The Sand Canyon Pueblo Database

Block 1000, northeast quadrant of the site.

Western part of excavated portion of Block 1000, partly surrounded by Nonstructure 1016 (courtyard). Below Arbitrary Unit 1015.

Not assigned.

Features within this structure are typical of Pueblo III kivas in this region (formal hearth, six pilasters, benches, southern recess, sipapu, deflector, ventilator system, bench-face niches), so it is inferred that this structure was probably used in the same ways that other small, Pueblo III kivas in this area were used (in general, for domestic purposes and household-level rituals). This kiva contained a few features not usually found in kivas--a masonry-walled storage bin (Feature 15) that encompassed the west half of the southern recess (Bench 6) and a metate bin (Feature 16) on the floor along the west bench face. The precise use of the masonry-walled bin is not known (four bone awls and miscellaneous sherds and flakes were found on the bin floor). The presence of the metate bin indicates that corn (and perhaps other grains) were ground in this structure; numerous additional ground-stone tools such as manos were also found on the floor of the structure, although ground-stone tools are commonly found on kiva floors. Why a metate bin was constructed in this kiva is open to speculation. It is also not clear just when during the use history of the structure the masonry-walled bin was constructed. A substantial amount of refuse (including many usable items) was found on the floor and on the bench surfaces that were preserved. Usable items include ground-stone tools, several bone awls, three pendants, a needle, a drill, projectile points, axes, and cores. There is also a substantial amount of what appears to be primary refuse--debris such as sherds, flakes, animal bones, and fragmentary tools. The quantity and variety of artifacts present support the inference that this kiva was used for habitation, although the presence of the metate bin and storage bin suggests that this kiva also might have been used in some less usual ways.

At, or soon after, structure abandonment, the bodies of two individuals who had suffered lethal skull fractures were deposited on the floor. One of the bodies, that of an 8-year-old child (Human Remains Occurrence 22), was deposited (placed or perhaps dropped through the hatchway) on top of the fill of a firepit (Feature 20) that had been dug into the fill of the hearth. A fragment of the broken deflector (Feature 25) was found beneath the remains. The other body (Human Remains Occurrence 19), that of an adolescent 12 to 15 years old, was sprawled partly on the floor surface and partly on small rocks that rested on the floor. The remains of these individuals (who both died violently), along with other evidence of violence in this kiva suite, indicates that the suite (and perhaps the village) was abandoned as a result of a warfare event in which at least some of the residents of this suite were killed and their bodies were not formally buried.

Some sediment was deposited naturally around Human Remains Occurrences 19 and 22 for an unknown length of time. The roof of the structure was burned; it is not clear whether the sediment around the human remains accumulated before or after the roof burned; however, at some point in time, the bulk of the roofing material collapsed onto the remains and the structure floor. It is not whether the stones that ended up on portions of the bodies came to rest before the burned roof collapsed or as part of the collapse of the roof. Some portions of bench surfaces that had slumped were probably damaged when the burned roof collapsed. After the roof collapsed, the upper walls of the kiva followed suit, and also additional sediment was naturally deposited into the depression.

No excavation details recorded for this study unit.