University of Virginia Library

Kiva 2 (See Plate IX)

Kiva 2 is the northernmost of the kivas of Tseh So, besides being
the largest in diameter and the deepest. The kiva proper is twelve feet
in diameter north and south, thirteen feet in diameter east and west,
and is at a depth of ten feet from the surface adjacent to the wall of
Room 14. The usual ledge or bench runs around the circumference of
the kiva, with the exception of that portion immediately above the
screen wall and the ventilator opening. This bench varies from six
inches in width on the west wall to twelve inches on the east wall, and
is thirty-two inches from the floor. Kiva 2 was not provided with a
southern or "keyhole" extension, but the south side rose vertically to
the surface with no offset or shelf. The ventilator shaft in this case
rose immediately behind and to the south of the south wall of the kiva,
coming out in an opening approximately a foot square, of rough

Fig. 2. a—Kiva 1; b—Kiva 3

masonry, between the kiva and the north wall of Room 6. This ventilator
shaft was accommodated at its open end in the kiva by a coping of
wooden uprights and adobe to form an arcuated opening in the shape
of a "broken-sided" arch. The south portion of the kiva, immediately in
front of the ventilator opening, was screened off from the rest of the
kiva by a low single-thickness wall of masonry, as in Kiva 1. This
masonry extends from side to side of the kiva, leaving a space in front
of the ventilator shaft seventy-two by thirty-two inches. This was not
provided with a low threshold platform, as in Kiva 1. The fire pit lies
immediately to the north of this screen wall in essentially the same
plan as Kiva 1. The fire pit was lined with stone slabs sunk into the
floor, as before. A small hole to the east, six inches in diameter and
some twelve inches deep, possibly served as the sipapu.

Kiva 2 is of especial note because of several interesting cists
or recesses which occur in its walls. One of these is in the north
wall below the edge of the bench, some two feet from the floor. This
is a small recess floored with a single slab of sandstone eight inches
square, the whole recess being roughly five by five inches across, and
six inches deep. The largest of such receptacles occurs upon the east
side of the kiva, also in the side of the bench. This is a large receptacle
of roughly circular outline, some two feet in all dimensions, floored
with a piece of shale. When discovered, this recess was closed and
sealed by a carefully shaped slab of sandstone, rectangular with
rounded corners, which had been placed across the opening and plastered
in place with adobe. The recess, however, was empty when discovered.
Two other recesses or wall cists, occur on the south side of
the kiva immediately to the west of the ventilator opening just on top
of the bench. These openings, each about eight inches in depth, were
neither lined nor closed but merely open alcoves, possibly for the accommodation
of ritualistic paraphernalia.

The plaster of Kiva 2 could be observed in detail insomuch
as large quantities yet adhered to the wall. The plaster in most places
consisted of fourteen layers of pure adobe, each approximately a
sixteenth of an inch thick and superimposed upon the preceding layer.
The layers could be distinguished easily because of the smoke-deposited
soot on the surface of each layer, which formed a number of varves of
alternate dark and light colors. The plaster in this case was not
decorated and not colored.

Several vigas from this kiva were recovered for dendro-chronological
purposes.