HOLMES ANNIVERSARY VOLUME 



earth, loosened as needed. This hole increases in size as the adobe 

 soil is mixed, molded into bricks, and removed. 



The mixing may be accomplished by the bare feet of a laborer 

 or by means of a spoked wheel, confined within a box and turned by 

 horse power. Straw or grass is often added to increase the tenacity 

 of the mud which, when thoroughly prepared, is forced into sanded 

 molds that may vary in length from 12 to 18 inches, in width from 

 8 to 10 inches, and in thickness from 4 to 6 inches. The resulting 

 bricks are then removed to a flat, cleared area, spread in the sun, 

 and completely dried preparatory to use. 



Previous to the advent of the Spaniards, the Pueblo Indians made 

 constant use of adobe in the construction of their houses, but rarely 

 in the shape of angular bricks, and, so far as now known, these were 

 never made in molds of fixed dimensions. Their method in 1540, as 

 described by Castaneda in his account of the Coronado expedition, 

 is as follows: "They gather a great pile of twigs of thyme [sagebrush] 

 and sedge grass and set it afire, and when it is half coals and ashes 

 they throw a quantity of dirt and water on it and mix it all together. 

 They make round balls of this, which they use instead of stones after 

 they are dry, fixing them with the same mixture, which comes to be 

 like a stiff clay." 1 Under Spanish tutors, however, the Pueblos were 

 quick to recognize the advantages of molded bricks and to the present 

 day have continued to use them wherever practicable. 



Adobe bricks, manufactured in any way approximating that 

 above, have not yet been observed within the present confines of the 

 United States, in ruins unquestionably identified as pre-Spanish 

 structures. It is true that bricks of Mexican type may be found in 

 certain cliff-houses, especially in Canon de Chelly, but their presence 

 is attributed to a secondary occupancy known to have occurred within 

 historical times. 2 In Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, cubical 

 adobe bricks of unquestioned antiquity, molded by hand, have been 

 noticed by Dr Fewkes, 3 but these are very rare indeed, and have not 

 been reported from any other locality. 



In North America the use of adobe as an essential feature in the 

 construction of prehistoric dwellings seems to have been limited to 

 the semi-arid plateau country of our Southwest. Considering solely 

 its utility in the framework of such dwellings, it is evident that adobe 

 was employed in walls of at least three distinct types: (1) those made 



1 Fourteenth Report Bureau of American Ethnology, p. 520, 1896. Mindeleff, Eighth Rep. B. A. 

 E., p. 146, 1891, notes the use of round masses of adobe in garden walls at Zufii. 



2 Mindeleff in Eighth Rep. B. A.E., p. 30, 1891. Mindeleff in Amer. Anthr., vol. 8, no. 2, p. 164, 

 1895. Fewkes in Amer. Anthr., n. s., vol. 12, no. 3, p. 434, 1910. 



'Bull, si, Bureau of American Ethnology, p. 30, 191 1. 



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