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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 13 



in November or December, at tbe time of the new 

 moon, "so that it will endure ; if cut in summer, it 

 soon becomes infested with borers." 16 It is hacked 

 off about a meter from the base ; if cut too close to 

 the root, the plant does not sprout anew. 



With a machete, the stalk is chopped into three 

 or four uniform lengths, which correspond to the 

 height of the wall — generally, about 3 m. For- 

 merly, these were used unsplit (tarro rollizo) . In 

 recent years, as a matter of economy, the canes are 

 divided longitudinally in half, so that six to eight 

 uprights come from a single bamboo stalk. The 

 length to be split is laid on a wooden block and 

 held in place with one foot. With the left hand, 

 the machete is held firmly against the cane where 

 it is to be opened ; with a stick in the right hand, 

 the machete is pounded until the bamboo is halved. 

 Split bamboo (tarro rajado) invariably is applied 

 with the smooth, convex surface toward the inter- 

 ior of the house, the split surface on the exterior 

 (pis. 9, d, 11, e). 



The current price of bamboo is about $0.15 pesos 

 the stalk, from which six to eight split uprights 

 are obtained. Eight to eleven of the latter are re- 

 quired for each vara of house wall. Accordingly, 

 a house 6 by 12 varas takes between 300 and 400 

 split bamboos, derived from approximately 40 to 

 70 entire stalks. Below (table 12), one informant 

 calculates 60 stalks for a house this size. We may 

 say, roughly, that the cost of the tarro ranges from 

 $5.50 to $10.50 pesos, according to the number of 

 lengths obtained from a stalk. 



Precisely the same method is used in applying 

 either bamboo or saplings to the house frame. A 

 coujDle of light, transverse poles are lashed to the 

 exterior of the house posts — one about a meter 

 above the ground, the other, ca. 2 meters. Ordi- 

 narily, these are horizontal, but occasionally they 

 run at an angle (pi. 9, b) . Sometimes there is but 

 one transverse pole, in which case the butts of the 

 wall uprights are stood in a shallow trench and 

 covered with earth. This system is not favored, 

 for the poles rot with greater rapidity. Prudent 

 builders lay a beam of resistant wood or a row of 

 fiat stones on the ground, on which the butts of 

 the uprights rest ; in this case, two transverse sup- 

 porting poles are indispensable. So laid, the life 

 of a bamboo wall is about 20 years. 



10 Cf. p. 72. In Zapotecan Yal&lag, wood and cane formerly 

 were cut at the time of the full moon, In the belief that they 

 would last longer (De la Fuente, p. 40). 



One by one, the uprights are stood against the 

 inner side of the transverse poles and are lashed 

 to them with liana. If there are two poles, the 

 uprights are fastened first to the upper one ; a man 

 stands on a ladder inside the house, while an aide 

 hands him the uprights and assists him in placing 

 them. 



The lashing would be called wrapped twine 

 (fig. 21, a) if the product were a basket rather 

 than a house; sometimes the wrapping is double 

 fig. 21, b) . We have watched one man work alone 



€2X252^ 



Figure 21. — Lashing of house wall uprights; a, single 

 lashing holds the uprights to the transverse pole; 

 b, double lashing. Both exterior views of wall. 



on a Avail ; he stands on the inside of the house and 

 places the uprights in order, from right to left 

 (counterclockwise), affixing each to the cross pole 

 before he adds the next. However, at least two 

 other men work in clockwise direction. If help 

 is available, it is handy to have three men work 

 on a wall. One brings the uprights from a great 

 stack in the yard, selecting carefully, to compen- 

 sate for the unevenness of saplings, or the joints of 

 bamboo. A second man stands on a ladder, inside 

 the house, while a third is on the ground, outside. 

 As the wrapping progresses, the liana is passed 

 back and forth between the uprights, from the 

 worker inside, to the one on the outside. 



It is considered unwise to affix all the uprights 

 to the lower pole. Because of the local penchant 

 for homicide, they usually are left free, as an 

 emergency exit, at one spot or another along the 

 perimeter. 



Sometimes the wall of uprights is coated with 

 mud plaster (pi. 12, c) . The light-colored subsoil, 

 which has a heavy lime content, is dug from a 

 handy spot, such as one in the fundo, on which all 

 the neighbors draw. It is hauled to the house in 

 sacks or in wooden trays and dumped in a heap, 

 in the top of which a hollow is formed. Water 



