabs of stone. In the south wall there is a tunnel
terminating bluntly and bifurcated at the end.
Although kiva R was regarded by Nordenskiöld as
furnishing evidence of a transition form connecting circular and
rectangular kivas, it seems to the author a new type rather than a
modification of the circular or the rectangular kivas.
KIVA W
Kiva W is not generally included among the Cliff
Palace ceremonial rooms on account of its isolation from the houses, but
there is no doubt that it should be so enumerated. It lies about 50 feet
west of the end of the last room in the cliff-dwelling, and is not accompanied
with secular rooms. Although situated on the same level as the
houses, its walls rise two tiers high, but no part of the inclosure is
subterranean.
From the height of the walls it at first seemed as if
in kiva W there were evidences of a room above. This condition would be
contrary to the rule and, to the Hopi mind, ceremonially impossible; but
if its upper walls are regarded as homogeneous with the high walls that
surround kivas O and R, and we interpret this as an example of the
second type of kiva, the anomaly is explained.
Although this kiva is placed provisionally in the
second type mainly because of these lofty side walls, on account of its
isolation at the end of Cliff Palace several observers have not regarded
it as belonging to the ruin. Neither Nordenskiöld nor Morley and Kidder
included it in their ground plans, nor does Nordenskiöld mention it in
his enumeration of Cliff Palace kivas.
As kiva W is almost wholly unprotected by the cave
roof, its walls have greatly suffered from the downpour of rains to
which they are exposed. The masonry is fairly good. Evidently it was an
important building, and was isolated from other rooms possibly for some
special purpose. As there are few or no walls of secular rooms near it,
one may believe that it was resorted to by the villagers on special
occasions and did not belong to any one clan.
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