One or both of the holes located behind the hearth was probably a sipapu, an important spiritual symbol still found in this position in modern Pueblo ceremonial rooms. Pueblo tales relate that the ancestors originated in the spirit world beneath the earth. Aided by spirits and culture heroes, the ancestors climbed through an opening linking the world below with this one and settled on the lands the gods had prepared for them. The sipapu symbolized this event and the place of emergence. Its presence in the pithouse suggests that the family conducted some religious ceremonies at home.
Early Anasazi peoples lived in semi-subterranean homes called “pithouses.”
The reconstruction (top) is based on the position of support post holes and other features on the floor plan (bottom).
Near the far wall of the house, archeologists found a large pit containing stones piled on a bed of sand. This was probably a heating pit. In the evening, stones would be heated in the hearth, then placed on the sand. They would radiate heat for several hours, warming the air near the floor where the people slept.
This small room is called an antechamber. It probably was used as a storage area and also as a passageway to and from the outside. At some point, this room was converted into another living area and equipped with a firepit, sipapu and antechamber of its own. The pithouse became a “duplex” housing two families, an unusual arrangement.
Turkey Vulture
Common Raven