Village of the Great Kivas

Village of the Great Kivas is one of the main archeological sites illustrating the development of Zuni culture, along with Yellow House, Kechipbowa and Hawihuh. Village of the Great Kivas is prized for its impressive array of petroglyphs and pictographs. This site is listed on the State Register of Cultural Properties and the National Register of Historic Places.

A kiva is a room used by modern Puebloans for religious rituals, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, kivas are square-walled and above-ground, and are used for spiritual ceremonies.

As cultural changes occurred, particularly during the Pueblo III period between 1150 and 1300, kivas continued to have a prominent place in the community. However, some kivas were built above ground. Kiva architecture became more elaborate, with tower kivas and great kivas incorporating specialized floor features. In most larger communities, it was normal to find one kiva for each five or six rooms used as residences. Kiva destruction, primarily by burning, has been seen as a strong archaeological indicator of conflict and warfare among people of the Southwest during this period.
After 1325 or 1350, except in the Hopi region, the ratio changed from 60 to 90 rooms for each kiva. This may indicate a religious or organizational change within the society, perhaps affecting the status and number of clans among the Pueblo people.

Kivas are entered through a hole in the roof. A stone bench for sitting lines the inside wall, sometimes interrupted by support columns for the roof while near the center of the kiva is a fire pit called a hearth. A ventilation shaft on one side supplies floor-level air for the fireand is generally located on the eastern side of the kiva. There is usually a hole or indentation in the floor, now called a sipapu which symbolizes the connection from birth with Mother Earth .

Village of the Great Kivas
Zuni Pueblo
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