Kivas - Mesa Verde NP

This photo shows early puebloan dwellings (500-700 AD) consisted of partially subterreanean pits about 15-ft in diameter with a smaller circular storage antechamber. As the population grew and the civilization progressed, the outer chambers evolved into kivas, places of worship. Kivas included a hearth in the center of the room and a small, circular and shallow hole called a 'sipapu', symbolic of the people's emergence into this world. Later kivas had ventilation shafts and deflection shields to ward off cold drafts. By the time of the cliff dwellings, kivas were completely "underground", having a fairly solid abode roof acting as the floor for the next storey. Near the end of the ancient puebloans in this region, incredible multi-storey towers were built in the cliff dwellings.