STOP #5
This large underground room was a great kiva or ceremonial chamber. Here, perhaps, people from this community and others nearby gathered for rituals marking events important in the lives of all, such as planting and harvest.
In this kiva, you will recognize a familiar combination of pithouse features: central hearth, bench, and postholes. Through time, the pithouse was devoted more and more to religious activities.
The history of this kiva can be read in the stratigraphy, or layers of colored soil, preserved in the earth opposite this stop. When the pit was dug, the soil was piled around the rim. At some point, fire destroyed part of the kiva roof. The rest was taken apart, the beams probably used elsewhere, and the kiva abandoned. Gradually the soil washed back over the rim and into the ruined structure. After a few feet of dirt had accumulated, people built fires in this area, leaving the dark charcoal stains. Finally the people filled the rest of the kiva with earth and trash and built houses on the fill.
