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.
[Illustration: Fig. 54. Diagram showing foundation stones of a Zu?i
oven.]
[Illustration: Plate LXXX. Old adobe church of Zu?i.]
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 the upper
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 in Pl.
XCVII shows 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 Zu?i shown in Pl. LXXVIII.
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. XCIX may 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.
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