sandstone blocks
Plate XCIII. Upright blocks of sandstone built into an ancient pueblo wall.
An unusual employment of small stones in an upright position occurs at Zuñi. The inclosing wall of the church yard, still used as a burial place, is provided at intervals along its top with upright pieces of stone set into the joints of a regular coping course that caps the wall. This feature may have some connection with the idea of vertical grave stones, noted at K’iakima. It is difficult to surmise what practical purpose could have been subserved by these small upright stones.
ancient rock wall
Plate XCIV. Ancient wall of upright rocks in southwestern Colorado.
Notwithstanding the use of large stones for special purposes the pueblo builders rarely appreciated the advantages that might be obtained by the proper use of such material. Pueblo masonry is essentially made up of small, often minute, constructional units. This restriction doubtless resulted in a higher degree of mural finish than would otherwise have been attained, but it also imposes certain limitations upon their architectural achievement. Some of these are noted in the discussion of openings and of other details of construction.
Pl.XLV, an illustration of a Mormon mill building at Moen-kopi, already referred to in the description of that village, is introduced for the purpose of comparing the methods adopted by the natives and by the whites in the treatment of the same class of material. Perhaps the most noteworthy contrast is seen in the sills and lintels of the openings.
In the pueblo system of building, roof and floor is one; for all the floors, except such as are formed immediately on the surface of the ground, are at the same time the roofs and ceilings of lower rooms. The pueblo plan of to-day readily admits of additions at any time and almost at any point of the basal construction. The addition of roomsabove converts a roof into the floor of the new room, so that there can be no distinction in method of construction between floors and roofs, except the floors are occasionally covered with a complete paving of thin stone slabs, a device that in external roofs is confined to the copings that cap the walls and enframe openings.
roof construction
roof construction
roof construction
Fig. 37.Diagram of Zuñi roof construction.
The methods of roofing their houses practiced by the pueblo builders varied but little, and followed the general order of construction that has been outlined in describing Tusayan house building. The diagram, shown inFig. 37, an isometric projection illustrating roof construction, is taken from a Zuñi example, the building of which was observed by the writer. The roof is built by first a series of principal beams or rafters. These are usually straight, round poles of 6 or 8 inches in diameter, with all bark and projecting knots removed. Squared beams are of very rare occurrence; the only ones seen were those of the Tusayan kivas, of Spanish manufacture. In recently constructed houses the principal beams are often of large size and are very neatly squared off at the ends. Similar square ended beams of large size are met with in the ancient work of the Chaco pueblos, but there the enormous labor involved in producing the result with only the aid of stone implements is in keeping with the highly finished character of the masonry and the general massiveness of the construction. The same treatment was adopted in Kin-tiel, as may be seen inPl.XCV, which illustrates a beam resting upon a ledge or offset of the inner walls. The recent introduction of improved mechanical aids has exerted a strong influence on the character of the construction in greatly facilitating execution. The use of the American ax made it a much easier task to cut large timbers, and the introduction of the “burro” and ox greatly facilitated their transportation. In the case of the modern pueblos, such as Zuñi, the dwelling rooms that were built by families so poor as not to have these aids would to some extent indicate the fact by their more primitive construction, and particularly by their small size, inthis respect more closely resembling the rooms of the ancient pueblos. As a result the poorer classes would be more likely to perpetuate primitive devices, through the necessity for practicing methods that to the wealthier members of the tribe were becoming a matter of tradition only. In such a sedentary tribe as the present Zuñi, these differences of wealth and station are more marked than one would expect to find among a people practicing a style of architecture so evidently influenced by the communal principle, and the architecture of to-day shows the effect of such distinctions. In the house of the governor of Zuñi a new room has been recently built, in which the second series of the roof, that applied over the principal beams, consisted of pine shakes or shingles, and these supported the final earth covering without any intervening material. In the typical arrangement, however, illustrated in the figure, the first series, or principal beams, are covered by another series of small poles, about an inch and a half or two inches in diameter, at right angles to the first, and usually laid quite close together. The ends of these small poles are partially embedded in the masonry of the walls. In an example of the more careful and laborious work of the ancient builders seen at Peñasco Blanco, on the Chaco, the principal beams were covered with narrow boards, from 2 to 4 inches wide and about 1 inch thick, over which was put the usual covering of earth. The boards had the appearance of having been split out with wedges, the edges and faces having the characteristic fibrous appearance of torn or split wood. At Zuñi an instance occurs where split poles have been used for the second series of a roof extending through the whole thickness of the wall and projecting outside, as is commonly the case with the first series. A similar arrangement was seen in a ruined tower in the vicinity of Fort Wingate, New Mexico. In the typical roof construction illustrated the second series is covered with small twigs or brush, laid in close contact and at right angles to the underlying series, or parallel with the main beams.Pl.XCVI, illustrating an unroofed adobe house in Zuñi, shows several bundles of this material on an adjoining roof. This series is in turn covered with a layer of grass and small brush, again at right angles, which prepares the frame for the reception of the final earth covering, this latter being the fifth application to the roof. In the example illustrated the entire earth covering of the roof was finished in a single application of the material. It has been seen that at Tusayan a layer of moistened earth is applied, followed by a thicker layer of the dry soil.
Kin-tiel floor beams
Plate XCV. Ancient floor-beams at Kin-tiel.
In ancient construction, the method of arranging the material varied somewhat. In some cases series 3 was very carefully constructed of straight willow wands laid side by side in contact. This gave a very neat appearance to the ceiling within the room. Examples were seen in Canyon de Chelly, at Mummy Cave, and at Hungo Pavie and Pueblo Bonito on the Chaco.
Again examples occur where series 2 is composed of 2-inch poles in contact and the joints are chinked on the upper side with smallstones to prevent the earth from sifting through. This arrangement was seen in a small cluster on the canyon bottom on the de Chelly.
Zuñi walls
Plate XCVI. Adobe walls in Zuñi.
The small size of available roofing rafters has at Tusayan brought about a construction of clumsy piers of masonry in a few of the larger rooms, which support the ends of two sets of main girders, and these in turn carry series 1, or the main ceiling beams of the roof. The girders are generally double, an arrangement that has been often employed in ancient times, as many examples occur among the ruins. The purpose of such arrangement may have been to admit of the abutment of the ends of series 1, when the members of the latter were laid in contact. In the absence of squared beams, which seem never to have been used in the old work, this abutment could only be securely accomplished by the use of double girders, as suggested in the following diagram,Fig. 38.
The final roof covering, composed of clay, is usually laid on very carefully and firmly, and, when the surface is unbroken, answers fairly well as a watershed. A slight slope or fall is given to the roof. This roof subserves every purpose of a front yard to the rooms that open upon it, and seems to be used exactly like the ground itself. Sheepskins are stretched and pegged out upon it for tanning or drying, and the characteristic Zuñi dome-shaped oven is frequently built upon it. In Zuñi generally upper rooms are provided only with a mud floor, although occasionally the method of paving with large thin slabs of stone is adopted. These are often somewhat irregular in form, the object being to have them as large as possible, so that considerable ingenuity is often displayed in selecting the pieces and in joining the irregular edges. This arrangement, similar to that of the kiva floors of Tusayan, is occasionally met with in the kivas.
In making excavations at Kin-tiel, the floor of the ground room in which the circular door illustrated inPl.C, was found was paved with large, irregular fragments of stone, the thickness of which did not average more than an inch. Its floor, whose paving was all in place, was strewn with broken, irregular fragments similar in character, which must have been used as the flooring of an upper chamber.
In the construction of the typical pueblo house the walls are carried up to the height of the roof surface, and are then capped with a continuous protecting coping of thin flat stones, laid in close contact, their outer edges flush with the face of the wall. This arrangement is still the prevailing one at Tusayan, though there is an occasional example of the projecting coping that practically forms a cornice. This latter is the more usual form at Zuñi, though in the farming pueblos of Cibolait does not occur with any greater frequency than at Tusayan. The flush coping is in Tusayan made of the thinnest and most uniform specimens of building stone available, but these are not nearly so well adapted to the purpose as those found in the vicinity of Zuñi.
Here the projecting stones are of singularly regular and symmetrical form, and receive very little artificial treatment. Their extreme thinness makes it easy to trim off the projecting corners and angles, reducing them to such a form that they can be laid in close contact. Thus laid they furnish an admirable protection against the destructive action of the violent rains. The stones are usually trimmed to a width corresponding to the thickness of the walls. Of course where a projecting cornice is built, it can be made, to some extent, to conform to the width of available coping stones. These can usually be procured, however, of nearly uniform width. In the case of the overhanging cornices the necessary projection is attained by continuing either the main roof beams, or sometimes the smaller poles of the second series, according to the position of the required cornice, for a foot or more beyond the outer face of the wall. Over these poles the roofing is continued as in ordinary roof construction with the exception that the edge of the earth covering is built of masonry, an additional precaution against its destruction by the rains. In many places the adobe plastering originally applied to the faces of these cornices, as well as to the walls, has been washed away, exposing the whole construction. In some of these instances the face of the cornice furnishes a complete section of the roof, in which all the series of its construction can be readily identified. The protective agency of these coping stones is well illustrated inPl.XCVII, which shows the destructive effect of rain at a point where an open joint has admitted enough water to bare the masonry of the cornice face, eating through its coating of adobe, while at the firmly closed joint toward the left there has been no erosive action. The much larger proportion of projecting copings or cornices in Zuñi, as compared with Tusayan, is undoubtedly attributable to the universal smoothing of the walls with adobe, and to the more general use of this perishable medium in this village, and the consequent necessity for protecting the walls. The efficiency of this means of protecting the wall against the wear of weather is seen in the preservation of external whitewashing for several feet below such a cornice on the face of the walls. At the pueblo of Acoma a similar extensive use of projecting cornices is met with, particularly on the third story walls. Here again it is due to the use of adobe, which has been more frequently employed in the finish of the higher and newer portions of the village than in the lower terraces. As a rule these overhanging copings occurprincipallyon the southern exposures of the buildings and on the terraced sides of house rows. When walls rise to the height of several stories directly from the ground, such as the back walls of house rows, they are not usually provided with this feature but are capped with flush copings.
Zuñi oven
Plate XCVII. Wall coping and oven at Zuñi.
The rapid and destructive erosion of the earthen roof covering must have early stimulated the pueblo architect to devise means for promptly distributing where it would do the least harm, the water which came upon his house. This necessity must have led to the early use of roof drains, for in no other way could the ancient builders have provided for the effectual removal of the water from, the roofs and at the same time have preserved intact the masonry of the walls. Unfortunately we have no examples of such features in the ruined pueblos, for in the destruction or decay of the houses they are among the first details to be lost. The roof drain in the modern architecture becomes a very prominent feature, particularly at Zuñi.
These drains are formed by piercing an opening through the thickness of the coping wall, at a point where the drainage from the roof would collect, the opening being made with a decided pitch and furnished with a spout or device of some kind to insure the discharge of the water beyond the face of the wall. These spouts assume a variety of forms. Perhaps the most common is that of a single long, narrow slab of stone, set at a suitable angle and of sufficient projection to throw the discharge clear of the wall.Fig. 39illustrates drains of this type, No. 1 being a Tusayan example and No. 2 from Zuñi. It will be noted that the surrounding masonry of the former, as well as the stone itself, are much ruder than the Zuñi example. Another type of drain, not differing greatly from the preceding, is illustrated inFig. 40. This form is a slight improvement on the single stone drain, as it is provided with sidepieces which convert the device into a trough-like spout, and more effectually direct the discharge. No. 1 is a Tusayan spout and No. 2 a Zuñi example. Wooden spouts are also commonly used for this purpose.Fig. 41illustrates an example from each province of this form of drain. These are usually made from small tree trunks, not exceeding 3 or 4 inches in diameter, and are gouged out from one side. No tubular specimens of wooden spouts were seen. At Tusayan the builders have utilized stone of a concretionary formation for roof drains. The workers in stone could not wish for material more suitably fashioned for the purpose than these specimens. Two of these curious stone channels are illustrated inFig. 42. Two more examples of Tusayan roof drains are illustrated inFig. 43. The first of the latter shows the use of a discarded metate, or mealing stone, and the second of a gourd that has been walled into the coping.
It is said that tubes of clay were used at Awatubi in olden times for roof drains, but there remains no positive evidence of this. Three forms of this device are attributed to the people of that village. Some are said to have been made of wood, others of stone, and some again of sun-dried clay. The native explanation of the use in this connection of sun-dried clay, instead of the more durable baked product, was that the application of fire to any object that water passes through would be likely to dry up the rains. It was stated in this connection that at the present day the cobs of the corn used for planting are not burned until rain has fallen on the crop. If the clay spout described really existed among the people at Awatubi, it was likely to have been an innovation introduced by the Spanish missionaries. Among the potsherds picked up at this ruin was a small piece of coarsely made clay tube, which seemed to be too large and too roughly modeled to have been the handle of a ladle, which it roughly resembled, or to have belonged to any other known form of domestic pottery. As a roof drain its use would not accord with the restrictions referred to in the native account, as the piece had been burnt.
In some cases in Zuñi where drains discharge from the roofs of upper terraces directly upon those below, the lower roofs and also the adjoining vertical walls are protected by thin tablets of stone, as shown inFig. 44. It will be seen that one of these is placed upon the lower roof in such a position that the drainage falls directly upon it. Where the adobe roof covering is left unprotected its destruction by the rain is very rapid, as the showers of the rainy season in these regions, though usually of short duration, are often extremely violent. The force of the torrents is illustrated in the neighboring country. Here small ruts in the surface of the ground are rapidly converted into large arroyos. Frequently ordinary wagon tracks along a bit of valley slope serve as an initial channel to the rapidly accumulating waters and are eatenaway in a few weeks so that the road becomes wholly impassable, and must be abandoned for a new one alongside.
roof drain
Fig. 44.Zuñi roof drain, with splash stones on roof below.
The shiftlessness of the native builders in the use of the more convenient material brings its own penalty during this season in a necessity for constant watchfulness and frequent repairs to keep the houses habitable. One can often see in Zuñi where an inefficient drain or a broken coping has given the water free access to the face of a plastered wall, carrying away all its covering and exposing in a vertical space the jagged stones of the underlying masonry. It is noticeable that much more attention has been paid to protective devices at Zuñi than at Tusayan. This is undoubtedly due to the prevalent use of adobe in the former. This friable material must be protected at all vulnerable points with slabs of stone in order quickly to divert the water and preserve the roofs and walls from destruction.
In the inclosed court of the old fortress pueblos the first terrace was reached only by means of ladders, but the terraces or rooms above this were reached both by ladders and steps. The removal of the lower tier of ladders thus gave security against intrusion and attack. The builders of Tusayan have preserved this primitive arrangement in much greater purity than those of Cibola.
In Zuñi numerous ladders are seen on every terrace, but the purpose of these, on the highest terraces, is not to provide access to the rooms of the upper story, which always have external doors opening on the terraces, but to facilitate repairs of the roofs. At Tusayan, on theother hand, ladders are of rare occurrence above the first terrace, their place being supplied by flights of stone steps. The relative scarcity of stone at Zuñi, suitable for building material, and its great abundance at Tusayan, undoubtedly account for this difference of usage, especially as the proximity of the timber supply of the Zuñi mountains to the former facilitates the substitution of wood for steps of masonry.
The earliest form of ladder among the pueblos was probably a notched log, a form still occasionally used. Figures 45 and 46 illustrate examples of this type of ladder from Tusayan.
A notched ladder from Oraibi, made with a modern axe, is shown. This specimen has a squareness of outline and an evenness of surface not observed in the ancient examples. The ladder from Mashongnavi, illustrated on the left ofFig. 46, closely resembles the Oraibi specimen, though the workmanship is somewhat ruder. The example illustrated on the right of the same figure is from Oraibi. This ladder is very old, and its present rough and weatherbeaten surface affords but little evidence of the character of the implement used in making it.
The ladder having two poles connected by cross rungs is undoubtedly a native invention, and was probably developed through a series of improvements on the primitive notched type. It is described in detail in the earliest Spanish accounts.Fig. 47illustrates on the left the notched ladder, and on the right a typical two-pole ladder in its most primitive form. In this case the rungs are simply lashed to the uprights. The center ladder of the diagram is a Mandan device illustrated by Mr. Lewis H. Morgan.6As used by the Mandans this ladder is placed with its forked end on the ground, the reverse of the Pueblo practice. It will readily be seen, on comparing these examples, that an elongation of the fork which occurs as a constant accompaniment of the notched ladder might eventually suggest a construction similar to that of the Mandan ladder reversed. The function of the fork on the notched ladder in steadying it when placed against the wall would be more effectually performed by enlarging this feature.
At one stage in the development of the form of ladder in common use to-day the rungs were laid in depressions or notches of the vertical poles, resembling the larger notches of the single ladder, and then lashed on with thongs of rawhide or with other materials. Later, when the use of iron became known, holes were burned through the side poles. This is the nearly universal practice to-day, though some of the more skillful pueblo carpenters manage to chisel out rectangular holes. The piercing of the side poles,particularlyprevalent in Zuni, has brought about a curious departure from the ancient practice of removing the ladder in times of threatened danger. Long rungs are loosely slipped into the holes in the side pieces, and the security formerly gained by taking up the entire ladder is now obtained, partially at least, by the removal of the rungs. The boring of the side pieces and the employment of loose rungs seriously interferes with the stability of the structure, as means must be provided to prevent the spreading apart of the side pieces. The Zuni architect has met this difficulty by prolonging the poles of the ladder and attaching a cross piece near their upper ends to hold them together. As a rule this cross piece is provided with a hole near each end into which the tapering extremities of the poles are inserted. From their high position near the extremities of the ladders, seen in silhouette against the sky, they form peculiarly striking features of Zuni. They are frequently decorated with rude carvings of terraced notches. Examples of this device may be seen in the views of Zuni, and several typical specimens are illustrated in detail inPl.XCVIII. The use of cross pieces on ladders emerging from roof openings is not so common as on external ones, as there is not the same necessity for holding together the poles, the sides of the opening performing that office.
There are two places in Zuni, portions of the densest house cluster, where the needs of unusual traffic have been met by the employment of double ladders, made of three vertical poles, which accommodate two tiers of rungs. The sticks forming the rungs are inserted in continuous lengths through all three poles, and the cross pieces at the top are also continuous, being formed of a single flat piece of wood perforated by three holes for the reception of the tips of the poles. In additional to the usual cross pieces pierced for the reception of the side poles and rudely carved into ornamental forms, many temporary cross pieces are added during the harvest season in the early autumn to support the strips of meat and melons, strings of red peppers, and other articles dried in the open air prior to storage for winter use. At this season every device that will serve this purpose is employed. Occasionally poles are seen extending across the reentering angles of a house or are supported on the coping and rafters. The projecting roof beams also are similarly utilized at this season.
Zuni ladders are usually provided with about eight rungs, but a few have as many as twelve. The women ascend these ladders carrying ollas of water on their heads, children play upon them, and a few of themost expert of the numerous dogs that infest the village can clumsily make their way up and down them. As described in a previous section all houses built during the year are consecrated at a certain season, and among other details of the ceremonial, certain rites, intended to prevent accidents to children, etc., are performed at the foot of the ladders.
In Tusayan, where stone is abundant, the ladder has not reached the elaborate development seen in Zuñi. The perforated cross piece is rarely seen, as there is little necessity for its adoption. The side poles are held together by the top and bottom rungs, which pass entirely through the side pieces and are securely fixed, while the ends of the others are only partly embedded in the side pieces. In other cases (Pl.XXXII) the poles are rigidly held in place by ropes or rawhide lashings.
Short ladders whose side poles are but little prolonged beyond the top rung are of common occurrence, particularly in Oraibi. Three such ladders are shown inPl.LXXXIV. A similar example may be seen inPl.CVII, in connection with a large opening closed with rough masonry. In these cases the rungs are made to occupy slight notches or depressions in the upright poles and are then firmly lashed with rawhide, forming a fairly rigid structure. This type of ladder is probably a survival of the earliest form of the pueblo ladder.
ladder cross-pieces
Plate XCVIII. Cross-pieces on Zuñi ladders.
In addition to the high cross piece whose function is to retain in place the vertical poles, the kiva ladders are usually provided, both in Zuñi and Tusayan, with a cross piece consisting of a round stick tied to the uprights and placed at a uniform height above the kiva roof. This stick affords a handhold for the marked dancers who are often encumbered with ceremonial paraphernalia as they enter the kiva. In the case of the Oraibi kiva occupying the foreground ofPl.XXXVIII, it may be seen that this handhold cross piece is inserted into holes in the side poles, an exception to the general practice. InPl.LXXXVII, illustrating kivas, the position of this feature will be seen.
outside steps
Plate XCIX. Outside steps at Pescado.
The exceptional mode of access to Tusayan kiva hatchways by means of short nights of stone steps has already been noticed. In several instances the top steps of these short flights cover the thickness of the wall. The remains of a similar stairway were observed in Pueblo Bonito, where it evidently reached directly from the ground to an external doorway. Access by such means, however, is a departure from the original defensive idea.
stone steps
Fig. 48.Stone steps at Oraibi, with platform at corner.
Modern practice in Zuñi has departed more widely from the primitive system than at Tusayan. In the former pueblo short nights of stone steps giving access to doors raised but a short distance above the ground are very commonly seen. Even in the small farming pueblo of Pescado two examples of this arrangement are met with.Pl.XCIXillustrates one of these found on the north outside wall. In the general views of the Tusayan villages the closer adherence to primitive methods isclearly indicated, although the modern compare very unfavorably with the ancient examples in precision of execution.Pl.XXXIIillustrates two flights of stone steps of Shupaulovi. In many cases the workmanship of these stone steps does not surpass that seen in the Walpi trail, illustrated inPl.XXV.
stone steps
Fig. 49.Stone steps, with platform at chimney, in Oraibi.
Perhaps in no one detail of pueblo construction are the careless and shiftless modern methods so conspicuous as in the stone steps of the upper terraces of Tusayan. Here are seen many awkward makeshifts by means of which the builders have tried to compensate for their lack of foresight in planning. The absence of a definite plan for a house cluster of many rooms, already noted in the discussion of dwelling-house construction, is rendered conspicuous by the manner in which the stone stairways are used. Figs.48and49illustrate stone steps on upper terraces in Oraibi. In both cases the steps have been added long after the rooms against which they abut were built. In order to conform to the fixed requirement of placing such means of access at the corners of the upper rooms, the builders constructed a clumsy platform to afford passage around the previously built chimney.Fig. 50shows the result of a similar lack of foresight. The upper portion of the flight, consisting of three steps, has been abruptly turned at right angles to the main flight, and is supported upon rude poles and beams. The restriction of this feature to the corners of upper rooms where they were most likely to conflict with chimneys is undoubtedly a survival of ancient practice, and due to the necessary vertical alignment of walls and masonry in this primitive construction.
Most of the cooking of the ancient Pueblos was probably done out of doors, as among the ruins vestiges of cooking pits, almost identical incharacter with those still found in Tusayan, are frequently seen. In Cibola the large dome-shaped ovens, common to the Pueblos of the Rio Grande and to their Mexican neighbors are in general use. In Tusayan a few examples of this form of oven occur upon the roofs of the terraces, while the cooking pit in a variety of forms is still extensively used.
The distribution of the dome-shaped ovens in Cibola and in Tusayan may be seen on the ground plans in ChaptersIIIandIV. The simplest form of cooking pit, still commonly used in Tusayan, consists of a depression in the ground, lined with a coating of mud. The pit is usually of small size and is commonly placed at some little distance from the house; in a few cases it is located in a sheltered corner of the building.Fig. 51illustrates a series of three such primitive ovens built against a house wall, in a low bench or ledge of masonry raised 6 inches above the ground; the holes measure about a foot across and are about 18 or 20 inches deep. Many similar pits occur in the Tusayan villages; some of them are walled in with upright stone slabs, whose rough edges project 6 or 8 inches above the ground, the result closely resembling the ancient form of in-door fireplace, such as that seen in a room of Kin-tiel. (Pl.C.)
Kin-tiel room
Plate C. An excavated room at Kin-tiel.
In its perfected form the cooking pit in Tusayan takes the place of the more elaborate oven used in Zuñi. Figs.52and53show two specimens of pits used for the preparation of pi-gummi, a kind of baked mush.
These occur on the east side of Mashongnavi. They project 6 or 8 inches above the ground, and have a depth of from 18 to 24 inches. The débris scattered about the pits indicates the manner in which they are covered with slabs of stone and sealed with mud when in use. In all the oven, devices of the pueblos the interior is first thoroughly heated by a long continued fire within, the structure. When the temperature is sufficiently high the ashes and dirt are cleaned out, the articles to be cooked inserted, and the orifices sealed. The food is often left in these heated receptacles for 12 hours or more, and on removal it is generally found to be very nicely cooked. Each of the pi-gummi ovens illustrated above is provided with a tube-like orifice 3 or 4 inches in diameter, descending obliquely from the ground level into the cavity. Through this opening the fire is arranged and kept in order, and in this respect it seems to be the counterpart of the smaller hole of the Zuñi dome-shaped ovens. When the principal opening, by which the vessel containing the pi-gummi or other articles is introduced, has been covered with a slab of stone and sealed with mud, the effect is similar to that of the dome-shaped oven when the ground-opening or doorway is hermetically closed.
No example of the dome-shaped oven of pre-Columbian origin has been found among the pueblo ruins, although its prototype probably existed in ancient times, possibly in the form of a kiln for baking a fine quality of pottery formerly manufactured. However, the cooking pit alone, developed to the point of the pi-gummi oven of Tusayan, may have been the stem upon which the foreign idea was engrafted. Instances of the complete adoption by these conservative people of a wholly foreign idea or feature of construction are not likely to be found, as improvements are almost universally confined to the mere modification of existing devices. In the few instances in which more radical changes are attempted the resulting forms bear evidence of the fact.
In Cibola the construction of a dome-shaped oven is begun by laying out roughly a circle of flat stones as a foundation. Upon these theupper structure is rudely built of stones laid in the mud and approximately in the courses, though often during construction one side will be carried considerably higher than another. The walls curve inward to an apparently unsafe degree, but the mud mortar is often allowed to partly dry before carrying the overhanging portion so far as to endanger the structure, and accidents rarely happen. The oven illustrated inPl.XCVIIshows near its broken doorway the arrangement of foundation stones referred to. Typical examples of the dome oven occur in the foreground of the general view of Zuñi shown inPl.LXXVIII.
oven
Fig. 55.Dome-shaped oven on a plinth of masonry.
The dome ovens of Cibola are generally smoothly plastered, inside and out, but a few examples are seen in which the stones of the masonry are exposed. In.Pl.XCIXmay be seen two ovens differing in size, one of which shows the manner in which the opening is blocked up with stone to keep out stray dogs during periods of disuse.Fig. 55illustrates a mud-plastered oven at Pescado, which is elevated about a foot above the ground on a base or plinth of masonry. The opening of this oven is on the side toward the houses. This form is quite exceptional in Cibola, though of frequent occurrence among the Rio Grande pueblos. A very large and carefully finished example was examined at Jemez.
oven
Fig. 56.Oven in Pescado exposing stones of masonry.