18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY * fBurx. 41 



investigators, was in poor condition, its walls being almost completely 

 broken clown. Part of the wall of kiva A is double (pi. 13), 

 indicating a circular room built inside another room the shape of 

 which inclines to oval, the former utilizing a portion of the wall of 

 the latter. This kiva is also exceptional in being surrounded on three 

 sides b}'^ rooms, the fourth side being the wall of the cavern. From 

 several considerations the author regards this as the oldest kiva in 

 Spruce-tree House. 



The typical structure of a Spruce-tree House kiva is as follows: Its 

 form is circular or oval ; the site is subterranean, the roof being level 

 with the floor of the surrounding plaza. (Pis. 13-15.) Two Avails, 

 an outer and an inner, inclose the room, the latter forming the lower 

 part. Upon the top of this lower wall rest six pedestals, which sup- 

 port the roof beams ; the outer wall braces these pedestals on one side. 

 The spaces between these pedestals form recesses in which the floors 

 extend a few feet above the floor of the room. 



The floor of the kiva is generally plastered, but in some cases is 

 solid rock. The fireplace is a circular depression in the floor, its 

 purpose being indicated by the wood ashes found therein. Its lining 

 is ordinarily made of clay, which in some instances is replaced by 

 stones set on edge. 



The other important opening in the floor is one called sipapu^ or 

 symbolic opening into the underworld. This is generalh^ situated 

 near the center of the room, opposite the fireplace. This opening 

 into the underworld is barely large enough to admit the human hand 

 and extends only about a foot below the floor surface. It is commonly 

 single, but in one kiva two of these orifices were detected. A similar 

 symbolic opening occurs in modern Hopi kivas, as has been repeat- 

 edl}^ described in the author's accounts of pueblo ceremonials. An 

 important structure of a Spruce-tree House kiva is an upright slab 

 of rock, or a narrow thin wall of masonry, placed between the fire- 

 place and the wall of the kiva. This object, sometimes called an 

 altar, serves as a deflector, its function being to distribute the air 

 which enters the kiva at the floor level through a vertical shaft, or 

 ventilator. Every kiva has at least one such deflector, a single fire- 

 place, and the sipapii, or ceremonial opening mentioned above. 



Several small cubby-holes, or receptacles for paint or small cere- 

 monial objects, generally occur in the lower walls of the kiva. In 

 addition to these there -exist openings ample in size to admit the 

 human body, which serve difi^erent purposes. The first kind com- 

 municate directly with passageways through which one can pass 

 from the kiva into a neighboring room or plaza. Such a passageway 

 in kiva E has steps near the opening in the floor of room 35. This 

 entrance is not believed, however, to be the only way by which one 

 could enter or 'leave this room, but was a private pas'sage, the main 



