A ritual structure built by the Pueblo Indians of the Southwestern United States. Kivas are generally single, subterranean rooms, entered by a ladder through the roof.
Men belonging to particular clans or ritual societies gather inside for ceremonial purposes.
In several Rio Grande pueblos, there are two kivas, and membership creates a moiety division within the community. Kivas have been found in Anasazi archaeological sites as well, and appear to be descended from the pithouses that the ancestors of the Pueblo peoples once lived in. When they began building houses above the ground, they continued building traditional pithouses for ritual purposes. Some kivas, such as those at Chaco Canyon, a major Anasazi archaeological site, are built aboveground. This Anthropology Web Ring site is owned by Jeff Iverson .