Antiquities of the Mesa Verde National Park: Cliff PalaceFewkes, Jesse Walter
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Antiquities of the Mesa Verde National Park: Cliff Palace
Fewkes, Jesse Walter
Colorado -- Antiquities; Mesa Verde National Park (Colo.)
Kiva D is square, with rounded corners; it is 13 feet in diameter; its
walls are 10 feet high and measure 7 feet from the floor to the top of
the pilasters. The height of the banquette is 4 feet. The number of
pilasters is 6; their average distance apart is 4 feet 6 inches, and
their width 2 feet. The eastern wall of this kiva is the side of the
cave, and the whole was inclosed by high walls. On the southern side of
the kiva is a passageway. The walls of the kiva and the cave roof above
it are blackened with smoke. There are two deep banquettes.
The flue opens in the western wall of the kiva; its height is 2 feet,
and its width at the top is 13 inches. The distance from the flue to the
deflector is 2 feet 6 inches; from the deflector to the fire-hole, 13
inches. The diameter of the fire-hole is 2 feet and its depth 1 foot.
The distance from the fire-hole to the sipapû is 2 feet 2 inches; the
diameter of the latter is 3 inches. This kiva has 5 finely made
rectangular niches in the walls. The walls are well plastered and were
painted yellow. Wherever the masonry is visible it is found inferior to
none except possibly that of kiva Q.[52]
[Footnote 52: This kiva, which is one of the best in Cliff Palace, is
illustrated by Nordenskiöld.]
KIVA E
Kiva E is square, with rounded corners; it measures 11 feet 6 inches in
diameter, and is 9 feet 10 inches high. The elevation of the banquette
is 4 feet, and of the pilasters 7 feet. The number of pilasters is 6.
The flue opens on the western side.
The deflector consists of a wall of stone, 2 feet high; its width is 3
feet 6 inches, the thickness 9 inches. The distance from the deflector
to the flue is 1 foot 10 inches, and from the fire-hole 3 inches. There
are 4 mural niches. As the projecting rock on the eastern side
interfered with the symmetry of this kiva, when constructed it was
necessary to peck the rock away 8 inches deep over an area 10 feet
square, thus exhibiting, next to the floor of kiva V, the most extensive
piece of kiva stone-cutting in Cliff Palace. Although this kiva was
generally in a fair state of preservation, it was necessary to rebuild
much of the eastern wall.
The fire-hole of this kiva is lined with a rude jar set with adobe
mortar. No sipapû was discovered in the floor. Kiva E is one of the few
kivas in Cliff Palace surrounded by the walls of rooms. As it is
situated in the rear of the cave, projecting walls of the cliff were
necessarily cut away to a considerable extent in order to obtain the
form of room desired on the eastern side. This side of the kiva is
blackened by smoke antedating the construction of the room. There is
abundant evidence in this portion of the ruin of secondary construction
of buildings on the same site. Several walls built upon others show that
some rooms may have been abandoned and new ones added, an indication
that this portion of the ruin is very old, perhaps having the oldest
walls still standing.
KIVA F
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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