HOUSES OF THE SIERRA TARASCANS ^BEALS, CARRASCO, McCORKLE 



25 



on nine large stones of hard gray rock brought 

 from the barranca north of town. The porch 

 was not floored. Other materials used were pine 

 beams and planks, fir shingles, and nails. Doors 

 were purchased ready-made. 



T.\BLE 3. — Materials, labor, and cost of constructing a 

 wooden house, or "Iroje," at Morelos 31 in June 1940 



1 Presumably quarried by builder. 

 - Included under cost of materials. 

 3 At rate of 3 pesos per dozen. 



See rocks for foundation. 



As in all other cases, informants did not include 

 the cost of nails for fastening the roof shakes, the 

 only place nails are employed. In this case, the 

 builder made some of the planks, charging the 

 value of his product into the estimates above. 

 However, no costs were included for haulage, 

 except possibly in the case of the pillars. If this 

 was the case, the pillars were secured rather 

 cheaply. We may, therefore, add the following 

 items omitted in the above statement: 



Additional costs: prue in pesos 



Nails, 3 kilos (probably a little generous) 3. 00 



Hauling beams and planks 60. 00 



Fiesta for roof raising 25. 00 



88. 00 

 Builder's estimate 175. 50 



Probable total if all labor paid for 263. 50 



In this case, probably the haulage was all done 



by the builder, and there may have been no fiesta 

 for the roof completion. The builder sold the 

 structure for 200 pesos and estimated he had 

 made a profit of 25 pesos, plus payment for his 

 work as a plank maker. 



To gain a clearer idea of the cost of a house, a 

 summary of all detailed estimates is given below. 

 Unfortunately, these may cover different-sized 

 structures, but they are said to be for average- 

 sized buildings. Items the owner may have 

 provided are indicated, in which case in some esti- 

 mates the low entry might be considered zero; 

 however, as we are an.xious to get an average cost, 

 this point is omitted for the present. 



T.\BLE 4. — Summary of detailed estimates of cost (in pesos) 

 of a house, Morelos 31, June 1940 



Foundation stones 



7 dozen planks 



9-10 beams 



1 door 



1 trapdoor 



4piliars 



12-15 poles (rafters) 



18-42 roof stringers- 



6 to 6 irCpitas (bundles) of shakes, best-quality fir 



2-3 kilos of nails 



Haulape of planks 



Haulage of beams 



Haulage of pillars. _ 



Straightening planks. 



Carpenter's fee... 



Roof raising fiesta 



Total 



Estimates 



Lowest 



"9.00 



42.00 



4.50 



2.00 



1.50 



4.00 



1 1. .50 



■3.50 



26.00 



2,00 



■49.00 



■15.00 



■4.00 



21.00 



50.00 



>20.00 



254.00 



Highest 



22,50 



63.00 



16. 00 



8.00 



3.00 



6.00 



4.00 



15.00 



30. 00 



3.00 



49. 00 



15.00 



6.00 



30.00 



50.00 



s 50. 00 



369. 50 



■ Items owner might provide himself. 



2 Without music. 



3 If relatives do not help. 



The lowest figure given here may be further 

 reduced, as suggested, by the o\raer doing part 

 of the work. If we reduce the lowest figure by 

 deducting all the items which the normal Chenin 

 man might do himself (if he owns oxen to do the 

 haulage or may borrow them from friends or 

 relatives) and eliminate the fiesta, we get the 

 figure of 152 pesos. This is the least for which 

 it would appear a Cheran resident may secure 

 an averaged-size wooden house, or "troje," approxi- 

 mately 14 by 16 feet (4.27 by 4.88 meters). 



This estimate of 152 pesos may be compared 

 with gross estimates secured by McCorkle and 

 Beals. These ranged from 180 to 300 pesos. 

 Carrasco secured estimates of from 250 to 300 

 pesos. However, in every case where a gross 



