In such a
sedentary tribe as the present Zu?i, 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 Zu?i 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 Pe?asco 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 Zu?i 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.
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