FEWKES] FEATURES OF SIKYATKI RUIN 643 
rites in the Hopi villages éceur, not in kivas, but in ordinary dwelling 
rooms in the village. It has yet to be shown that there were special 
kivas in prehistoric Tusayan. 
The longer axis of the ruin is about north and south; the greatest 
elevation is approximately 50 feet. Rocks outcrop only at one place, 
the remainder of the ruin being covered with rubble, sand, stones, and 
fragments of pottery. The mounds are not devoid of vegetation, for. 
sagebrush, cacti, and other desert genera grow quite profusely over 
their surface; but they are wholly barren of trees or large bushes, and 
except in the plaza the ruin areais uncultivated. As previously stated, 
Sikyatki is situated about 250 or 300 feet above the plain, and when 
approached from Keam’s canyon appears to be about halfway up the 
mesa height. On several adjacent elevations evidences of former fires, 
or places where pottery was burned, were found, and one has not to 20 
far to discover narrow seams of an im pure lignite. Here and there are 
considerable deposits of selenite, which, as pointed out by Sitgreaves in 
his report on the exploration of the Little Colorado, looks like frost 
exuding from the ground in early spring. 
THE ACROPOLIS 
During the limited time devoted to the excavation of Sikyatki it was 
impossible, in a ruin so large, to remove the soil covering any con- 
siderable number of rooms. The excavations at different points over 
such a considerable area as that covered by the mounds would have 
been more or less desultory and unsatisfactory, but a limited section 
carefully opened would be much more instructive and typical. While, 
therefore, the majority of the Indian workmen were kept employed at 
the cemeteries, Kopeli, the Snake chief, a man in whom I have great 
confidence, was assigned to the excavation of a series of rooms at the 
highest point of the ruin, previously referred to as the acropolis (figure 
262). Although his work in these chambers did not yield such rich 
results as the others, so far as the number of objects was concerned, 
he sueceeded in uncovering a number of rooms to their floors, and 
unearthed many interesting objects of clay and stone. A brief descrip- 
tion of these excavations will show the nature of the work at that 
point. 
The acropolis, or highest point of Sikyatki, is a prominent rocky ele- 
vation at the western angle, and overlooks the entire ruin. On the side 
toward the western cemetery it rises quite abruptly, but the ascent is 
more gradual from the other sides. The surface of this elevation, on 
which the houses Stood, is of rock, and originally was as destitute of 
soil as the plaza of Walpi. This surface Supported a double series 
of rooms, and the highest point is a bare, rocky projection. 
From the rooms of the acropolis there was a series of chambers, 
probably terraced, sloping to the modern gardens now oceupying 
the old plaza, and the broken walls of these rooms still protrude from 
