Rock art studies have indicated that the katchina cult and associated religious sodalities arrived in the Pueblo Southwest in the early 14th century from the Jornada region of the Mogollon. Recent studies of prehistoric Pueblo social organization suggest that population aggregation after A.D. 1150 led to the need for means of intravillage social integration. It is proposed that the arrival of the katchina cult and its widespread acceptance occurred in response to this need for intravillage integrative mechanisms.
The elaborate symbolism painted around wall niches in Rio Grande Pueblo IV kivas ca. A.D. 1370-1600 at Pottery Mound and Kuaua describe a cosmological paradigm of layered worlds accessed by supernatural passageways. This paper examines the niche iconography at these sites and the associated metaphors represented in the surrounding murals. Equivalent to the sípàapuni and symbolic of the landscape cave, the niche as a portal to the watery and fecund underworld is often the organizing principle for west wall murals or entire kiva scenes. In addition to the prevalent stepped cloud and rainbow, these scenes frequently feature female figures and composite supernatural beings symbolic of abundance. This analysis provides insight into the focus of prehistoric kiva rituals conducted at Kuaua and Pottery Mound and the worldview with which they engaged. Finally, it is proposed that the synthesizing powers of both the simple stepped cloud and the niche itself raise these elements to the status of "nuclear ritual symbols" (Turner 1967) fundamental to Pueblo cosmology.
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