At one time,
when the ceremonial observances of the Zu?i took place in secret for
fear of incurring the wrath of the Spanish priests, the original kivas
must have been wholly abandoned, and though at the present time some of
the kivas of Zu?i occupy marginal positions in the cell clusters, just
as in many ancient examples, it is doubtful whether these rooms
faithfully represent the original type of kiva. There seems to be but
little structural evidence to distinguish the present kivas from
ordinary large Zu?i rooms beyond the special character of the fireplace
and of the entrance trap door, features which will be fully described
later. At Tusayan, on the other hand, we find a distinct and
characteristic structural plan of the kiva, as well as many special
constructive devices. Although the position of the ceremonial room is
here exceptional in its entire separation from the dwelling, this is due
to clearly traceable influences in the immediate orograpic environment,
and the wholly subterranean arrangement of most of the kivas in this
group is also due to the same local causes.
[Illustration: Plate LII. K'iakima, plan.]
_Excavation of the kiva._--The tendency to depress or partly excavate
the ceremonial chamber existed in Zu?i, as in all the ancient pueblo
buildings which have been examined; but the solid rock of the mesa tops
in Tusayan did not admit of the necessary excavation, and the
persistence of this requirement, which, as I shall elsewhere show, has
an important connection with the early types of pueblo building,
compelled the occupants of these rocky sites to locate their kivas at
points where depressions already existed.
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