cavate

plural cavates

1. archaeologyA cliffside dwelling made in the living rock by humans.

   The reader may wonder about the significance of the Ahuitzotl figure in a cavate near Los Alamos National Laboratory.

   2010, Allan MacGillivray III, The Venus Calendar Observatory at Aztec New Mexico, page 135

   2 more examples

   Given the absence of other means of dating the cavates, ceramic dating was the focus of the data collection, but we also recorded vessel form.

   1995, Peter McKenna, Analysis of Surface Ceramics From the Study Area

   While the cavate was originally carved out generations, if not centuries, before 1680, the ceramics associated with its final substantial occupation (including Kapo Black, Tewa Polychrome, and Glaze F pottery) have led investigators to conclude that Pueblo people reoccupied it sometime between 1680 and 1700.

   2012, Matthew Liebmann, Revolt: An Archaeological History of Pueblo Resistance and Revitalization in 17th Century New Mexico, page 140