58 



SMITHSONIAN- .M ISCELLANEOl'S COLLECTIONS 



VOL. yi 



on the Mesa \'er<le the}' are (juite ditlerent from tlie puehlos now- 

 inhabited. A logical interpretation of the geographical distributicjn 

 of ruins with kivas like those of S(iuare Tower House would not be 

 that the knowledge of stone masonry was introduced from Mexico, 

 but that the craft was acquired after the original inhal)itants entered 

 the country, and that the pure pueblo type, or that with kivas like 

 those of Square Tower House, was born, cradled, and reached its 

 highest development in the area where it was found. But we may 







\ V "-i" -H "^^W-^^- ---v'i.-J^;' -^^^ 



rr 



Fig. 58. — Wall of Earth LodRe A. showing adobe plasterint- on earth ; the 

 hori/contal Io.l; is a roof beam. Photograph l)y T. G. I.emmon. 



take another step, and ])oint out that the prototy])e of these pre- 

 historic kivas has a morphological likeness to " earth lodges." 



The discovery of Earth Lodge A in this area by my assistant. 

 Mr. Ralph Linton, was important, considering the light it may 

 throw on the genesis of clifif dwellings. This ancient ])rototype (fig. 

 58) of a kiva is a semicircular isolated room with a slightly depressed 

 floor in which is a centrally placed firepit, the stirrounding walls 

 being either adobe plastered on the earth or molded into clum])S 

 shaped like rolls. In this rude sunken wall were set at an angle 

 posts, now charred at the free ends, all that remains of the supports 

 of roof and sides. 



