Ash Pit
Description: Just south of the hearth and north of the ventilator tunnel entrance, the Anasazi excavated a small ash pit into the bedrock floor of the kiva. The pit is oval in plan view and basin-shaped in profile. It measures 15 cm in length, 9 cm in width and 10 cm in depth.
By the time the kiva was abandoned, the Anasazi had piled so much ash into the pit that the ash overflowed the basin and spilled onto the floor. This ash was further dispersed by falling debris when the Anasazi dismantled the kiva roof. As a result, ash eventually covered much of the bedrock floor between the hearth and the ventilator tunnel entrance, covering an area which measured about 95 cm north-south, 70 cm east-west and 4 cm in thickness.
Contents: The ash pit was filled, not surprisingly, with ash, mixed with small pieces of charcoal. Seven artifacts were recovered from the ashy area; these were four sherds and three debitage flakes.
Interpretation: The ash pit served as a storage basin for ash cleaned out from the hearth. Hot ashes may have been used both to keep foods warm and as an ingredient in some dishes (e.g., piki bread).