168 ANTIQUITIES OF SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO _ [5TH. ANN. 38 
the ledge to the rock above. Behind the pillar, inclosed by the 
outer wall of the house on the left and by the front wall of room 11 
on the right, is a passage or entry which ends in a series of steps 
leading up to what was the level of the kiva roof. This and the 
space which is dotted in the plan constituted a plaza quite large 
and commodious in view of the small proportions of the building. 
It is probable that the roof of room 11 was part of the plaza also. 
The open side of the court is flanked by a parapet 24 feet high. 
From the plaza a T-shaped doorway leads into room 1, which, 
being in as perfect a state of preservation as any room in the Mesa 
Verde, is worthy of description. Its inner dimensions are, parallel 
to the cliff, 5 feet 6 inches by 6 feet 6 inches in the opposite direc- 
tion. The height to the ceiling is 5 feet 7 inches. The walls bear 
successive coats of brown plaster, a new coat having been added, 
seemingly, when the one beneath became covered with soot and dirt. 
The roof is supported by two comparatively heavy beams, which 
run the long way of the room and are set into the walls. Upon 
these at right angles rest four smaller poles, which are covered by 
a layer of closely placed split sticks. and above them is a layer of 
indurated mud. 
In the southeast corner is a fire pit 18 inches in diameter. There 
is a smoke hole in the roof immediately above it, and the walls in 
that corner are black with smoke. Upon the roof is a flat slab, 
which was used to close the opening when there was no fire on the 
hearth. ¥ 
In the south wall 1 foot 9 inches from the west wall and 2 feet 10 
inches above the floor is a neatly plastered niche 34 inches in di- 
ameter and 4 inches deep. In the southwest’ corner near the top 
of the south wall is a somewhat larger niche, and there is still an- 
other in the north wall 1 foot 7 inches from the northeast corner 
and 1 foot 6 inches up from the floor. 
In the northeast corner a small osier eyelet protruded from the 
wall through which was looped a long strand of yucca cord. Upon 
the floor were two bone needles. 
Between the rear wall of room 7 and the cliff were the remains 
of a burial, which had been disturbed by some agency. A few frag- 
ments of matting were with the bones. Rooms 8 and 9 contained 
grinding stones, fragments of pottery, bits of string, and a few 
bone implements. Room 11 seems to have been the kitchen. Upon 
the floor were three sets of millstones, and against the west wall 
were the remains of at least five coil-ware cooking pots, one of which 
is shown restored in plate 38, 6. In the rubbish were the fragments 
of a baking slab. 
