188 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 13 



"even a palm house may be well made, if the joints 

 of the bamboo are trimmed and nicely fitted." He 

 is building his own house with a frame of squared 

 timbers, a tiled roof, and bamboo walls; later, he 

 hopes to replace the latter with planks. Another 

 friend comments that "an elegant house is of little 

 use if it is disorderly." 18 



We paid relatively less attention to houses with 

 tiled roofs; unfortunately there was no oppor- 



beam, thus eliminating the unwanted opening (fig. 

 23, e-i) . 



The tiled roof is of two or four sheds (pi. 9, /) ; 

 occasionally, an extension of one forms a corridor 

 or porch (pi. 9, c) ; and, not infrequently, a lean-to 

 is added. Plate 11, e, gives some idea of the 

 roof construction in a dwelling of four sheds. 

 Tiles are not available locally, but are purchased 

 in El Chote, near Papantla. The terminal row 



4-efyuirlrrv 





<"S*% 







>r ! ! 





/ 







v '5 a 



vias maJ« 







madte 



korcon 





] 



Figure 23. — Timber frame for house with tiled roof. Adapted from a field sketch by Jose" Luis Lorenzo. Spanish terms 

 are indicated, a-d, "Old style," which leaves an opening between the mother beam (viga madre) and the string piece 

 (solera). Figure 24 gives elevations of such a house, e-i, "New st3de," with the above-mentioned gap eliminated. 



tunity to witness construction of such a building. 

 Apparently there are two principal ways of as- 

 sembling the frame of squared timbers. One, 

 considered the more ancient, has the disadvantage 

 of leaving a sizable gap between the mother beam 

 and the string piece (fig. 23, Or-d), through Avhich 

 a thief may squirm when the house is left untended. 

 As a consequence, the more popular construction 

 at present involves notching posts and beams so 

 that the string piece is alined above the mother 



18 It is noted elsewhere that the Totonac are not tidy house- 

 keepers. The wise remark above conies from one of the very few 

 individuals whose domicile is neat. He claims to have learned 

 an appreciation of order years ago, from a local school teacher. 



along the gable edge, as well as that which caps 

 the ridge (fig. 24, c, d) generally are set in "mor- 

 tar" made from subsoil. 



Often a house with a squared timber frame 

 has plank doors which swing on metal hinges 

 purchased in Papantla. In some cases, the walls 

 are not of bamboo or saplings, but of wooden 

 planks, laid vertically and nailed to the frame. 

 Irrespective of roof and walls, most houses have 

 dirt floors, surfaced with calcareous subsoil ; but 

 we have seen three tiled-roof houses with floors 

 of square, terracotta tile. 



We have no estimate of the cost of building 

 a house with tiled roof. A 40-year old house, 12 



