HOLMES ANNIVERSARY VOLUME 



the walls of which are made of adobe supported by upright posts 

 interwoven with sticks or withes. 



The masonry of this ruin, as a rule, has the defect characteristic 

 of other Mesa Verde cliff-houses, namely, the joints of the stonework 

 are rarely "broken" and the corners are seldom bonded. One or two 

 walls compare favorably with the best of those within the limits of 

 the Park, but generally the surface of the wall is so concealed by 

 plastering that it is difficult to judge accurately of its character. The 

 windows and doorways, in one or two instances, present masonry as 

 good as any known in prehistoric pueblos, as for instance the T-shaped 

 window in the second story of one of the highest halls. 



KIVAS 



When the excavations were commenced there were indications of 

 at least six kivas in Oak-tree House, four of which, situated under the 

 cave roof, were in a fairly good state of preservation, the remaining 

 two — one at the eastern and the other at the western end — having 

 been so exposed to the elements that they were almost completely 

 destroyed. Three of the well-preserved kivas belong to the vaulted- 

 roof type in Cliff Palace and Spruce-tree House; the exceptional form 

 in the fourth (D) belongs to the second type and shows certain dif- 

 ferences, mainly in shape, from that of any known kiva. Formerly 

 there may have been similar kivas, now covered by fallen walls 

 and stones that had dropped from the roof of the cave, but if they 

 existed it is now impossible to determine their character or form. 

 Although, with an exception of Kiva A, kiva roof-timbers are no 

 longer in place, it was found on excavation that the pilasters and 

 banquettes are well preserved, and in several instances one or two 

 of the logs that formerly supported the roof were found in the kiva 

 chamber. The four best-preserved kivas lie midway of the length of 

 the ruin and well to the front of the cave, and are backed by secular 

 rooms, from which they are separated by sections of the courts, the 

 level of the plaza floor being the same as the former roof of the kiva. 

 The court at the eastern end has three or four metatakis, or grinding 

 bins with metates, formed of slabs of stone set on edge in the floor. 

 The western court is separated from the top of Kiva C by a low wall 

 that girts a slightly elevated platform. Between the most westerly 

 of the rocks that have fallen from the roof and the rear of the cave is 

 an open space in which are four grinding stones. 



Kiva A. — Kiva A is situated near the eastern end of Oak-tree 

 House, and is one of the best preserved in the whole ruin. Its walls 

 are little broken down, and the floor was found to be in excellent con- 



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