MINDELEFF.] ZUNI ROOF CONSTRUCTION. 149 
above converts a roof into the floor of the new room, so that there can 
be no distinction in method of construction between floors and roofs, 
except the floors are occasionally covered with a complete paving of 
thin stone slabs, a device that in external roofs is confined to the cop- 
ings that cap the walls and enframe openings. 
The methods of roofing their houses practiced by the pueblo build- 
ers varied but little, and followed the general order of construction 
that has been outlined in describing Tusayan house building. The 
diagram shown in Fig. 37, an isometric projection illustrating roof 
Fig. 37. Diagram of Zuni roof construction. 
construction, is taken from a Zuni example, the building of which was 
observed by the writer. The roof is built by first a series of principal 
beams or rafters. These are usually straight, round poles of 6 or 8 inches 
in diameter, with all bark and projecting knots removed. Squared 
beams are of very rare occurrence; the only ones seen were those of 
the Tusayan kivas, of Spanish manufacture. In recently constructed 
houses the prmeipal beams are often of large size and are very neatly 
squared off at the ends. Similar square ended beams of large size are 
met with in the ancient work of the Chaco pueblos, but there the enor- 
mous labor involved in producing the result with only the aid of stone 
implements is in keeping-with the highly finished character of the 
masonry and the general massiveness of the construction. The same 
treatment was adopted in Kin-tiel, as may be seen in PI. xcy, which 
illustrates a beam resting upon a ledge or offset of the inner walls. The 
recent introduction of improved mechanical aids has exerted a strong 
influence on the character of the construction in greatly facilitating 
execution. The use of the American ax made it a much easier task to 
cut large timbers, and the introduction of the ‘ burro” and ox greatly 
facilitated their transportation. In the case of the modern pueblos, 
such as Zuni, the dwelling rooms that were built by families so poor as 
not to have these aids would to some extent indicate the fact by their 
more primitive construction, and particularly by their small size, in 
