90 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANKOUS COLLFXTIONS VOL. 'J2 



use of this sanctuary. Dr. Fewkes has called the ruin (tig. 98) situ- 

 ated in these caves the Fire Temple House and supposes it was the 

 habitation of the fire priests and their families. The rooms in the 

 lov^rer cave were fitted for habitation, and it had two, possibly three, 

 circular ceremonial rooms ; but the upper cave ( fig. 99) is destitute of 

 kivas. The large rooms of the upper house (fig. looa) may have 

 been granaries for storage of provisions, although possibly some of 

 its rooms were inhabited. In the rear of the large rooms identified 

 as granaries was found a small room with a well-preserved human 

 skeleton accompanied with mortuary pottery. One of these mortuarv 

 ofiferings is a fine mug made of Ijlack and white ware beautifully dec- 

 orated ; a specimen worth}- of exhibition with the best in any mu- 

 seum. l\\ the rear of the cave were three fine grinding l)ins ( fig. 102 ) , 

 with metates still in place. 



The upper house is now approached from the lower by foot-holes 

 in the clifif and a ladder shown in. the illustration, h^vidences of 

 a secondary occupation of kivas in the lower house appear in double 

 walls and those of crude masonr\' without mortar, forming a rec- 

 tangular room built diagonalh' across the room. The plastering on 

 the rear walls of the lower house is particularly well preserved, but 

 there are very few rooms in addition to the kivas. C)ne of the kivas 

 has in place of a deflector and ventilator shaft a small rectangular 

 trench enclosed by a well-made wall, as in Sun Temple. 



Work was done on the large clifl-' ruin, ( )ak Tree House ( fig. 103), 

 on the trail an eighth of a mile east of Fire Temple Group. Three 

 new kivas were excavated to their floors and the walls repaired, add- 

 ing to the four already known. No signs of these buried kivas were 

 visible when work began. All these kivas show fine masonry; after 

 ihe most easterly had been used as a sanctuary for a time it was 

 aijandoned and five well-preserved grinding bins were set in the floor 

 so as almost to conceal it. The u]:)right slabs of stone and metates of 

 these structures were reset, showing fine exam]iles of these ]:)rehistoric 

 mills. Many other novel features were brought to light in the exca- 

 vation of Oak Tree House, which may be regarded as one of the 

 most instructive ruins of the park. ( )ne of the exceptional feattires 

 of Oak Tree Hotise is a fragment of a circular wall in the rear of the 

 cave, made of willow and other sticks set in mortar, like what is called 

 " .stick and adobe " construction in other regions. 



The ground plan of one of the kivas is semicircular and shows a 

 rectangular room on the straight side communicating with the cham- 

 ber l)y means of two j)assageways. The ventilator opens directl\ into 

 this room, whose function is unknown. 



