Fire Temple is one of the most remarkable cliff houses in the park, if
not in the whole Southwest. It is situated in a shallow cave in the north
wall of Fewkes Canyon, near the head of the same, and can readily be seen
from the road along the southwest rim of the canyon. This ruin was
formerly called Painted House, but when it was excavated in May 1920
evidence was obtained that it was a specialized building and not a
habitation. The facts brought to light point to the theory that it was
consecrated to the fire cult, one of the most ancient forms of worship.
The ruin is rectangular in form, almost completely filling the whole of
its shallow cave, and the walls of the rooms extend to the roof. A ground
plan shows a central court 50 feet long and about 25 feet broad, flanked
at each end with massive-walled buildings two stories high. The walls of
these rooms are well constructed, plastered red and white within and on
the side turned to the court. The white plaster is adorned with symbolic
figures. The beams used in the construction of the ceiling of the lower
room are missing, but the walls show clearly that the structure was
formerly two stories high. No beams were used in the construction of the
floors, the lower story having been filled in with fragments of rocks on
which was plastered a good adobe floor.
The court or plaza was bounded by a low wall on the south side, the
buildings enclosing the east and west ends, where there was a banquette,
apparently for spectators. The north side of the court was formed by the
solid rocks of the cliff, but on the lower part a narrow masonry wall had
been laid up about head high, projecting from the cliff a foot and less
on the top. The wall was formerly plastered red below and white above,
triangular figures and zigzag markings recalling symbols of lightning on
the line of the junction of the red and white surfaces.
About the center of the court on a well-hardened adobe floor there is a
circular walled fire pit containing an abundance of ashes, and on either
side of it are foundations of small rectangular structures.
In the central fire pit fire was kept burning during the elaborate fire
dances of the natives, and possibly also a perpetual fire was conserved
in this pit from one act of kindling the new fire to another. The
function of the rectangular enclosures lying one on each side of the
circular enclosures is unknown. The new fire may have been kindled in the
middle of the three rooms of the lowest tier west of the main court. This
is a painted room, and on its walls there still remain in fair
preservation a row of five symbols of fire, numerous pictures of mountain
sheep and other animals.
Just west of Fire Temple there is a group of rooms which were evidently
habitations, since household utensils were found in them. One of these
rooms has in the floor a vertical shaft which opens outside the house
walls like a ventilator. The former use of this structure is unknown.
Although the Fire Temple was not inhabited, there were undoubtedly
dwellings nearby.