At Spruce Tree House, it is possible to descend on the ladder into a reconstructed kiva, the religious center of life for the Anasazi. Each extended family in the cliff dwellings in the Southwestern U.S. had their own kiva.

Pueblo peoples believe their ancestors emerged into the present world via an underground world. According to anthropologists and archeologists, the first Native Americans who became tethered to their land – rather than living as hunters and gatherers – dug simple shelters in the earth to keep them safer from the sometimes harsh elements of their surroundings.