A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola Part 21

A small loophole in the corner of this large opening is still left open.

It will be noted that the original transoms of the large openings have in all these cases been entirely filled up with masonry.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XCVIII. Cross-pieces on Zui ladders.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 93. A Zui doorway converted into a window.]

The clearness with which all the steps of the gradual reduction of these openings can be traced in the exposed stone work is in marked contrast with the obscurity of such features in Zui. In the latter group, however, examples are occasionally seen where a doorway has been partly closed with masonry, leaving enough s.p.a.ce at the top for a window. Often in such cases the filled-in masonry is thinner than that of the adjoining wall, and consequently the form of the original doorway is easily traced. Fig. 93, from an adobe wall in Zui, gives an ill.u.s.tration of this. The entrance doorway of the detached Zui house ill.u.s.trated in Pl. Lx.x.xIII, has been similarly reduced in size, leaving traces of the original form in a slight offset. In modern times, both in Tusayan and Cibola, changes in the form and disposition of openings seem to have been made with the greatest freedom, but in the ancient pueblos altered doors or windows have rarely been found. The original placing of these features was more carefully considered, and the buildings were rarely subjected to unforeseen and irregular crowding.

In both ancient and modern pueblo work, windows, used only as such, seem to have been universally quadrilateral, offsets and steps being confined exclusively to doorways.

ROOF OPENINGS.

The line of separation between roof openings and doors and windows is, with few exceptions, sharply drawn. The origin of these roof-holes, whose use at the present time is widespread, was undoubtedly in the simple trap door which gave access to the rooms of the first terrace.

Pl. x.x.xVIII, ill.u.s.trating a court of Oraibi, shows in the foreground a kiva hatchway of the usual form seen in Tusayan. Here there is but little difference between the entrance traps of the ceremonial chambers and those that give access to the rooms of the first terrace; the former are in most cases somewhat larger to admit of ingress of costumed dancers, and the kiva traps are usually on a somewhat sharper slope, conforming to the pitch of the small dome-roof of the kivas, while those of the house terraces have the scarcely perceptible fall of the house roofs in which they are placed. In Zui, however, where the development and use of openings has been carried further, the kiva hatchways are distinguished by a specialized form that will be described later. An examination of the plans of the modern villages in Chapters II and III will show the general distribution of roof openings. Those used as hatchways are distinguishable by their greater dimensions, and in many cases by the presence of the ladders that give access to the rooms below. The smaller roof openings in their simplest form are constructed in essentially the same manner as the trap doors, and the width is usually regulated by the distance between two adjacent roof beams. The second series of small roof poles is interrupted at the sides of the opening, which sides are finished by means of carefully laid small stones in the same manner as are projecting copings. This finish is often carried several inches above the roof and crowned with narrow stone slabs, one on each of the four sides, forming a sort of frame which protects the mud plastered sides of the opening from the action of the rains. Examples of this simple type may be seen in many of the figures ill.u.s.trating Chapters II and III, and in Pl. XCVII. Fig. 94 also ill.u.s.trates common types of roof openings seen in Zui. Two of the examples in this figure are of openings that give access to lower rooms.

Occasional instances are seen in this pueblo in which an exaggerated height is given to the coping, the result slightly approaching a square chimney in effect. Fig. 95 ill.u.s.trates an example of this form.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 94. Zui roof-openings.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XCIX. Outside steps at Pescado.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 95. A Zui roof opening, with raised coping.]

In Zui, where many minor variations in the forms of roof openings occur, certain of these variations appear to be related to roof drainage. These have three sides crowned in the usual manner with coping stones laid flat, but the fourth side is formed by setting a thin slab on edge, as ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 96.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 96. Zui roof-openings, with one elevated end.]

Fig. 94 also embodies two specimens of this form.

The special object of this arrangement is in some cases difficult to determine; the raised end in all the examples on any one roof always takes the same direction, and in many cases its position relative to drainage suggests that it is a provision against flooding by rain on the slightly sloping roof; but this relation to drainage is by no means constant. Roof holes on the west side of the village in such positions as to be directly exposed to the violent sand storms that prevail here during certain months of the year seem in some cases to have in view protection against the flying sand. We do not meet with evidence of any fixed system to guide the disposition of this feature. In many cases these trap holes are provided with a thin slab of sandstone large enough to cover the whole opening, and used in times of rain. During fair weather these are laid on the roof, near the hole they are designed to cover, or lie tilted against the higher edge of the trap, as shown in Fig. 97.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 97. A Zui roof hole with cover.]

When the cover is placed on one of these holes, with a high slab at one end, it has a steep pitch, to shed water, and at the same time light and air are to some extent admitted, but it is very doubtful if this is the result of direct intention on the part of the builder. The possible development of this roof trap of unusual elevation into a rudimentary chimney has already been mentioned in the discussion of chimneys.

A development in this direction would possibly be suggested by the desirability of separating the access by ladder from the inconvenient smoke hole. This must have been brought very forcibly to the attention of the Indian when, at the time a fire was burning in the fireplace, they were compelled to descend the ladder amidst the smoke and heat.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate C. An excavated room at Kin-tiel.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 98. Kiva trapdoor in Zui.]

The survival to the present time of such an inconvenient arrangement in the kivas can be explained only on the ground of the intense conservatism of these people in all that pertains to religion. In the small roof holes methods of construction are seen which would not be so practicable on the larger scale of the ladder holes after which they have been modeled. In these latter the sides are built up of masonry or adobe, but the framing around them is more like the usual coping over walls. The stone that, set on edge in the small openings built for the admission of light, forms a raised end never occurs in these. The ladder for access rests against the coping.

When occurring in connection with kivas, ladder holes have certain peculiarities in which they differ from the ordinary form used in dwellings. The opening in such cases is made of large size to admit dancers in costume with full paraphernalia. These, the largest roof openings to be found in Zui, are framed with pieces of wood. The methods of holding the pieces in place vary somewhat in minor detail.

It is quite likely that recent examples, while still preserving the form and general appearance of the earlier ones, would bear evidence that the builders had used their knowledge of improved methods of joining and finis.h.i.+ng.

As may readily be seen from the ill.u.s.tration, Fig. 98, this framing, by the addition of a cross piece, divides the opening unequally. The smaller aperture is situated immediately above the fireplace (which conforms to the ancient type without chimney and located in the open floor of the room) and is very evidently designed to furnish an outlet to the smoke. In a chamber having no side doors or windows, or at most very small square windows, and consequently no drafts, the column of smoke and flame can often on still nights be seen rising vertically from the roof. The other portion of the opening containing the ladder is used for ingress and egress. This singular combination strongly suggests that at no very remote period one opening was used to answer both purposes, as it still does in the Tusayan kivas. It also suggests the direction in which differentiation of functions began to take place, which in the kiva was delayed and held back by the conservative religious feeling, when in the civil architecture it may have been the initial point of a development that culminated in the chimney, a development that was a.s.sisted in its later steps by suggestions from foreign sources. In the more primitively constructed examples the cross pieces seem to be simply laid on without any cutting in. The central piece is held in place by a peg set into each side piece, the weight and thrust of the ladder helping to hold it. The primitive arrangement here seen has been somewhat improved upon in some other cases, but it was not ascertained whether these were of later date or not.

In the best made frames for kiva entrances the timbers are halved in the manner of our carpenters, the joint being additionally secured by a pin as shown in Fig. 99.

The use of a frame of wood in these trapdoors dates back to a comparatively high antiquity, and is not at all a modern innovation, as one would at first be inclined to believe. Their use in so highly developed a form in the ceremonial chamber is an argument in favor of antiquity. Only two examples were discovered by Mr. L. H. Morgan in a ruined pueblo on the Animas. One of these measured 16 by 17 inches and the other was 16 inches square. Each was formed in the floor by pieces of wood put together. The work was neatly done.[8]

[Footnote 8: Contributions to N.A. Ethnology, vol. 4. House Life, etc., p. 182.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 99. Halved and pinned trapdoor frame of a Zui kiva.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate CI. Masonry chimneys of Zui.]

Unfortunately, Mr. Morgan does not describe in detail the manner in which the joining was effected, or whether the pieces were halved or cut to fit. It seems hardly likely, considering the rude facilities possessed by the ancients, that the enormous labor of reducing large pieces of wood to such interfitting shapes would have been undertaken.

A certain neatness of finish would undoubtedly be attained by arranging the princ.i.p.al roof beams and the small poles that cross them at right angles, in the usual careful manner of the ancient builders. The kiva roof opening, with the hole serving for access and smoke exit, is paralleled in the excavated lodges of the San Francisco Mountains, where a single opening served this double purpose. A slight recess or excavation in the side of the entrance shaft evidently served for the exit of smoke.

At the village of Acoma the kiva trapdoors differ somewhat from the Zui form. The survey of this village was somewhat hasty, and no opportunity was afforded of ascertaining from the Indians the special purpose of the mode of construction adopted. The roof hole is divided, as in Zui, but the portion against which the ladder leans, instead of being made into a smoke vent, is provided with a small roof. These roof holes to the ceremonial chamber are entered directly from the open air, while in the dwelling rooms it seems customary (much more customary than at Zui) to enter the lower stories through trapdoors within upper rooms. In many instances second-story rooms have no exterior rooms but are entered from rooms above, contrary to the usual arrangement in both Tusayan and Cibola. All six of the kivas in this village are provided with this peculiarly constructed opening.

In Zui close crowding of the cells has led to an exceptionally frequent use of roof-lights and trapdoors. The ingenuity of the builders was greatly taxed to admit sufficient light to the inner rooms. The roof hole, which was originally used only to furnish the means of access and light for the first terrace, as is still the case in Tusayan, is here used in all stories indiscriminately, and princ.i.p.ally for light and air.

In large cl.u.s.ters there are necessarily many dark rooms, which has led to the employment of great numbers of roof holes, more or less directly modeled after the ordinary trapdoor. Their occurrence is particularly frequent in the larger cl.u.s.ters of the village, as in house No. 1. The exceptional size of this pile, and of the adjoining house No. 4, with the consequent large proportion of dark rooms, have taxed the ingenuity of the Zui to the utmost, and as a result we see roof openings here a.s.suming a degree of importance not found elsewhere.

In addition to roof openings of the type described, the dense cl.u.s.tering of the Zui houses has led to the invention of a curious device for lighting inner rooms not reached by ordinary external openings. This consists of an opening, usually of oval or subrectangular form in elevation, placed at the junction of the roof with a vertical wall. This opening is carried down obliquely between the roofing beams, as shown in the sections, Fig. 100, so that the light is admitted within the room just at the junction of the ceiling and the inner face of the wall. With the meager facilities and rude methods of the Zui, this peculiar arrangement often involved weak construction, and the openings, placed so low in the wall, were in danger of admitting water from the roof. The difficulty of obtaining the desired light by this device was much lessened where the outer roof was somewhat lower than the ceiling within.

These oblique openings occur not only in the larger cl.u.s.ters of houses Nos. 1 and 4, but also in the more openly planned portions of the village, though they do not occur either at Acoma or in the Tusayan villages. They afford an interesting example of the transfer and continuance in use of a constructional device developed in one place by unusual conditions to a new field in which it was uncalled for, being less efficient and more difficult of introduction than the devices in ordinary use.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 100. Typical sections of Zui oblique openings.]

FURNITURE.

The pueblo Indian has little household furniture, in the sense in which the term is commonly employed; but his home contains certain features which are more or less closely embodied in the house construction and which answers the purpose. The suspended pole that serves as a clothes rack for ordinary wearing apparel, extra blankets, robes, etc., has already been described in treating of interiors. Religious costumes and ceremonial paraphernalia are more carefully provided for, and are stored away in some hidden corner of the dark storerooms.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate CII. Remains of a gateway in Awatubi.]

The small wall niches, which are formed by closing a window with a thin filling-in wall, and which answer the purpose of cupboards or receptacles for many of the smaller household articles, have also been described and ill.u.s.trated in connection with the Zui interior (Pl.

Lx.x.xVI).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 101. Arrangement of mealing stones in a Tusayan house.]

In many houses, both in Tusayan and in Cibola, shelves are constructed for the more convenient storage of food, etc. These are often constructed in a very primitive manner, particularly in the former province. An unusually frail example may be seen in Fig. 67, in connection with a fireplace. Fig. 101, showing a series of mealing stones in a Tusayan house, also ill.u.s.trates a rude shelf in the corner of the room, supported at one end by an upright stone slab and at the other by a projecting wooden peg. Shelves made of sawed boards are occasionally seen, but as a rule such boards are considered too valuable to be used in this manner. A more common arrangement, particularly in Tusayan, is a combination of three or four slender poles placed side by side, 2 or 3 inches apart, forming a rude shelf, upon which trays of food are kept.

Another device for the storage of food, occasionally seen in the pueblo house, is a pocket or bin built into the corner of a room. Fig. 101, ill.u.s.trating the plan of a Tusayan house, indicates the position of one of these cupboard-like inclosures. A sketch of this specimen is shown in Fig. 102. This bin, used for the storage of beans, grain, and the like, is formed by cutting off a corner of the room by setting two stone slabs into the floor, and it is covered with the mud plastering which extends over the neighboring walls.

A curious modification of this device was seen in one of the inner rooms in Zui, in the house of Jos Pi. A large earthen jar, apparently an ordinary water vessel, was built into a projecting masonry bench near the corner of the room in such a manner that its rim projected less than half an inch above its surface. This jar was used for the same purpose as the Tusayan corner bin.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 102. A Tusayan grain bin.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 103. A Zui plume box.]

Some of the Indians of the present time have chests or boxes in which their ceremonial blankets and paraphernalia are kept. These of course have been introduced since the days of American boards and boxes. In Zui, however, the Indians still use a small wooden receptacle for the precious ceremonial articles, such as feathers and beads. This is an oblong box, provided with a countersunk lid, and usually carved from a single piece of wood. Typical specimens are ill.u.s.trated in Figs. 103 and 104. The workmans.h.i.+p displayed in these objects is not beyond the aboriginal skill of the native workman, and their use is undoubtedly ancient.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 104. A Zui plume box.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate CIII. Ancient gateway, Kin-tiel.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 105. A Tusayan mealing trough.]