This restriction of the width of
openings was due to the exceptionally small size of the building stone
made use of. Although larger stones were available, the builders had not
sufficient constructive skill to successfully utilize them. The failure
to utilize this material indicates a degree of ignorance of mechanical
aids that at first thought seems scarcely in keeping with the
massiveness of form and the high degree of finish characterizing many of
the remains; but as already seen in the discussion of masonry, the
latter results were attained by the patient industry of many hands,
although laboring with but little of the spirit of cooperation. The
narrowness of the largest doors and windows in the ancient pueblos
suggests timidity on the part of the ancient builders. The apparently
bolder construction of the present day, shown in the prevailing use of
horizontal openings, is not due to greater constructive skill, but
rather to the markedly greater carelessness of modern construction.
[Illustration: Fig. 87. Diagram illustrating symmetrical arrangement
of small openings in Pueblo Bonito.]
The same contrast between modern and ancient practice is seen in the
disposition of openings in walls. In the modern pueblos there does not
seem to be any regularity or system in their introduction, while in some
of the older pueblos, such as Pueblo Bonito on the Chaco, and others of
the same group, the arrangement of the outer openings exhibits a certain
degree of symmetry.
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