Description: In order to build the kiva hearth, the Anasazi excavated a pit into the center of the bedrock floor. This pit was circular in plan view and basin-shaped in profile, and measured 60 cm north-south by 72 cm east-west by 22 cm in depth. The Anasazi rimmed the upper edge of the hearth with an adobe collar, and lined the floor with more adobe; presently only portions of this adobe remain intact. Into the south side of the hearth, the Anasazi set an upright sandstone slab. This slab probably served to deflect the air which flowed through the ventilator tunnel into the room. This in turn lessened the likelihood of sparks from the hearth being blown onto the floor. The interior of the hearth was not heavily oxidized, indicating that large, hot fires were not burned in it.
Contents: The contents of the hearth indicate that the Anasazi cooked and ate both plant and animal foods in the kiva. Plant foods in the form of corn, chenopodium or amaranth, wild parsley or carrot, and beeweed (all represented by pollen) were apparently cooked and eaten here. Meat (represented by burned bones) was also cooked and eaten here by the Anasazi. In order to cook these foods, and heat the kiva, the Anasazi used pinyon and sagebrush for fuel, as shown by the bits of wood charcoal which remained among the ashes at the bottom of the hearth. At some time, someone put (or kicked) two flakes into the hearth; one is of Brushy Basin chert and the other is of Morrison silicified sediment.
Interpretation: The hearth functioned as the central heating and cooking system of the kiva. It does not appear to have been utilized intensively by the Anasazi who occupied the kiva.
