The small dwelling near Toadlena, which was found in February 1997, is made up of three rooms, an outside cooking and storage area and a kiva, or a circular room in the ground where people probably conducted religious ceremonies. Reed said a nuclear family of six or seven must have occupied the rooms. The cultural characteristics of the Toadlena site are similar to the Tocito Community, but several aberrations exist. Reed said it is common to find more uniformity of lifestyles within a large community while finding some variations in habitats outside such a society. Analyzing those variations will give a broader view of the general culture of the times, Reed added.
Architecture provides clues to the culture of the people occupying the three rooms and kiva.
Typically they're built in the same style. The kiva and a room next to it have the same masonry, but the room next to them has a different masonry design. The third room has yet another style. The change in architecture may mean the rooms were built progressively through time, with the kiva and the adjacent room being constructed first, Reed said. Understanding the differences may give archaeologists insight into the chronological development of architecture.