86 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 82 



lar beads of a white chalky material, and a large flint point were 

 found among the bones of the body. Fragments of both black-on- 

 orange and corrugated pottery were under this skeleton, and on the 

 floor nearby were sherds of black-on- white ware. The fourth skele- 

 ton was in the northeast corner, in a flexed position on the floor, with 

 face toward the firepit, and only partially destroyed by fire. Wind- 

 blown sand had sifted through the roof and covered the bones. Sherds 

 similar to those with skeleton no. 3 were found near skeleton no. 4. 

 Mixed with the charred bones of the latter were hundreds of blow-fly 

 pupae cases that had been carbonized by the fire when the roof was 

 burned. The fifth skeleton was found 3 feet 4 inches from the west 

 wall, and i foot 6 inches from the north wall. The jaw was that of a 

 youth whose burned bones were found 2 feet above the floor, resting 

 upon the collapsed wall. 



The presence of blow-fly pupae cases seems to explain why the 

 kiva was burned, and from the facts found the story of the tragedy 

 may be partially reconstructed. In time the natural earth walls of 

 the kiva probably became so weakened by the weight of the roof, 

 and from the absorption of moisture, that the west wall caved in. 

 Five men were trapped and lost their lives. That the kiva and its 

 unfortunate occupants were not entirely burned at the time of the 

 accident is manifest by the occurrence of the carbonized pupae cases 

 of the blow-fly, and can only mean that the structure was fired after 

 the men had been dead for some time. From the proximity of dwelling 

 rooms to the scene of the disaster, we might infer that the ruined kiva 

 was intentionally fired for sanitary purposes. 



Pueblo custom decrees that the kiva be partly if not wholly under- 

 ground. Even among the Hopi, whose villages stand on rocky buttes, 

 kivas are often built on a lower sandstone ledge. With at least one 

 side abutting the clifif face the prescribed subterranean, or semi- 

 subterranean, position was thus realized without excavation of solid 

 rock — a tedious task for folk not formerly possessed of metal tools. 



Returning to Kin Tiel, the masonry walls at the platform end of 

 Kiva KT-I were excellently constructed of hard, fine-grained sand- 

 stone. This sandstone, possessing definite lines of cleavage, could 

 with little effort be split into blocks of fairly uniform size. The 

 average size is about 2 inches thick and 10 inches long. Breaking of 

 joints and dovetailing of corners was practiced but neither occurred 

 consistently. The mortar was fine, sandy and sparingly used because 

 the flat surfaces of the building stones fitted easily together. 



