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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 72 



being 52 feet (15.85 m.) in diameter with a ceiling formerly 11 feet 

 (3.35 m.) high. The central portion of its flat roof was supported by 

 four masonry pillars each of which had a separate foundation of low 

 grade, soft coal. On the east and west sides of the chamber, between 

 the pillars, were built-in receptacles, probably for containing cere- 

 monial paraphernalia. A fire box with protective screen stood at the 



in,, iji. — A naive example of Bonitian engineering. In an obvious attempt 

 to hold up a huge section of cliff which threatened to topple upon their village, 

 the ancients placed pine props under the weathered section and covered these 

 with a great terraced mass of masonry. The north wall of Pueblo Bonito 

 stands at the left. ( Photograph by Charles Martin. Courtesy of the National 

 Geographic Society.) 



south side and, opposite this, a flight of narrow steps led to an elevated 

 room in which a central block of masonry represented the " altar." 



Excavation of the kivas and secular rooms in Pueblo Bonito is 

 contributing in large measure to our knowledge of the prehistoric 

 sedentary peoples of the Southwest. Chronological data from the 

 vast accumulations which comprise the adjacent refuse mounds is 

 expected to illustrate not only the character and extent of local cul- 

 tural development but to serve also as a medium of correlation between 

 the ancient Bonitians and other aboriginal peoples of the south- 



