University of Virginia Library

SUPER KIVAS

Our two super-kivas, A and Q, are Late Bonitian creations and
so, too, is their predecessor the remnants of which we found unexpectedly
in 1925 12 feet under the West Court (fig. 7). In neither
of the three structures did I see the slightest evidence of Old Bonitian
participation. All are Pueblo III exclusively. Kiva A is younger
than Q; it is, as a matter of fact, one of the last major construction
projects undertaken by the Late Bonitians. If, in this presentation,
I omit consideration of other Great Kivas, let it be remembered that
this is a study of Pueblo Bonito architecture only and not a compendium
of southwestern archeology.

GREAT KIVA A

Kiva A, central and most conspicuous feature of Pueblo Bonito,
was excavated by the National Geographic Society in the summer
of 1921. Contrary to published statements (Hewett, 1922, p. 125;
et al.) the Hyde Expeditions of 1896-1899 did not excavate Kiva A
but did clear the peripheral rooms overlooking the chamber from
north and south. We saw no evidence of pre-1921 shovelwork within
the kiva walls other than a trench that had bared 5 feet of west-side
masonry.

In 1921 the Kiva A depression contained approximately 4 feet of
sand and silt blown and washed in from all sides. Greasewood 4 to 5
feet high had taken root upon this fill (NGS Negs. 3018B; 7641A);
fallen stonework had banked up against the encircling wall and from
this pile we gathered the larger stones for future repairs (pl. 71,
upper). Excavation was monotonous pick-and-shovel work; teams
and scrapers removed the overturned earth.

The masonry of Kiva A is chiefly of laminate sandstone with
intermittent banding and a noticeable lack of the softer, friable
sandstone so abundant in Chaco Canyon. The highest intact masonry,
at the west, stood 11 feet 5 inches above the floor. It was here, in
this highest surviving section, that we noted three partially decayed
3-inch poles, presumably pine, embedded side by side in the stonework
at a height of 9 feet 7 inches and burned off just within the wall
facing. I assumed they represented the outer edge of the ceiling—the

last vestige of the original roof—so took care to replace them in
exactly the same position during 1921 repair work.

Kiva A was designed with surprising precision. We measured its
floor diameter at 45 feet 1 inch; 3 feet higher, at 51 feet 10 inches
north-south and 52 feet 1 inch east-west. The floor was ringed by
three encircling benches that vary in width and height and merge at
irregular intervals. Trowel tests here and there showed that the upper
bench had been built against the kiva wall, the second against the
upper and the third, without foundation, against the second. As a
means of convenient recording, I labeled the three, a, b, and c—the
lower, middle, and upper—and measured width and height at 14
stations, clockwise from the east side of the north stairway. For such
information as they may convey, I repeat six of the readings herewith:

         

	12 o'clock		3 o'clock		6 o'clock
	w	h	w	h	w	h
c	12″	7″	13″	7″	13″	8″
a	11″	10″	13″	26″	10″	12″
b	15″	17″	17″	5″	17″	2″

       

	8 o'clock		9:30 o'clock		11:50 o'clock
	w	h	w	h	w	h
b	20″	27″	42″	34″	21″	24″
c	21″	10″			20″	14″

Total width and height at the 14 stations average 40½ inches and 34 inches,
respectively.

As will be seen from the floor plan (fig. 16), the three Kiva A
benches differ but little in width until about 6:45 where b narrows
to 7 inches and then merges with a. From a little past 9 o'clock until
about 10:20 the three unite into a single bench 42 inches wide by 34
high. In the face of this combination, 21 inches above the kiva floor
are two small niches approximately 5 inches square and 8 inches deep.
Both were open and empty.

Around the main wall at an average 32 inches above the upper
bench are 34 larger recesses, likewise open and empty. They approximate
9 inches square by 10 inches deep, and each is capped by
a sandstone slab. Between and below them in the east half of the
chamber are five smaller niches, 4 of them at an average height of 19
inches and the fifth at 40½. All are empty; none plastered. Comparable
recesses may have been present in portions of the wall now
fallen.

At the north where a recessed stairway 25 inches wide affords
access to the so-called "altar room," 148, our encircling benches
again separate, two on the west side, three on the east. On the upper
(c) a 4-inch-high step with a 15-inch tread provides a sort of "landing"

for the flight of seven steps as they rise 6½ feet to the Room 148
floor level (pl. 72, lower). Six of the steps are masonry and average
9 inches high by 6½ inches deep. Three cedar poles about 1½ inches
in diameter lay lengthwise upon the front half of the lower step; three
like poles embedded in the stairway jambs at the level of and in front

Plate 62

Upper: The remains of an older kiva appeared beneath the floor of Kiva D and a subfloor
passage to Room 241B (under ladder).

Lower: Squared pilaster timbers in Kiva D had been burned with their ceiling poles but the
subfloor vault and ventilator survived.

(Photographs by O. C. Havens, 1921.)

Plate 63

Upper: Behind the cribwork in Kiva B were hand-hewn planks packed with bunchgrass.

Lower: Dwellings crowding Kiva B from the south turned its ventilator duct east to the
air intake.

(Photographs by O. C. Havens, 1921.)

Plate 64

Upper: Kiva 2-D was provided with an under-floor ventilator, a built-in air shaft at the north,
and wide banquettes, east and west.

(Photograph by Neil M. Judd, 1926.)

Lower: Rooms 350 and 351 (right) were unexpected West Court discoveries.

(Photograph by O. C. Havens, 1925.)

Kiva E, restored, in foreground; Kiva J, with excavations in progress, beyond.

Plate 65

Beneath the floor of Kiva J was a D-shaped kiva, partly razed, with no bench and no
pilasters.

(Photographs by Neil M. Judd, 1922.)

Plate 66

Left: In Kiva 59
a broad south recess
rose ceiling
high with shallow
niches at either
side.

(Photograph by
O. C. Havens,
1924.)

Right: NonChaco
Kiva 2-E,
at the southeast
corner of the East
Court, was equipped
with a Chaco-like
under-floor ventilator.

(Photograph by
Neil M. Judd,
1923.)

Kiva X, foreign to Chaco Canyon, possessed unusual pilasters 30 inches high and a
lateral ventilator.

Plate 67

A Kiva T pilaster with four 2-inch timbers instead of a single log.

(Photographs by O. C. Havens, 1924.)

Plate 68

Left: Later
stonework (left 2thirds)
abutted the
original secondtype
masonry of
Kiva G, to correcting
an irregularity.

(Photograph by
Neil M. Judd,
1922.)

Right: Kiva X
pilasters, 31 inches
high, were unique
with their plastered
sides, 2 embedded
logs, one above the
other, and no setback.

(Photograph by
O. C. Havens,
1924.)

Plate 69

Upper: Pilasters 2 and 3 (left), Kiva G, with bench posts and third-type-masonry repairs.
Second-type north wall of Room 62, upper middle.

(Photograph by Neil M. Judd, 1922.)

Lower: Fireplace, ventilator, and south bench recess of Kiva R with Pilasters 1 to 3 beyond and
ceiling pole offset at upper left.

(Photograph by O. C. Havens, 1924.)

of the remaining five masonry steps increased their tread to about 11
inches. Three poles only, without accompanying masonry, divided
the 21 inches between the sixth step and the floor of 148 (fig. 16a).
These cedar foretreads had all rotted, but their positions were clearly
indicated and we replaced each one.

The "altar" in 1921 measured 4 feet 5 inches long, 11½ inches wide,
and 13 inches high. It was of masonry and presumably was formerly
plastered. It stands a bit off center in 148 and not quite parallel
with the north side.

The enormous roof of Kiva A had rested upon four masonry
pillars. That at the southwest, best preserved of the four, measured
8 feet 9 inches on the north, 5½ feet on the east, 7 feet 8 inches on
the south, and 5 feet 7 inches on the west. In thickness the four
sides varied from 14 inches on the south and west to 22 inches on
the east. They were finished on the outside and the space within
was filled with a rubblework strengthened by close-lying cedar poles
that extended through from one exterior to the other. These poles
were in alternating layers about 9 inches apart, north-south, east-west.

At floor level the east side of this composite pillar overhung by
4 inches a cylindrical base of rough stonework built in a dug hole
4 feet 3 inches deep, the space between pillar and bank being filled
with shale chips. Opposite, under the northwest corner, we came
upon the exposed portion of a large stone incorporated in the foundation.
It was 7½ inches thick, its edge had been rounded by battering,
it may have been 2½ feet in diameter. I did not explore further
because it seemed to me the knowledge to be gained could not justify
destruction of the overlying masonry and that of the vault adjoining.
South of this stone and a foot above the kiva floor a casual wedge of
mud and rock joined pillar and the lower bench.

The other three pillars differed from that at the southwest in overall
dimensions but were otherwise very much alike. Each was quadrangular
and stood upon a cylindrical foundation of coarse stonework
built in a hole 3 to 4 feet deep and packed about with shale chips.
Like that at the southwest, the southeast pillar was reënforced with
cedar poles in alternating layers and its foundation, only 34 inches
high, came to within 3 inches of the floor; its near corner rose 28
inches from the lower (a) bench. The two northern columns both
evidenced reconstruction; both stood above the remains of earlier
structures; both had finally collapsed into low piles of clay and rock.

Based on personal notes and on photographs made by the Museum
of New Mexico shortly after excavation of Great Kiva A, Gordon

Vivian (1960, pp. 67-70) doubts the presence of shale under the four
local columns because he saw none and he states that the southeast
pillar (identified by his figure 31) had been rebuilt since excavation
to provide a circular timber socket. The Pueblo Bonito Expeditions
began and concluded their study of Kiva A as part of the 1921
program and the reported pillar alteration could only have been accomplished
some time later. The southeast pillar, like that at the
southwest, had been braced by crossed poles and those still present,
however decayed, were left as we found them (pl. 74, upper).

Shale, occurring with low-grade subbituminous coal that sometimes
approaches lignite in quality, is a product of the Menefee formation
which underlies Chaco Canyon's Cliff House sandstone (Bryan, 1954,
p. 4; Shaler, 1907). It was lavishly employed at Pueblo Bonito both
as a wall packing about pilasters and elsewhere and as an under-floor
spread but was never, to my knowledge, used as a fuel in the manner
of the prehistoric Hopi (Colton, 1936; Hack, 1942).

Sunken, masonry-lined vaults of unknown purpose abutted the
north side of the two southern pillars. That adjoining the southwest
column although reduced to an average height of 12 inches on the
east side and 22 on the west—the number of dislodged stones did not
indicate any appreciable increase—appeared continuous with the pillar
masonry as though built at the same time (fig. 16). Originally
plastered and measuring 9 feet 5 inches long, 50½ inches wide, and
30 inches deep, this vault was subsequently reduced to 6 feet 4 inches
long by 33 inches when abutting masonry was introduced at the north
end, the remainder filled with clean sand covered with flagstones,
and new masonry built upon the slabs (pl. 71, lower).

Apparently the sides of that southwest vault formerly continued
north to enclose a companion but this latter had been razed and
replaced by a third vault on a floor 8 inches higher. Lying across
the doubled masonry between the older vault and its replacement was
a sandstone slab 1½ inches thick, 24 inches wide, and 33½ inches long
with two corners missing.

Comparable vaults with varying floor levels occupied the space
between the southeast pillar and that at the northeast. This latter,
like its opposite at the northwest, had been repaired once or twice
but finally was reduced to a low square standing upon its foundation
of rough stonework. In this instance the foundation had been built
in a hole 4 feet deep the diameter of which was a foot greater than
that of the foundation itself thus leaving a 6-inch space all around
that was filled with loose shale to within 10 inches of the kiva floor.

A test pit at this point (pl. 73, right) disclosed remnants of two
earlier kivas with floors at depths of 23 and 39 inches.

A second limited test farther along the east wall, at about 4 o'clock,
showed the lower bench (a) averaging 12 inches in height with no
foundation. Its lower 3 inches were abutted by constructional debris
and above that were no less than 17 successive adobe surfaces or
compacted sand layers, each ash-darkened and thickest next the
bench as though piled there by circulating air currents. Farther removed,
less dubious floors appeared 5, 11, 14, and 15¾ inches above
the original work surface.

The southeast vault apparently was built on the first of these
surfaces, that at 5 inches, while its northward extension was built on
the ninth at 14 inches (pl. 74, upper). An 8-inch post formerly stood
near the north end of this addition and just around the corner, underlying
the masonry, was part of a thick stone, its edge rounded by
pecking as was that beneath the outer corner of the southwest pillar.
A foot or more of blown sand, chunks of burned roof adobe, and
scattered pieces of charred wood crossed the vault and sloped thence
to the top of the middle bench (b). Above it, water-washed sand
and clay and fallen masonry sloped up to East Court level.

The southeast pillar foundation stood upon a silt surface in a
hole 34 inches deep and was packed all around with shale fragments.
On that same silt surface and underlying the lower bench was a
20-inch layer of household sweepings mixed with debris of demolition.
From this mixture we recovered a number of McElmo
Black-on-white potsherds, proto-Mesa Verde, and Little Colorado
Polychrome—fragments that readily identify Kiva A as of late construction.
Clean sand was encountered at 5 feet 10 inches.

Midway between this southeast pillar and that opposite, the southwest,
stood a raised masonry fireplace 23 inches high and a little
more than 5 feet square. Its outer corners were rounded; its basin
was clay-lined, burned, and ash-filled. There was a draft deflector,
or fire screen, 3½ feet to the south—a screen consisting of wattlework
5 feet 2 inches long, height unknown, supported by five posts and
with a 28-inch long adobe extension subsequently added at the east
end. Not quite parallel with the fireplace and not quite aligned with
the pillars on either side, this screen had been built on the fifth floor
level, about 8 inches above the bottom of the fireplace—a fact evidencing
its late installation (fig. 16).

In the open space fronting the fireplace, various test pits revealed
formerly occupied surfaces and portions of wall masonry. On a

Fig. 22.—Kiva R with cross section, A-A′, showing relationship of its
predecessors.

floor at depth of 20 inches and partly underlying the west side of
the southeast vault was a fireplace measuring 16 by 28 inches and
14 inches deep. A couple feet west of this but on an ill-defined surface
3 feet deeper, we encountered parallel walls of third-type
masonry 22 inches apart and about 29 inches high, one 17 inches
thick and the other 20. Still another wall fragment, 18 inches high,
its broken end abutted by the foundation under the southeast pillar,
extended thence west beneath the Kiva A fireplace on a floor at
depth of 30 inches.

Beyond these under-floor features, and there were others, our
attention was diverted momentarily by apparent rodent burrowings,
varying in size but all filled with soft, ashy earth. At the northwest
the hole prepared for the pillar foundation had cut through the arc
of a partially razed earlier kiva, its floor at depth of 23 inches. Outside
that arc and on a well-marked surface 8 inches deeper, we encountered
an intentional dump of constructional debris. Through it a vertically
cut bank, the marks of digging sticks still plain upon it, curved
back under the doubled bench as though prepared for a larger kiva
that was never built.

All that remained of the Kiva A roof in 1921 was a pair of decayed
logs lying lengthwise upon the east vaults. To bridge the distance
from one pillar to the other those logs must have been at least
30 feet long. Presumably they were paralleled by a second pair on
the west side; presumably shorter pairs spanned the shorter distance
at each end of the long logs; presumably lesser timbers covered the
middle ceiling from east to west while others reached out from the
paired beams to the surrounding wall and there were firmly seated
in the upper stonework, as in Kiva L and others of its kind.

I assume the 3-inch poles embedded side by side in the west-wall
masonry 9 feet 7 inches above the Kiva A floor were among such
lesser, bordering timbers and that their opposite ends rested upon
the paired beams. If those paired beams were each 12 inches in
diameter their supporting pillars must have stood at least 8 feet high
to allow for a 9½ foot ceiling. It sems incredible that 4 mud-andsandstone
columns 8 feet high, even when strengthened by crossed
poles, could support the enormous weight of a roof 45 feet across
and a foot or more in thickness. But there is no alternative. We saw
only one possible ceiling prop, the butt of an 8-inch post near the
northeast corner of the east vault.

This matter of weight and ceiling height introduces the question of
the relationship between Kiva A and its peripheral rooms, three on

the north side and five on the south. All eight had been cleared by
the Hyde Expeditions prior to 1900 and we have no contemporary
data regarding the operation. All were of relatively late construction.
Each room overlies the remains of earlier structures; each appears
to have been a sacrifice to religious necessity; each was a 3-walled
room. In no instance did I see positive evidence of a fourth wall
upon the kiva stonework.

Only in Room 148 was there the possibility of such a fourth
side—a remnant now 14 inches high where it abuts the east-wall
foundation and is floored over from there to the top of the stairway
and the broken edge of the kiva masonry. Opposite at its west end,
that possible south-wall remnant is covered by 3 inches of adobe
pavement; an earlier floor at depth of 25 inches had been cut through
apparently when the kiva was built, and the ends of two 5-inch logs
lie embedded in the kiva stonework. So far as I could judge, and
against my better judgment, Room 148 had opened directly into
Kiva A.

Of the eight peripheral rooms only one, 318, was provided with a
fireplace; only two, 317 and 318, were connected by an open doorway.
All other doors, inside and out, had been blocked with building
stones.

Just beyond the north end of Room 150 and a foot above its floor
an 8-foot-long concavity in the abutting East Court masonry evidences
construction of the latter against a previously standing convex
curve. Opposite, on the west side of Kiva A, wall masonry in
1921 measured 11 feet 5 inches high. If that masonry formerly rose
to ceiling level of Rooms 144 and 146 the bordering West Court wall
would have been continuous throughout and would have stood approximately
7 feet above my estimated roof level of Kiva A (Judd,
1922a, p. 116). And such height on one side would normally require
a compensating height on the other.

Nowhere in my 1921 notes do I find any fact to justify the thought
that walls 16 to 18 feet high once enclosed Great Kiva A. With the
possible exception of 148, the peripheral rooms apparently stood open
and unroofed. Despite the bulk of excavation waste thrown from
them into the kiva and partially represented by the piles of stone we
salvaged for repair work (pl. 71, upper), I doubt that the kiva wall
ever stood more than 2 or 3 feet above floor level of those rooms.

Room 148 is the exception. Architecturally, it remains enigmatic,
unsolvable. Its floor lies 8 feet 3 inches above that of Kiva A, 16
inches below the Kiva A ceiling as represented by the 3 roofing poles

embedded in the west masonry. Either the sacred rites performed
within 148 were exposed to all passersby, which would be most unlikely,
or the Kiva A roof rose 18 feet to roof level of Room 148,
equally unlikely. A roof sloping, say, from the north beams in Kiva A
to roof edge in Room 148 would be architecturally unthinkable any
where in the Pueblo country.

From what we found, I believe Great Kiva A was deliberately
demolished and its roofing timbers withdrawn for use elsewhere.
Hence the broken wall all around and the broken flooring adjoining
in each peripheral room. The data in hand do not evidence destruction
by fire. Neither before nor after abandonment was Kiva A
utilized as a repository for neighborhood rubbish. It was not a dump.
Besides the usual assortment of lost beads, paint stones, arrowpoints,
and curious minerals, we recovered during excavation only 1,830 miscellaneous
potsherds and only one piece of stone worthy of note.
Without protest on my part, our enthusiastic Zuñi masons during
1924 repairs to the bordering West Court wall installed a Kiva A building
block incised with a running zigzag.

From this recital, however inconclusive, the informed archeologist
will have noted many striking similarities to the Great Kiva at Aztec
Ruin, excavated and convincingly described by the late Earl H.
Morris (1921).

GREAT KIVA Q

Kiva Q, our second Great Kiva at Pueblo Bonito, is older than
Kiva A and less complicated. It had 4 large pine posts rather than
masonry columns as roof supports. It had a single bench rather than
three encircling the floor at base of wall. There are no peripheral
rooms. Kiva Q lacks the numerous wall niches of Kiva A and the
recessed stairway to a north "altar room." But, unlike A, it has a
south alcove, or possible entrance-way, from which steps led to court
level and it had a midfloor repository that might reasonably be considered
a sipapu. This second Great Kiva is in the pattern of superkivas
elsewhere but it has its own unique features (fig. 17).

The masonry of Kiva Q does not fit into our local scheme. It is
predominantly of laminate sandstone with infrequent blocks dressed
by pecking or rubbing. It is neither our second- nor our third-type
but seems more closely related to the latter. Measured at time of
excavation the floor averaged 40 feet in diameter and was encircled
by a bench that varied considerably both in width and height but
averaged 25 by 23 inches. Above-bench masonry, 38 inches thick,

stood 9 feet 7 inches high at the north side, 8 feet at the east, and
3 feet 8 inches in front of the south alcove. Although plaster survives
here and there absence of sooting suggests that the walls were
formerly covered full height.

Four pine posts, 15-18 inches in diameter, had supported the Kiva Q
roof. That at the northwest, the only one we examined, stood upon
a large sandstone slab in a neat masonry cylinder 36 inches in diameter
by 9 inches deep, filled with shale fragments and covered by a
closely-fitted slab pavement 7 feet 4 inches in diameter. The other
three posts were similarly seated and likewise surrounded by flagstones,
shale chips beneath. Those on the east side, best preserved,
were about 3 feet high but too decayed for ring analysis (pl. 75,
lower).

Although no trace remained of roofing timbers, large beams necessarily
spanned the distance between posts as in Great Kiva A. Originally
I estimated a ceiling height of 12 feet under the impression
it must have been continuous with that of the alcove. Ten feet would
have been a better guess. Our figure 7 shows the Kiva Q floor 1112
feet below the 1924 West Court surface; the alcove deserves at
least a 5 foot ceiling. We made no underfloor excavation.

On each side of the chamber is a masonry-lined, sunken vault,
neater in construction than those in Great Kiva A and free from
additions and substitutions. That on the east, 4 feet 8 inches wide
by 6 feet 7 inches long and 13 inches deep, had walls 10 inches thick,
topping off flush with the kiva floor. A companion vault on the west
side measured 4½ feet wide by 6 feet 5 inches long and 16 inches
deep. Unlike that on the east, however, its masonry walls are 14
inches thick, stand 3 inches above the floor, and are of superior external
construction. Further, this vault was paved with packed sand,
a thin layer of shale chips on top.

Between the two vaults, 11 feet 10 inches from the south bench,
is a masonry fireplace averaging 52 inches square by 29 inches high.
Its fire pit, 28 inches in diameter and 12 inches deep, was floored
with sand. On the north side at kiva floor level is a draft opening
or flue, 8 inches wide by 10 inches high, its sill and lintel both of
sandstone slabs. Twenty five inches north of this raised fireplace
our Zuñi workmen cleared an unburned but ash-filled basin 18 inches
in diameter, ringed with adobe 6 inches high and 39 inches across.
It was, they insisted, the container for ashes from the principal
fireplace.

A subfloor depository of neat masonry 12 inches in diameter by

8 inches deep and apparently built upon a slab at that depth, lies 11
feet north of the fireplace. It was covered by a thin sandstone slab
20 inches in diameter and, like that in nearby Kiva R, was empty.
This feature occupies the same relative position of the sipapu in
northern kivas, and I should be tempted to regard it as such except
that the sipapu is foreign to Chaco Canyon kivas, even those of
northern inspiration.

At 3 feet 9 inches south of the raised fireplace a slightly crescentic
masonry-lined receptacle 6 feet 5 inches long, 6 inches wide, and
25 inches deep marks the position of a former deflector or firescreen.
Within were the butts of nine 2-inch posts, tightly packed in shale,
the supports of a probable wattlework screen.

Between this deflector and the south bench, 28 inches from the
latter, three decayed poles with an overall width of 37 inches identify
a former ladder, slanting toward the middle of the kiva ceiling. Each
pole was seated in a hole, depth undetermined. Our Zuñi say that
old-time kiva ladders always had three poles (pl. 75, lower).

Behind this 3-pole ladder and 62 inches above the Kiva Q bench,
is a small alcove or antechamber, measuring 6 feet 4 inches on the east,
6 feet 5 inches on the west, 8 feet 9 on the south, and 8 feet 7 on
the north. Since 18 inches of kiva wall had collapsed at this point,
we do not know the size and shape of the connecting opening, if
any. There is no trace of a north side to the alcove; no evidence of
a stairway beneath. Therefore if the alcove opened into Kiva Q,
it opened full width and at its own floor level. At its south end
the antechamber has 3 steps 29 inches wide, the lowest 15 inches
above floor, leading to the West Court. There may formerly have
been other steps to the flight since the surface here is much eroded
and slopes toward the kiva. At its inner southeast corner, the alcove
masonry now stands only 30 inches high (pl. 75, upper) but a 5-foot
ceiling does not seem unreasonable.

In his description of Great Kiva Q, which he renamed "Pueblo
Bonito II" for his own convenience, Gordon Vivian (1960, p. 65)
doubts the existence of this south alcove and otherwise complains
because the situation as he found it in 1940 did not agree with his
preconceived notions. He was especially annoyed with reconstructions
at the antechamber, and rightfully so. It is a very incompetent
job. But Vivian was too hasty in placing the blame! Had he troubled
to inquire of his Park Service superiors he could have learned which
of his colleagues repaired walls at Pueblo Bonito between 1924, when
I excavated Kiva Q, and 1940, when he recorded his opinions. Vivian

surely knew that, then as now, except for Service personnel an official
permit is required for any activity on a national monument. All
1924 repairs made in Kiva Q, and they were made under my supervision,
are listed in Appendix C. Where they differ from Vivian's
1940 observations the latter are at fault. Restoration of the south
antechamber, clearly seen in his figure 30, is not a product of the
National Geographic Society's expeditions. Furthermore, our only
underfloor inquiry was that at the northwest pillar.

In the north wall of Kiva Q, opposite the south alcove and 46
inches above the bench, we found seatings for four 5-inch timbers,
their over-all width 11 feet 3 inches (fig. 17). Each contained shreds
of decayed wood.

During 1924 wall repairs we unexpectedly came upon a cache of
diversified objects with meaning only for the old ritualists who practiced
in Great Kiva Q (Judd, 1954, p. 323). The lot (U.S.N.M. No.
336041) was concealed in an unplastered recess in the stonework above
the easternmost of the 4 empty beam sockets or 5 feet 4 inches above
the bench. Except for a west jamb 8½ inches high, thus equalling the
wall recesses of Great Kiva A, nothing remained of the opening
through which, presumably, the objects had been passed. We saw
no trace of other, comparable repositories.

Because this north wall was endangered through seepage we restored
it to a height of 10½ feet with a downward slope on the Kiva R.
side. Our restoration at the north may have exceeded original ceiling
height, of which no evidence remained, but I felt it necessary as
a means of supporting the debris fill under the southwest corner of
the Kiva 16 enclosure and the open courtyard fronting Room 28B
(pl. 73, left).

Overhanging the east arc of Great Kiva Q, paired logs formerly
carried the west wall of an unnumbered room between 211 and 212
and when those logs decayed they let fall not only the masonry they
had supported but 23 metates and metate fragments stored in the
room (Judd, 1954, pl. 31, upper). This overhanging wall was of
later construction than that of Kiva Q, although I have classed both
as third-type on the basis of their preponderant use of laminate sandstone.
The same type of stonework appears in paired walls subfloor
in that unnumbered room and in those on either side. Walls carried
on paired beams are a recurrent architectural achievement of the Late
Bonitians as witness those in Rooms 55, 247BN, 290, 291, and others
noted herein.

When we began excavation of Great Kiva Q in 1924 its depression,

as in the case of Kiva A, contained 3 or 4 feet of wind-blown sand
and silt in which chico brush had taken root. Building stones fallen
from the enclosing masonry had collected around the edge but there
was no evidence of a neighborhood dump. Other than the 23 milling
stones and fragments found along the eastern side we recovered less
than a dozen discarded stone implements throughout the fill. One of
these was part of a notched cobblestone ax, noteworthy only because
axes of any sort, irrespective of quality, are exceedingly rare at
Pueblo Bonito.

Normally an excessive number of miscellaneous potsherds will
identify a former trash pile but, in my opinion, out-worn and discarded
household implements provide stronger evidence. Only a
handful of such tools was found in Kiva Q while the sherds numbered
4,527. Among these Roberts and Amsden counted 3 as prePueblo;
the remainder as Old Bonitian or Late Bonitian, the latter
preponderant with 24.9 percent Corrugated Coil and 11.8 percent
Chaco-San Juan or Mancos Black-on-White. In addition there were
scattered over much of the floor, and directly upon it, bits of squared
claystone and turquoise—pieces from one or more treasured mosaic
ornaments, crushed beyond repair.

Great Kiva Q had its predecessor, a completely razed structure we
came upon unexpectedly in 1925 while digging a West Court exploratory
trench. Only remnants of the north and south benches, parts
of two pillars and the vaults between, and an irregular floor at depth
of 10 feet 2 inches remained for our study. In the portion we exposed,
practically every facing stone had been removed; hence we had
but little on which to judge the age of that ruin. I guessed the razed
stonework to have been of our third-type but it is more likely to have
been second-type and an early project of Late Bonitian architects.

Our profile of that deep-lying remnant (fig. 7) is self-explanatory;
details would be uninteresting and superfluous. With two bench
points already known, we deliberately cut a third and from the three
estimated floor diameter at 53 feet, hence the largest of known superkivas
at Pueblo Bonito. More precise information would have been
desirable but, with 10 feet of packed clay to penetrate, one can be
content with less. Marks of digging tools were still plain upon the
clay bank at two points on the periphery of the 69-foot pit prepared
for that Great Kiva and, just outside its former south wall, a previously
undisturbed Old Bonitian rubbish pile 12 feet deep invited
the stratigraphic study through which Roberts and Amsden contributed
so greatly to the history of Pueblo Bonito and Chaco Canyon.