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MINDELEFF. | KIVA BUILDING. 121 
Short timbers are placed across the top of the hatchway wall, one 
end of which is raised higher than the other, so as to form a slope, and 
upon these timbers stone slabs are closely laid for a cover. (See PI. 
LXXXVIIL.) Anopen space, usually about 2 by 44 feet, is preserved, and 
this is the only outlet in the structure, serving at once as doorway, 
window, and chimney. 
The roof being finished, a floor of stone flags is laid; but this is never 
in a continuous level, for at one end it is raised as a platform some 10 
or 12 inches high, extending for about a third of the length of the kiva 
and terminating in an abrupt step just before coming under the hatch- 
way, as illustrated in the ground plan of the mungkiva of Shupaulovi 
(Fig. 22, and also in Figs. 25 and 27). On the edge of the platform 
rests the foot of a long ladder, which leans against the higher side of 
the hatchway, and its tapering ends project 10 or 12 feet in the air. 
Upon this platform the women and other visitors sit when admitted to 
witness any of the ceremonies observed in the kiva. The main floor in 
a few of the kivas is composed of roughly hewn planks, but this is a 
comparatively recent innovation, and is not generally deemed desirable, 
as the movement of the dancers on the wooden floor shakes the fetiches 
out of position. 
On the lower or main floor a shallow pit of varying dimensions, but 
usually about a foot square, is made for a fireplace, and is located 
immediately under the opening in the hatchway. The intention in 
raising the hatchway above the level of the roof and in elevating the 
ceiling in the middle is to prevent the fire from igniting them. The 
ordinary fuel used in the kiva is greasewood, and there are always several 
bundles of the shrub in its green state suspended on pegs driven in the 
wall of the hatchway directly over the fire. This shrub, when green, 
smolders and emits a dense, pungent smoke, but when perfectly dry, 
burns with a bright, sparkling flame. 
Across the end of the kiva on the main floor a ledge of masonry is 
built, usually about 2 feet high and 1 foot wide, which serves as a shelf 
for the display of fetiches and other paraphernalia during stated observ- 
ances (see Fig. 22). A small, niche-like aperture is made in the middle 
of this ledge, and is called the katchin kihu (katchina house). During 
a festival certain masks are placed in it when not in use by the dancers. 
Some of the kivas have low ledges built along one or both sides for use 
as seats, and some have none, but all except two or three have the ledge 
at the end containing the katchina house. 
In the main floor of the kiva there is a cavity about a foot deep and 
8 or 10 inches across, which is usually covered with a short, thick slab 
of cottonwood, whose upper surface is level with the floor. Through the 
middle of this short plank and immediately over the cavity a hole of 2 or 
24 inches in diameter is bored. This hole is tapered, and is accurately 
fitted with a movable wooden plug, the top of which is flush with the 
surface of the plank. The plank and cavity usually occupy a position 
