(See Pl.
LXXXVII.) An open space, usually about 2 by 4? feet, is preserved, and
this is the only outlet in the structure, serving at once as doorway,
window, and chimney.
The roof being finished, a floor of stone flags is laid; but this is
never in a continuous level, for at one end it is raised as a platform
some 10 or 12 inches high, extending for about a third of the length of
the kiva and terminating in an abrupt step just before coming under the
hatchway, as illustrated in the ground plan of the mungkiva of
Shupaulovi (Fig. 22, and also in Figs. 25 and 27). On the edge of the
platform rests the foot of a long ladder, which leans against the higher
side of the hatchway, and its tapering ends project 10 or 12 feet in the
air. Upon this platform the women and other visitors sit when admitted
to witness any of the ceremonies observed in the kiva. The main floor in
a few of the kivas is composed of roughly hewn planks, but this is a
comparatively recent innovation, and is not generally deemed desirable,
as the movement of the dancers on the wooden floor shakes the fetiches
out of position.
On the lower or main floor a shallow pit of varying dimensions, but
usually about a foot square, is made for a fireplace, and is located
immediately under the opening in the hatchway. The intention in raising
the hatchway above the level of the roof and in elevating the ceiling in
the middle is to prevent the fire from igniting them. The ordinary fuel
used in the kiva is greasewood, and there are always several bundles of
the shrub in its green state suspended on pegs driven in the wall of the
hatchway directly over the fire.
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