490 NAVAHO HOUSES [ETH. ANN. 17 
laid down with the small ends close to the forks of the north and south , 
timbers and with their butt ends pointing to the east. They must be 
spread apart about the width of the doorway which they will form. 
When all the timbers have been laid out on the ground, the position 
of each one of the five butts is marked by a stone or in some other con- 
venient way, but great care must be exercised to have the doorway tim- 
bers point exactly to the east. Sometimes measurements are made 
without placing the timbers on the site, their positions and lengths 
being determined by the use of a long sapling. The interior area being 
thus approximated, all the timbers are removed, and, guided only by 
the eye, a rough circle is laid out, well within the area previously 
marked. The ground within this circle is then scraped and dug out 
until a fairly level floor is obtained, leaving a low bench of earth entirely 
or partly around the interior. This bench is sometimes as much asa 
foot and a half high on the high side of a slightly sloping site, but ordi- 
narily it is less than a foot. The object of this excavation is twofold— 
to make a level floor with a corresponding increase in the height of 
the structure, and to afford a bench on which the many small articles 
constituting the domestic paraphernalia can be set aside and thus 
avoid littering the floor. 
The north and south timbers are the first to be placed, and each is 
handled by a number of men, usually four or five, who set the butt ends 
firmly in the ground on opposite sides at the points previously marked 
and lower the timbers to a slanting position until the forks lock 
together. While some of the men hold these timbers in place others 
set the west timber on the western side of the circle, placing it in such 
a position and in such a manner that its fork receives the other two 
and the whole structure is bound together at the top. The forked 
apex of the frame is 6 to 8 feet above the ground in ordinary hogans, 
but on the high plateaus and among the pine forests in the mountain 
districts hogans of this type, but intended for ceremonial purposes, 
are sometimes constructed with an interior height of 10 or 11 feet, 
and inclose an area 25 to 30 feet in diameter. Following is a list of 
measurements of four typical hogans: ~ 
Measurements of typical hogdns 
j ad = Space between 
Door frame Interior Height Smoke hole doorway _ doorway timbers 
ae = under ee, ES ~ 
Northand Eastand apex | Width | Width Weewelr 5) 
Height | | Width parith ant | at apex | at base Length | At anes At base 
_———— Se = E = | |= = —— —- es 
| | 
Ft. in. | Ft. in. Ft. in. Fl. in. Ft. in. | Ft. in. | Ft. in. | Ft. in. | Ft. in. Ft. in. 
| i} 
3. 68 3. 8 17 10 18 0 ie! 9 1 10 | CieOmmior LO, 4) 1 100), 33) 8 
220) | Aiaes a | se OG a Very irregular 21 (0) 1/31 0 
4 46 1 6 1429 } La SON ao 1. 2) 2 4 SO) ek Tae sheng 
CP a © iaeise | Rech eke: Testo eaetON 3) 0 2 20 ae 
| | | 
