182 THE CLIFF RUINS OF CANYON DE CHELLY _ [ztH. ayy. 16 
between the outer rectangular and inner circular wall was filled in solid, 
or perhaps was so constructed, but usually the walls are separate and 
distinct. 
CHIMNEY-LIKE STRUCTURES 
There are peculiar structures found in some of the ruins, whose use 
and object are not clear. Reference has already been made to them in 
the descriptions of several ruins, and for want of a better name they 
have been designated chimney-like structures. At the time that they 
were examinetl they were supposed to be new, and the first hypothesis 
formed was that they were abortive chimneys, but further examination 
showed that this idea was not tenable. Subsequently Nordenskiéld’s 
book on the Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde was published, and it 
Bc ETE 5 ist Ce appears therefrom that this 
5 ig eel feature is very common in the 
(leeeeeal J region treated; so common as 
to constitute the type. 
Figure 78 is a plan of one of 
these structures which occurs 
in ruin No. 15 in Canyon de 
Chelly. This ruin has already 
been described in detail (page 
118). The chimney-like struc- 
ture is attached to a rectangu- 
lar room with rounded corners, 
which is supposed to have been 
a kiva, and which was two 
stories high. Excavation re- 
vealed the floor level about 74 
feet below where the roof was 
placed. In the center of the 
, south wall there is an opening 
WRK 1.5 feet high and eighty-five 
WS one-hundredths of a foot (10.2 
Fig. 78—Plan of chimney-like structure in ruin No. 15. inches) wide. The south wallis 
built over a large bowlder, and a tunnel or opening passes under this 
to a rounded vertical shaft, about a foot in diameter, which opens to 
the air. This perhaps is better shown in the section (figure 79). At 
first sight this would appear to be a chimney, but there are several 
objections to the idea. The interior of the shaft is not blackened by 
smoke, and while the tunnel is somewhat smoke-stained, the deposit is 
not so pronounced as on the walls of the room. The front of the tunnel 
in the room has a lintel composed of a single stick about an inch in 
diameter, as shown in the section. The roof of the tunnel was the 
underside of the large bowlder mentioned, and the stick lintel was of 
no use except to show that no fire could have been built under it. The 



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