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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



for the covering of the conical roof 

 with earth, a concentric retaining wall, 

 slightly greater in diameter than the 

 kiva itself, was erected above ground. 

 In order to give an idea of the features 

 of a completed kiva and to present the 

 architecturally excellent method by 

 which these circular structures were 

 covered, the roof of kiva E was recon- 

 structed as shown in an accompanying 

 illustration. 



A gratifying number of specimens 

 were found in all parts of the ruin 

 which have been opened — so many in 

 fact as to surpass all expectations. 

 Nearly every room yielded something 

 which will contribute toward the ulti- 

 mate reconstruction of the material 

 culture of the Pueblos of the Aztec 

 region, even to its most intimate detail. 

 A few discoveries merit individual men- 

 tion. 



The contents of kiva D were mutely 

 eloquent of tragedy and destruction. 

 Fire had raged in the furnace-like 

 chamber, and had consumed or thor- 

 oughly carbonized everything inflam- 

 mable that it contained. On the floor 

 at one side of the room lay a few bones 

 of the calcined body of an adult, and 

 against the opposite wall were clustered 

 the charred remains of four children. 

 Burned to a crisp, these little bodies 

 came out in chunks of slaglike sub- 

 stance, pitted and honeycombed by 

 bubbles of gas, and bluely iridescent 

 from the burning of the body fats. The 

 carbonized cotton cloth of garments, 

 and rush matting, were fused to the 

 flesh and still adhered, retaining per- 

 fectly their weave and texture. Strewn 

 about the floor as they were last used 

 were many articles of household econ- 

 omy, cooking pots around the fireplace, 

 food bowls and drinking vessels leaning 

 against the walls, smaller bowls and 

 ladles in cupboard-like niches in the 

 masonry, and stone axes, bone imple- 

 ments, beads and ornaments scattered 

 here and there where they had been 

 carelessly laid aside. 



Of several possible conclusions one 

 seems most acceptable. These five per- 

 sons were trapped and burned alive 

 in the kiva, either by accident, or by 

 the hand of enemies. As it would be 

 next to impossible for the roof of a 

 kiva to catch fire accidentally, it is al- 

 most certain that, perhaps for super- 

 stitious reasons, enemies within the 

 village sought to destroy these unfortu- 

 nate creatures, or that they were the 

 victims of an attacking party that 

 stormed and burned a part of the 

 pueblo. 



Eoom 41 was one of the richest 

 burial chambers which have been found 

 in the entire Southwest. In common 

 with the other rooms of the east wing, 

 after having ceased to be used as a 

 dwelling place, refuse was thrown into 

 the abandoned chamber. When about 

 twelve inches of ashes and potsherds 

 had accumulated on the floor, for un- 

 known reasons it was desired to put 

 away the dead in this room. The ashes 

 were scraped from along the south and 

 west walls into a heap in the center, and 

 the bodies of at least two adults and 

 three children were laid in the shallow 

 depressions. The high station of these 

 individuals may be Judged from the 

 quantity and variety of mortuary offer- 

 ings which accompanied their mortal 

 remains. More than forty pottery ves- 

 sels were grouped around the bodies 

 — food bowls, drinking mugs and 

 pitchers, tiny cooking vessels, dippers, 

 vases, and graceful jars shaped like 

 the bodies of birds, each with a head 

 in full relief. Piles of arrowpoints, 

 sticks of pigment, both red and yel- 

 low, and hundreds of long polished 

 bone tubes were interspersed among the 

 pottery. 



About fifty thousand beads and ar- 

 ticles of personal adornment were the 

 most conspicuous element of the mor- 

 tuary offerings. One body was covered 

 from throat to thighs with beads and 

 pendants. Strands of turquoise lay 

 against the skull where thev had been 



