is a section of the same. It is of the "lean-to" type, and consists of a
horizontal beam resting on two forked timbers and supporting a series
of poles, the upper ends of which are placed against it. The structure
faces the east, and the southern end is closed in like a hogan, but it
was covered only with cedar boughs laid close together without an earth
facing.

This shelter stood upon a slope and the timbers used in its construction
were small and crooked. Perhaps on account of these disadvantages the
interior was excavated, after the shelter was built, to a depth of
nearly 24 inches on the higher side, as shown in figure 236. By this
expedient the space under the shelter was greatly enlarged. The
excavation was not carried all the way back to the foot of the rafters,
but, as shown in the section, a bench or ledge some 18 inches wide was
left, forming a convenient place for the many little articles which
constitute the Navaho's domestic furniture.

[Illustration: Fig. 235--Ground plan of a summer hut]

Mention has been made before of this interior bench, which is an
interesting feature. It has been suggested by Mr Victor Mindeleff, whose
well-known studies of Pueblo architecture give his suggestions weight,
that we have here a possible explanation of the origin of the interior
benches which are nearly always found in the kivas or ceremonial
chambers of the Pueblo Indians, that the benches in the kivas may be
survivals of archaic devices pertaining to the primitive type from which
Pueblo architecture developed. If a low wall of masonry were used as a
support for rafters, in the manner shown in figure 237, and additional
space were sought by excavation, the form shown in the illustration
would be retained, for the construction would be seriously weakened if
the rude stonework were placed directly on the edge of the excavation.
Possibly this practice has some bearing on the Pueblo requirement that
the kivas should be at least partly excavated, a requirement still
rigidly adhered to. The conservatism of the Indian mind in matters
connected with their ceremonials is well known, and forms and practices
long abandoned in ordinary house construction still survive in the
building of the kivas.

[Illustration: Fig. 236--Section of a summer hut]

Plate LXXXVI shows a shelter somewhat resembling that last described,
but of more simple construction. Here the main crosspiece which forms
the front of the shelter is supporte