In addition to roof openings of the type described, the dense clustering
of the Zu?i houses has led to the invention of a curious device for
lighting inner rooms not reached by ordinary external openings. This
consists of an opening, usually of oval or subrectangular form in
elevation, placed at the junction of the roof with a vertical wall. This
opening is carried down obliquely between the roofing beams, as shown in
the sections, Fig. 100, so that the light is admitted within the room
just at the junction of the ceiling and the inner face of the wall. With
the meager facilities and rude methods of the Zu?i, this peculiar
arrangement often involved weak construction, and the openings, placed
so low in the wall, were in danger of admitting water from the roof. The
difficulty of obtaining the desired light by this device was much
lessened where the outer roof was somewhat lower than the ceiling
within.
These oblique openings occur not only in the larger clusters of houses
Nos. 1 and 4, but also in the more openly planned portions of the
village, though they do not occur either at Acoma or in the Tusayan
villages. They afford an interesting example of the transfer and
continuance in use of a constructional device developed in one place by
unusual conditions to a new field in which it was uncalled for, being
less efficient and more difficult of introduction than the devices in
ordinary use.
[Illustration: Fig. 100. Typical sections of Zu?i oblique openings.
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