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.[58] 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.
[Footnote 57: This kiva, one of the finest and in some features the most
exceptional in Cliff Palace, is not indicated in Nordenskiöld's plan.]
[Footnote 58: Nordenskiöld 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 sipapû. 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 P
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 pecked 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 wall. 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.[59]
[Footnote 59: In ceremonial rooms of ruins in the Navaho National
Monument this curve is represented by a raised step.]
No ceremonial opening, or sipapû, 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 sipapûs it is possible that this device may be
looked for in another opening in the floor. There are no sipapûs 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
sipapû corresponding to the sipapûs in Hopi kivas, but made in the solid
rock floor.
[Illustration: PLATE 26
_a_ Mugs from crematory
_b_ Dipper-bowl and corrugated vase
POTTERY]
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.[60] 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.
[Footnote 60: Among 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
débris. 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 sipapû;
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.
[Illustration: PLATE 27
PITCH BALLS AND VASE]
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 sipapû, 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.[61] 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.[62]
[Footnote 61: See _Bulletin 50, Bureau of American Ethnology_.]
[Footnote 62: The 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.[63]
[Footnote 63: As 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.[64]
[Footnote 64: Nordenskiöld'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.]
[Illustration: PLATE 28
RESTS FOR JARS]
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 sipapû. 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 11½ 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.
MINOR ANTIQUITIES
In the preceding pages have been described the major antiquities, such
as walls and those permanent objects which could not be removed from the
places where they were constructed without more or less harm. There
remain to be considered the minor antiquities, or the smaller objects
which are movable and of a more perishable nature, especially if left in
the places where they were found. It was mainly in search of such
objects that much of the mutilation of Cliff Palace was done.
It was not expected that excavations would yield any considerable number
of specimens, since for years Cliff Palace had been dug over in search
of them, and many hundreds of objects had already been found and carried
away to be sold either to museums or to individuals. Notwithstanding
these unfavorable conditions, the collection of objects, now deposited
in the National Museum, is sufficient to afford some idea of the culture
of the Cliff Palace people.
Among the objects that may be mentioned in the category of minor
antiquities are pottery, basketry, implements of stone, bone, and wood,
fabrics of various kinds, ornaments, fetishes, and the like--all those
objects commonly called artifacts that make up collections from
cliff-dwellings generally.
The excavations at Cliff Palace have revealed no specimens strikingly
different from those already described as from Spruce-tree House. We
would expect some variation in the symbols on pottery from the two
ruins, but the differences are not conspicuous in the few specimens that
have been compared. Nor is there any peculiarity in the form of the
pottery, as the ceramic objects from Cliff Palace practically duplicate
those from Spruce-tree House, already described, and probably are not
much unlike those still buried in Long House, Balcony House, and the
House with the Square Tower.
[Illustration: PLATE 29
BASKET HOPPER--SIDE AND BOTTOM VIEWS]
As many ceremonial objects, being highly prized, may have been removed
from Cliff Palace when the place was deserted by its inhabitants, the
few that remained present scant material from which to add to our
knowledge of the ceremonial life of the people. The existence of so many
kivas would point to many rites, although a large number of sacred rooms
does not necessarily indicate more complex or elaborate rites than a
smaller number: multiplicity of kivas does not necessarily mean
multiplicity of ceremonies, nor few kivas a limited ritual. In no pueblo
are there more complicated ceremonies than at Walpi, where there are
only five of these sacred rooms; but it must be remembered that many of
the religious rites of Walpi are performed in kihus, or secular rooms.
The same may have been true of Cliff Palace.
The writer's belief is that in historic times, by which is meant since
the advent of missionaries, altars have become more elaborate and rites
more complex at Walpi than in prehistoric times, and that through the
same influence the use of images or idols has also increased. This
increase in the complexity of rites may be traced to the amalgamation of
clans or to a substitution of the fraternities of priesthoods for simple
clan ancestor worship. The elaborate character of ceremonial
paraphernalia may likewise be due to acculturation,[65] which increases
in complication with the lapse of time.
[Footnote 65: For instance, the complicated reredos of many of the
modern Hopi altars is made of flat wooden slabs, the manufacture of
which would be very difficult for a people ignorant of iron. These
probably replaced painted stone slabs of simpler character, examples of
which have been found in ruins and indeed still survive in some of the
oldest rites.]
STONE IMPLEMENTS
The stone implements from Cliff Palace consist of axes, mauls, paint
grinders, pecking stones, metates, balls, flakes, spear and arrow
points, and various other articles (pls. 20-22). There is great
uniformity in these implements, the axes, for instance, being generally
single edged, although a good specimen of double-edged hatchet is in the
collection. A fragment of the peculiar stone implement called
_tcamahia_[66] by the Hopi was found.
[Footnote 66: This object probably came from near Tokónabi, the ancient
home of the Snake people of Walpi, on San Juan river. Fourteen of these
tcamahias form part of the Antelope altar in the Snake Dance at Walpi.]
While as a rule the hatchets are without handles, one specimen (pl. 20)
is exceptional in this particular. The handle of this hatchet from Cliff
Palace, like that from Spruce-tree House, elsewhere described, is a
stick bent in a loop around the stone head.
POUNDING STONES