It is impossible to picture life in one of the large cliff dwellings
unless the architectural unit shown below is taken into consideration.
This small section of Spruce Tree House consists of a kiva partially
surrounded by a group of rooms. This relationship of kiva and houses is
so common in the larger caves that it must indicate deliberate planning
on the part of the builders.
In Spruce Tree House there are six of these kiva courts, almost
identical to the one shown here. In each case the kiva with its flat
open roof is partially or completely surrounded by houses.
In considering the kiva court shown below it is quite possible that the
houses were occupied by a group of closely related families, perhaps a
small clan. In the high rear wall nine doorways can be seen. Each door
opened into an individual room that had no side or rear doors. In these
small, cell-like rooms the people slept and stored their possessions.
The active life of the people from these houses was in the open court
and on surrounding roofs. There was ample room for all and it was here
that they cooked, ate, worked, and played. The overhanging cave roof
sheltered the entire village from the elements and there was little need
for the people to use the small dark rooms except at night. There was
little privacy for individual families; probably all of the residents of
this court area lived together like one very large family.
About twenty rooms seem to have opened into this kiva court. Certainly
it should not be considered that there were that many individual
families. But it is evident that a large number of people occupied the
rooms and shared the open court. In the left foreground can be seen the
hatchway of a second kiva. The roof of this kiva formed another court
which was surrounded by another group of rooms much like those shown at
the right.
The kiva itself should not be tied too closely to the clan or group of
families living around it. Customs in some of the present-day Indian
Pueblos lead to the belief that a kiva was used by a religious society
and men from other parts of the village and other clans could have been
members of this ceremonial group. The kiva may have belonged to the clan
which lived around it and may have been taken care of by the men of this
clan. But its ceremonies would have been conducted by a religious
society to which belonged men of various clans.
[Illustration: Kiva Court in Spruce House.]