View N across the interior of Chetro Ketl Pueblo great kiva, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico: circular, subterranean room used by the Anasazi for ceremonies.
View N across the interior of Chetro Ketl Pueblo great kiva, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico: a circular, subterranean room used by the Anasazi for religious ceremonies. Shows three of the four stone-lined circular holes which held roof pillars of ponderosa pine seated on circular sandstone pads, and one of the pair of rectangular 'earth vaults' which may have been covered by planks to form foot drums or used for the ritual sprouting of corn, beans and squash. A stone bench encircles the room and two phases of walling are visible. The niches had been carefully sealed with stone and each one contained a shell and turquoise necklace: a total of over 17,000 beads in strings up to 17 feet long. To the rear are the enclosed plaza, multi-storey houses of the central block and the sandstone cliff face of Alto Mesa. Entrance is down a flight of steps leading from an antechamber at the N.
Size: 2470px × 3525px
Location: Chetro Ketl Pueblo, Chaco Canyon, Farmington, San Juan County, New Mexico, USA
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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