184 PUEBLO ARCHITECTURE. 
hole instead of the entire opening was brought about by the introdue- 
tion of the wooden door, which in its present paneled form is of foreign 
introduction, but in this, as in so many other cases, some analogous 
feature which facilitated the adoption of the idea probably already ex- 
isted. Tradition points to the early use of a small door, made of a 
single slab of wood, that closed the small rectangular wall niches, in 
which valuables, such as turquoise, shell, etc., were kept. This slab, it 
is said, was reduced and smoothed by rubbing with a piece of sandstone. 
A number of beams, rafters, and roofing planks, seen in the Chaco 
pueblos, were probably squared and finished in this way. The latter 
examples show a degree of familiarity with this treatment of wood that 
would enable the builders to construct such doors with ease. As yet, 
however, no examples of wooden doors have been seen in any of the 
pre-Columbian ruins. 
The pueblo type of paneled door is much more frequently seen in 
Cibola than in Tusayan, and in the latter province 
it does not assume the variety of treatment seen in 
Zuni, nor is the work so neatly executed. The 
views of the modern pueblos, given in Chapters 011 
and Iv, will indicate the extent to which this fea- 
ture occurs in the two groups. In the construction 
of a paneled door the vertical stile on one side is 
prolonged at the top and bottom into a rounded 
pivot, which works into cup-like sockets in the 
lintel and sill, as illustrated in Fig. 76. The hinge 
is thus produced in the wood itself without the aid 
of any external appliances. 
It is difficult to trace the origin of this device 
among the pueblos. It closely resembles the pivot 
Tia. 76. Wooden pivot 
hinges of a Zuni door. hinges sometimes used in medieval Europe in 
connection with massive gates for closing masonry passages; in such 
cases the prolonged pivots worked in cavities of stone sills and lintels. 
The Indians claim to have employed it in very early times, but no evi- 
dence on this point has been found. It is quite possible that the idea 
was borrowed from some of the earlier Mormon settlers who came into 
the country, as these people use a number of primitive devices which 
are undoubtedly survivals of methods of construction once common in 
the countries from which they came. Vestiges of the use of a pivotal 
hinge, constructed on a much more massive scale than any of the 
pueblo examples, were seen at an old fortress-like, stone storehouse 
of the Mormons, built near the site of Moen-kopi by the first Mormon 
settlers. 
The paneled door now in use among the pueblos is rudely made, and 
consists of a frame inclosing a single panel. This panel, when of large 
size, is occasionally made of two or more pieces. These doors vary 
greatly in size. A few reach the height of 5*feet, but the usual height 
