Logs, poles and withes of various sizes were used in constructing the support structure for the roofs. Usually one or two heavy timbers spanned the room. Smaller poles were placed at right angles to the heavy joists and were in turn covered with a solid layer of slender withes or split poles. Addition of the layer of packed adobe completed the roof.] [Illustration: No. 2. Square towers, two to four stories in height, were common in the cliff dwellings. The builders, however, were not actually constructing “towers,” as we think of them. They were simply building living rooms one on top of another in order that additional families might enjoy the security offered by the caves. Sometimes these tall structures appear as towers merely because adjacent high structures have fallen.] [Illustration: No. 3. Tapered, round towers are not common in the cliff dwellings. Round rooms are occasionally encountered, but of these carefully constructed, tapering round towers there are only a few. No special use can be suggested as nothing unusual has been found in them. The round tower pictured is in Cliff Palace. The faces of all the stones are curved to fit the circular shape.] [Illustration: No. 2. These narrow platforms, or balconies, were often constructed under second, third and fourth story doors. Sometimes they were merely small platforms but often they were long walks connecting upstairs rooms.] [Illustration: No. 3. Masonry columns are not at all common in the cliff dwellings. Possibly this construction feature was just coming into use for only three have been found. The column pictured is in Spruce Tree House. It rests on a first-floor wall and supports a third-story room.] ARCHITECTURE—THE LIVING ROOMS The term “living room,” as we use it today, is really not a good term for the rooms in the cliff dwellings. Actually these were, for the most part, sleeping and storage rooms. Probably few of the activities of daily life took place in them. The real “living space” was the great open areas in the villages, the kiva courts and the terraced housetops. The cave itself served as a roof over the entire village and the people probably spent most of their active life outside the rooms. Most of the rooms were small and dark. In the pictures below the small size of the doors is clearly evident and the few windows were little more than peepholes. Very few of the rooms had fires inside so the light was poor. Weaving, sewing, pottery making, and such activities could not have been carried on inside the rooms. For the most part the rooms should be considered as sleeping and storage rooms. If an adult could stretch out at full length on the floor the room was large enough for sleeping purposes. If it were too small for normal sleeping it served as storage space for food supplies and family possessions.