A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola: Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1886-1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 3-228Mindeleff, Cosmos
History
A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola: Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1886-1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 3-228
Mindeleff, Cosmos
Pueblo Indians -- Antiquities; Pueblo architecture
The ground plan of the mungkiva of Mashongnavi is illustrated in Fig.
27. In this example the narrowing of the room at the second level of the
floor is on one side. The step by which the upper level is reached from
the main floor is 8 inches high at the east end, rising to 10 inches at
the west end. The south end of the kiva is provided with a small opening
like a loop-hole, furnishing an outlook to the south. The east side of
the main portion of the kiva is not provided with the usual bench. The
portion of the bench at the katchina end of the kiva is on a level with
the west bench and continuous for a couple of feet beyond the northeast
corner along the east wall. The small wall niches are on the west side
and nearer the north end than usual. The arrangement of the katchinkihu
is quite different from that described in the Shupaulovi kivas. The
orifice occurs in the north wall at a height of 3½ feet above the floor,
and 2 feet 3 inches above the top of the bench that extends across this
end of the room. The firepit is somewhat smaller than in the other
examples illustrated. Fig. 28 illustrates the appearance of the kiva
hatchway from within as seen from the north end of the kiva, but the
ladder has been omitted from the drawing to avoid confusion. The ladder
rests against the edge of the coping that caps the dwarf wall on the
near side of the hatchway, its top leaning toward the spectator. The
small smoke-blackened sticks that are used for the suspension of bundles
of greasewood and other fuel in the hatchway are clearly shown. At the
far end of the trapdoor, on the outside, is indicated the mat of reeds
or rushes that is used for closing the openings when necessary. It is
here shown rolled up at the foot of the slope of the hatchway top, its
customary position when not in use. When this mat is used for closing
the kiva opening it is usually held in place by several large stone
slabs laid over it. Fig. 29 illustrates a specimen of the Tusayan kiva
mat.
[Illustration: Fig. 29. Mat used in closing the entrance of Tusayan
kiva.]
[Illustration: Plate LX. Tâaaiyalana, plan.]
The above kiva plans show that each of the illustrated examples is
provided with four long narrow planks, set in the kiva floor close to
the wall and provided with orifices for the attachment of looms. This
feature is a common accompaniment of kiva construction and pertains to
the use of the ceremonial room as a workshop by the male blanket weavers
of Tusayan. It will be more fully described in the discussion of the
various uses of the kiva.
The essential structural features of the kivas above described are
remarkably similar, though the illustrations of types have been selected
at random. Minor modifications are seen in the positions of many of the
features, but a certain general relation between the various
constructional requirements of the ceremonial room is found to prevail
throughout all the villages.
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