Part 17 (1/2)
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 42. Curved roof drains of stone in Tusayan.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate LXXIV. General view of Ojo Caliente.]
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 pa.s.ses 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 coa.r.s.ely 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.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 43. Tusayan roof drains; a discarded metate and a gourd.]
In some cases in Zui 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 in Fig. 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 ill.u.s.trated 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 acc.u.mulating waters and are eaten away in a few weeks so that the road becomes wholly impa.s.sable, and must be abandoned for a new one alongside.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 44. Zui roof drain, with splash stones on roof below.]
The s.h.i.+ftlessness 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 Zui 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 s.p.a.ce the jagged stones of the underlying masonry. It is noticeable that much more attention has been paid to protective devices at Zui 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.
LADDERS AND STEPS.
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.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate LXXV. House at Ojo Caliente.]
In Zui 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 the other 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 Zui, 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 Zui mountains to the former facilitates the subst.i.tution of wood for steps of masonry.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 45. A modern notched ladder in Oraibi.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 46. Tusayan notched ladders from Mashongnavi.]
The earliest form of ladder among the pueblos was probably a notched log, a form still occasionally used. Figures 45 and 46 ill.u.s.trate 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, ill.u.s.trated on the left of Fig. 46, closely resembles the Oraibi specimen, though the workmans.h.i.+p is somewhat ruder. The example ill.u.s.trated 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.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 47. Aboriginal American forms of ladder.]
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. 47 ill.u.s.trates 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 ill.u.s.trated by Mr. Lewis H. Morgan.[6] As 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.
[Footnote 6: Cont. to N.A. Ethn., vol. 4, Houses and House life, pp. 129-131.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate LXXVII. Outline plan of Zui, showing distribution of oblique openings.]
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, particularly prevalent 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 ill.u.s.trated in detail in Pl.
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 cl.u.s.ter, 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 the most 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 Zui. 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 pa.s.s 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. x.x.xII) the poles are rigidly held in place by ropes or rawhide las.h.i.+ngs.
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 in Pl. Lx.x.xIV. A similar example may be seen in Pl.
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.