[ COOKING PITS AND OVENS.]
Most of the cooking of the ancient Pueblos was probably done out of doors, as among the ruins vestiges of cooking pits, almost identical in character with those still found in Tusayan, are frequently seen. In Cibola the large dome-shaped ovens, common to the Pueblos of the Rio Grande and to their Mexican neighbors are in general use. In Tusayan a few examples of this form of oven occur upon the roofs of the terraces, while the cooking pit in a variety of forms is still extensively used.
| Fig. 51.
A series of cooking pits in Mashongnavi. |
The distribution of the dome-shaped ovens in Cibola and in Tusayan may be seen on the ground plans in Chapters [III] and [IV]. The simplest form of cooking pit, still commonly used in Tusayan, consists of a depression in the ground, lined with a coating of mud. The pit is usually of small size and is commonly placed at some little distance from the house; in a few cases it is located in a sheltered corner of the building. Fig. 51 illustrates a series of three such primitive ovens built against a house wall, in a low bench or ledge of masonry raised 6 inches above the ground; the holes measure about a foot across and are about 18 or 20 inches deep. Many similar pits occur in the Tusayan villages; some of them are walled in with upright stone slabs, whose rough edges project 6 or 8 inches above the ground, the result closely resembling the ancient form of in-door fireplace, such as that seen in a room of Kin-tiel. (Pl. C.)
Plate C. An excavated room at Kin-tiel.
In its perfected form the cooking pit in Tusayan takes the place of the more elaborate oven used in Zuñi. Figs. 52 and 53 show two specimens of pits used for the preparation of pi-gummi, a kind of baked mush.
These occur on the east side of Mashongnavi. They project 6 or 8 inches above the ground, and have a depth of from 18 to 24 inches. The débris scattered about the pits indicates the manner in which they are covered with slabs of stone and sealed with mud when in use. In all the oven, devices of the pueblos the interior is first thoroughly heated by a long continued fire within, the structure. When the temperature is sufficiently high the ashes and dirt are cleaned out, the articles to be cooked inserted, and the orifices sealed. The food is often left in these heated receptacles for 12 hours or more, and on removal it is generally found to be very nicely cooked. Each of the pi-gummi ovens illustrated above is provided with a tube-like orifice 3 or 4 inches in diameter, descending obliquely from the ground level into the cavity. Through this opening the fire is arranged and kept in order, and in this respect it seems to be the counterpart of the smaller hole of the Zuñi dome-shaped ovens. When the principal opening, by which the vessel containing the pi-gummi or other articles is introduced, has been covered with a slab of stone and sealed with mud, the effect is similar to that of the dome-shaped oven when the ground-opening or doorway is hermetically closed.