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kiva

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kiva (kē`və), large, underground ceremonial chamber, peculiar to the ancient and modern Pueblo Pueblo, name given by the Spanish to the sedentary Native Americans who lived in stone or adobe communal houses in what is now the SW United States. The term pueblo is also used for the villages occupied by the Pueblo.
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. The modern kiva probably evolved from the slab houses (i.e., storage pits and dwellings that were partly underground and lined with stone slabs set on edge) of their cultural ancestors, the Basket Makers Basket Makers, name given to the members of an early Native North American culture in the Southwest, predecessors of the Pueblo. Because of the cultural continuity from the Basket Makers to the Pueblos, they are jointly referred to by archaeologists as the Anasazi
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. A modern kiva is either a rectangular or a circular structure, with a timbered roof. It is entered through a hatchway by means of a ladder. The floor is made of smooth sandstone slabs, and the walls of fine masonry. There is a dais at one end, a fire pit in the center, and an opening in the floor at the other end. This orifice represents the entrance to the lower world and the place of emergence through which life came to this world. The walls also have a symbolic significance and are decorated with mythological figures. Women are traditionally restricted from entering a kiva. Men use the kiva for secret ceremonies, as a lounging place, and as a workshop where weaving is done.

kiva

Underground chamber of the Pueblo Indian villages of the southwestern U.S., notable for the murals that decorate its walls. A small hole in its floor, the sípapu, serves as the symbolic place of origin of the tribe. Though the kiva's primary purpose is for men's rituals and ceremonies, it is also used for political meetings or casual gatherings. Women perform their rituals and ceremonies in other parts of the pueblo and generally avoid entering the kiva. The traditional round form of the kiva, in contrast to the otherwise square or rectangular Pueblo architecture, recalls the circular pit houses of the prehistoric basket-weaving culture from which these tribes descend.


kiva
In some Indian villages of the American Southwest, an assembly room (often partly or wholly underground) which has a packed earth floor, a firepit at its center, and a flat roof supported by hewn logs that are covered by small branches, matting, and a layer of earth. The room is usually entered through a roof hatchway by means of a ladder whose poles extend well above the flat rooftop.


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