The Cliff Ruins of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona: Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1894-95, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1897, pages 73-198Mindeleff, Cosmos
History
The Cliff Ruins of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona: Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1894-95, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1897, pages 73-198
Mindeleff, Cosmos
Arizona -- Antiquities; Chelly, Canyon de (Ariz.); Cliff-dwellings -- Arizona; Pueblo Indians -- Antiquities
In ruin 31 there is another example. The kiva here was about 20 feet in
diameter, with rather thin walls smoothly plastered inside. On the inner
side the walls are from 3 to 5 feet high; outside they are generally
flush with the ground. The kiva is not a true circle, but is slightly
elongated north and south. On the south side, nearest the edge of the
ledge, there is an opening, shown in figure 70. The opening is 6 feet 3
inches wide, and the ends of the curved walls terminate in smoothly
finished surfaces. In front of it there are remains of two walls, about
a foot apart, and so arranged as to form an apparent passageway into the
interior of the kiva. These seem to be a kind of platform, like that
just described, but close inspection shows the walls, which can be
traced to within 6 inches of the inner wall of the kiva. This also may
be the remains of a chimney-like structure. There are other points in
the canyon where the same feature occurs, but in none of them is the
evidence of an opening or doorway more definite than in the examples
described.
[Illustration: Fig. 71--Plan of part of a kiva in ruin No. 10.]
The masonry of the kivas is always as good as that of any other
structure on the site, and generally much better. The walls are usually
massive; sometimes they are 3 feet thick in the upper part and 4 feet in
the lower portion, where the bench occurs. In a few cases the kiva has
an upper or second story, but when this occurs no attempt is made to
preserve the circular form, and the upper rooms are really rectangular
with much rounded corners. Plate XLIX shows a second-story kiva wall in
Mummy Cave ruin, and plate LXIII one in ruin No. 10 in De Chelly. The
latter occurs over the principal kiva, and the walls which are still
standing on the north and west sides are approximately straight, but the
corners are much rounded. Figure 71 is a detailed plan of part of the
kiva, showing the arrangement of the upper walls. The kiva walls are
about 18 inches thick. On the north side the upper wall is supported by
a heavy beam, part of which is still in place. Under the north-east
corner of the upper room there is a little triangular space formed by a
short connecting wall, shown on the plan. This is really a flying wall,
covering only the upper portion of the space, and its purpose is not
clear, as the opening left is not large enough to permit the passage of
a person, and was available only from the second story.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account