It is probable that the accidental occurrence of a suitable
break or depression in the mesa top determined the position of this kiva
at an early date and that the first buildings clustered about this
point.
[Illustration: Fig. 8. Topography of the site of Walpi.]
A unique feature in this kiva is its connection with a second
subterranean chamber, reached from the kiva through an ordinary doorway.
The depression used for the kiva site must have been either larger than
was needed or of such form that it could not be thrown into one
rectangular chamber. It was impossible to ascertain the form of this
second room, as the writer was not permitted to approach the connecting
doorway, which was closed with a slab of cottonwood. This chamber, used
as a receptacle for religious paraphernalia, was said to connect with an
upper room within the cluster of dwellings close by, but this could not
be verified at the time of our visit. The plan indicates that such an
adjoining chamber, if of average size, could easily extend partly under
the dwellings on either the west or south side of the court. The rocky
mesa summit is quite irregular in this vicinity, with rather an abrupt
ascent to the passageway on the south as shown in Pl. XXII. Southeast
from the kiva there is a large mass of rocks projecting above the
general level, which has been incorporated into a cluster of dwelling
rooms. Its character and relation to the architecture may be seen in Pl.
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