Preliminary report on a visit to the Navaho National Monument, ArizonaFewkes, Jesse Walter
History
Preliminary report on a visit to the Navaho National Monument, Arizona
Fewkes, Jesse Walter
Arizona -- Antiquities; Cliff-dwellings -- Arizona; Navajo National Monument (Ariz.)
The top of a vertical stone slab, comparable in shape and position
with a deflector, was seen projecting out of the débris that fills the
lower part of the kiva, and rods in the wall near the roof represent
pegs found at the tops of the pilasters in Mesa Verde kivas. There is a
niche at one side for small objects, a constant feature in all kivas,
circular and rectangular. The fire-hole was covered with débris.
The second circular kiva, which belongs to the same subtype, is
situated not far from the one described, but is much more dilapidated,
about half its walls having fallen. The roof of this kiva appears to
have been supported in part by upright logs isolated from the walls,
inside the chamber, three of which still stand in their original
positions. This feature reminds one of kivas of the Rio Grande region
as described by Castañeda, the historian of the Coronado expedition in
1540-42. In addition to the two circular kivas Scaffold House contains
another room that may have been ceremonial in character, having all the
essentials of the Betatakin rooms herein referred to as kivas. It lies
near the western end of the ruin, its northwestern wall being bound by
the vertical cliff. This room is rectangular, with a lateral entrance
opposite which is a low bank, or deflector; the floor between the
latter and the doorway is raised slightly above the general level. The
fire-hole occupies a position on the other side, as in rooms of this
kind in Betatakin. It was noticed that the sides of the doorway are
considerably worn and that its lintel is made of split sticks.
In addition to the two circular subterranean kivas at Scaffold House
there is at least one kihu in this ruin. This is situated near the
western end, being built against the upright or rear wall of the cavern
to which the two side walls are joined. The doorway is like those of
the kihus in Betatakin and is situated opposite the cliff-wall. The
roof has fallen in, but the beams and wattling remain in place as they
fell. There is a fire-hole in the middle of the floor, and between it
and the doorway is a deflector made of upright staves between which is
adobe work; the whole is plastered with adobe. The threshold of the low
doorway is slightly elevated above the floor, and between it and the
base of the deflector is a raised platform. The lintels are made of
sticks split with wedges, possibly of stone, as shown by their fibrous
surfaces.
There are many pictographs on the cliff at Scaffold House, the most
conspicuous of which represent human hands, snakes (one of them is 15
feet long), mountain sheep or other horned mammals, and nondescript
figures representing tailed human beings.
The ruins at Bubbling Spring, a short distance from Scaffold House, are
inconspicuous.
CRADLE HOUSE
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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