Shelves made of sawed boards are
occasionally seen, but as a rule such boards are considered too valuable
to be used in this manner. A more common arrangement, particularly in
Tusayan, is a combination of three or four slender poles placed side by
side, 2 or 3 inches apart, forming a rude shelf, upon which trays of
food are kept.
Another device for the storage of food, occasionally seen in the pueblo
house, is a pocket or bin built into the corner of a room. Fig. 101,
illustrating the plan of a Tusayan house, indicates the position of one
of these cupboard-like inclosures. A sketch of this specimen is shown in
Fig. 102. This bin, used for the storage of beans, grain, and the like,
is formed by cutting off a corner of the room by setting two stone slabs
into the floor, and it is covered with the mud plastering which extends
over the neighboring walls.
A curious modification of this device was seen in one of the inner rooms
in Zu?i, in the house of Jos? Pi?. A large earthen jar, apparently an
ordinary water vessel, was built into a projecting masonry bench near
the corner of the room in such a manner that its rim projected less than
half an inch above its surface. This jar was used for the same purpose
as the Tusayan corner bin.
[Illustration: Fig. 102. A Tusayan grain bin.]
[Illustration: Fig. 103. A Zu?i plume box.]
Some of the Indians of the present time have chests or boxes in which
their ceremonial blankets and paraphernalia are kept.
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