Photo Essay: Restoration at Kiva F, Gran Quivira, New Mexico

When Kiva F was originally excavated in 1923 by Edgar Lee Hewitt, the original adobe covering on the bench was still in place. So, to bring the kiva back to more closely match its appearance as excavated by Hewitt, we re-covered the bench with true adobe installed as it was originally. More importantly, the adobe bench itself is a preservation technique designed to protect the kiva from erosion and to protect the soft igneous stone, most of which can be found along the base of the kiva walls (the igneous stone is actually bedrock to which the kiva pit was excavated).