. Bulletin. Ethnology. 38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY iBULL. 65 lay entirely below ground, backed up against the cliff wall, and was not visible before excavation, the top of its wall having been hidden under the stratum of sheep dung. It was filled with cave slough and blown sand, and held no debris beyond half a dozen corrugated and red-and-yellow sherds, and a few building stones that had fallen from the upper part'of the walls. In shape it is roughly square with well-rounded corners, and its diameter of 7 feet 6 inches makes it the smallest kiva yet recorded (fig. 14). Although the upper
. Bulletin. Ethnology. 38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY iBULL. 65 lay entirely below ground, backed up against the cliff wall, and was not visible before excavation, the top of its wall having been hidden under the stratum of sheep dung. It was filled with cave slough and blown sand, and held no debris beyond half a dozen corrugated and red-and-yellow sherds, and a few building stones that had fallen from the upper part'of the walls. In shape it is roughly square with well-rounded corners, and its diameter of 7 feet 6 inches makes it the smallest kiva yet recorded (fig. 14). Although the upper parts of the walls had fallen, the floor was excellently preserved. The body of the room and the horizontal passage of the ventilator proved to have been dug out of the solid, undisturbed hardpan at the base of the cliff and simply coated with adobe. The upper wall above the t hardpan was of masonry to retain the Q >. looser top soil. Over the walls were \ many thin coats of plaster, each one /-^ heavily smoked. V-x|* Of the typical kiva features there '' , were present in this example the venti- ^ lator, fire pit, and sipapu. There is no . _-^ *" banquette, nor are there any cubby-holes. The ventilator enters at the floor level through an opening 1 foot 5 inches high by 2 foet wide. The horizontal passage, whose bottom and sides are cut from the hardpan and merelj^ coated with adobe, is roofed with a series of small oak (?) rods, above which are flat slabs of sandstone. Its total length is 2 feet 10 inches. As the ascending- shaft runs through the soft upper earth it is inclosed in masonry. At its present top it is 8 inches square. It will be noticed in the plan that the ventilator opens into the kiva near the southwest corner. A more usual position for it would have been in the middle of the south side. The fire pit and sipapu are also arranged in an unusual way. In normal kivas on both the north and the south side of the San Juan a line drawn at right angles out from
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectethnolo, bookyear1901
