A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola: Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1886-1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 3-228Mindeleff, Cosmos
History
A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola: Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1886-1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 3-228
Mindeleff, Cosmos
Pueblo Indians -- Antiquities; Pueblo architecture
The ground plan of the church shows that the openings were splayed in
the thickness of the walls, at an angle of about 45°. In the doorway, in
the east end of the building, the greater width of the opening is on the
inside, a rather unusual arrangement; in the window, on the north side,
this arrangement is reversed, the splay being outward. On the south side
are indications of a similar opening, but at the present time the wall
is so broken out that no well defined jamb can be traced, and it is
impossible to determine whether the splayed opening was used or not. The
stones of the masonry are laid with extreme care at the angles and in
the faces of these splays, producing a highly finished effect.
The position of the beam-holes on the inner face of the wall suggests
that the floor of the church had been raised somewhat above the ground,
and that there may have been a cellar-like space under it. No beams are
now found, however, and no remains of wood are seen in the “altar” end
of the church. At the present time there are low partitions dividing the
inclosed area into six rooms or cells. The Indians state that these were
built at a late date to convert the church into a defense against the
hostile Apache from the south. These partitions apparently formed no
part of the original design, yet it is difficult to see how they could
have served as a defense, unless they were intended to be roofed over
and thus converted into completely inclosed rooms. A stone of somewhat
larger size than usual has been built into the south wall of the church.
Upon its surface some native artist has engraved a rudely drawn mask.
[Illustration: Plate XXXVII. Key to the Oraibi plan, also showing
localization of gentes.] [numbering gap]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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