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Show 88 AIL ai re re oa 3 ew bs he | —— a LEADING FACTS OF NEW MEXICAN HISTORY the kiva, one on the eastern and the other on the western side. In no other kiva has more than one entrance been found.?° In the Rito de los Frijoles kivas are found in three situations, viz: contiguous to the pueblos in the valley bottom, sunk in the talus in front of the cliff-villages, and excavated in the walls of the cliff. There is much to indicate that the dual system of tribal organization was in existence here, and it is more than likely that the great kiva before described was the sanctuary of either the Winter or the Summer people. To the east of the great kiva, probably not more than four hundred yards, is a circular floor made of tufa blocks. This, doubtless, is all that remains of another kiva built above ground, as is the case in some of the present pueblos of the Rio Grande valley. Another interesting feature is the great ceremonial cave, situated high in the cliff just opposite the upper pueblo. The cave has contained several rooms built against the wall, and back of these were excavated rooms. In the bottom of the cave was a kiva excavated in the rock. In this, when it was cleared of the debris, were found pieces of matting in an almost perfect state of preservation and some very well preserved grains of corn. This is one of the very few ceremonial caves found in this region. What these people of the Rito did with their dead has been a problem for the students of archeology of the region. It has been stated by an eminent authority that cremation was practised.” It is more than likely that this belief was based upon the traditions of the Cochiti Indians with reference to the custom among their ancestors.”? 20 Hewett, Dr. Edgar L., The Excavations at Ty-u-on-yi: ‘*The function of this feature of the subterranean ceremonial rooms cannot be regarded as finally determined. It is a feature common to all ancient kivas, both in the Rio Grande valley and the San Juan valley, but does not exist in the kivas of the modern Pueblo towns. It is what Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, in his report on the excavation e hg House in Colorado, describes as a device for the ventilation of the 2 aa ; am not yet prepared to accept Dr. Fewkes’s determination , nor am I inclined to oppose any view of my own to that of the distinguished scholar who has long been my teacher in American archeology. . . Whatever may have been its function, it was doubtless the same throughout the Pueblo region. An exam- ronntig ins ss erie ee of more than a hundred examples in southern Utah and Colorado, in the ig np Mexico, and the Rio Grande drainage, shows that while this - : : - rah Sate die greatly in form and construction, the same prin- Bandelier, Adolph F., The Delight Makers. Hewett, Dr. Edgar L., Excavations at Ty-u-on-yi: ‘*Traditions of eremation among the Cochiti people cannot be accepted as conclusive in their applica- i AAs ~~ M ot eS pm ~_ + i be Cc D fe ~ | 4 ora o~ pul os oa —_ —_— © —_ Ae ~ y foal _~ ~~ bo |