Existing comment:
Pitroom.
This pitroom was used for ceremonies as well as cooking and sleeping. The slabs and floor cavities are typical of earlier pithouses; some villagers may have moved here in winter, finding the pitroom easier to heat than surface dwellings.
Villages of this era had only one or two pitrooms. Possibly, spiritual matters evolved from family to community affairs. In the subterranean chamber to your right (part of the later village), the features appear to be mainly ceremonial.
The pitroom was a transition from pithouse to kiva. The absence of domestic features such as manos and metates and storage cists signaled a shift toward a more formally structured religious chamber. This pitroom's rectangular shape is unusual; most were circular. |