Existing comment:
Ledge Home:
The Sinagua took advantage of the natural shelter provided by the cliff overhangings. The canyon contains over 300 rooms that housed several hundred people.
Prehistoric masons laid up unshaped limestone blocks in a heavy mud mortar. Once the front wall was completed, dividing walls were laid in each room. A house built under an overhanding ledge needed only half as many walls and took only half as much time to build as one in the open.
It took skill to lay a straight, smooth wall that could withstand eight centuries of weather and a horde of destructive pothunters.
The small T-shaped entryways were designed to control air flow. Park rangers experimented and found that when the wide section of the door was covered, fresh air flowed in the bottom opening and the smoke escaped through the vent hole above the door. |