In a second story house of Mashongnavi,
that had been carefully whitewashed, additional decorative effect was
produced by tinting a broad band about the base of the wall with an
application of bright pinkish clay, which was also carried around the
doorway as an enframing band, as in the case of the Zu?i door above
described. The angles on each side, at the junction of the broad base
band with the narrower doorway border, were filled in with a design of
alternating pink and white squares. This doorway is illustrated in Fig.
36. Farther north, on the same terrace, the jamb of a whitewashed
doorway was decorated with the design shown on the right hand side of
Fig. 36, executed also in pink clay. This design closely resembles a
pattern that is commonly embroidered upon the large white "kachina," or
ceremonial blankets. It is not known whether the device is here regarded
as having any special significance. The pink clay in which these designs
have been executed has in Sichumovi been used for the coating of an
entire house front.
[Illustration: Fig. 36. Wall decorations in Mashongnavi executed in
pink on a white ground].
In addition to the above-mentioned uses of stone and earth in the
masonry of house walls, the pueblo builders have employed both these
materials in a more primitive manner in building the walls of corrals
and gardens, and for other purposes. The small terraced gardens of Zu?i,
located on the borders of the village on the southwest and southeast
sides, close to the river bank, are each surrounded by walls 2? or 3
feet high, of very light construction, the average thickness not
exceeding 6 or 8 inches.
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