Essays on the Marshallese Past
Traditional and modern house construction on the
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Scholars classify the Marshallese house as a transitory form between a house built on level ground and a house built on stilts. The traditional house consists only of a roof structure which is set on four main posts, which protrude between 1.3 and 2m above the level ground. Walls are commonly absent and the area underneath the roof is utilized as the living area. It is covered with a coral gravel spread in a manner like the area outside the house. To make the area more comfortable, it is then covered with mats.
The roof has a loft, which can be accessed through a hatch from below. The loft was used as a sleeping area and to store the precious things such a good mats and the like. Since it was sat on posts with a very smooth surface it was almost rat proof (hence the name:
As mentioned, traditionally there were no walls. With the arrival of the Europeans and the advent of Christianity, the houses were increasingly furnished with walls, either only on the wind (weather)-side or all around
The roof rests on a frame made from two roof plates and two cross-beams which have been tied to the plates. This frame forms both the base of the roof and the frame with the floor of the loft. In the middle of each of the crossbeams a king post is placed, which supports the ridge pole. The rafters are set out in pairs, and meet at the ridge in such a fashion that they pass underneath ridge pole, thus partially supporting the weight of the ridge pole. Across the rafters tile battens are tied horizontally onto which slats are attached to which the individual Pandanus thatch units are fastened. Then a central ridge batten is attached on top of the pole. The ends of the roof at the gables were completed with gable battens. In some cases the roof structure could be reinforced by diagonal battens.
Marshallese house. Construction details
The gable itself was also constructed by rafters running from the ridge pole to the cross beam, by batten attached perpendicular to them and by tile slats tied on top. The roof thatch units consists of brown, fallen Pandanus leaves which had been wrapped around a "backbone" of a wooden stick and tied with the central ribs of coconut leaves.
Traditional Marshallese house seen on
Traditional Marshallese house seen on
Traditional Marshallese house seen on
The thatching begins at the bottom and by tying successive layers of thatch units to the tile slats the ridge is reached. The ridge itself is covered with old mats or woven coconut fronds. Such a roof is said to be watertight for 1-2 years, but longer on the northern islands which have less rainfall. The attic or loft rests on the roof frame. Several cross beams have been tied onto the longitudinal beams (roof plate).
In the 1910s some houses had their posts not buried in the ground but sitting on large stones which had been partially buried in the ground. The living area underneath the roof was also bordered by stones. At the turn of the century more recent houses had bottom plates with a floor made of thin planks and round pieces of wood.
The descriptions as well as the pictures available for the traditional Marshallese houses clearly indicate that the entire area underneath the roof had been covered with the coral gravel spread.
There were a number of different house types at the turn of the century. The main houses were the living houses (
Adze blades made of the shell of the giant clam (
House Part | 1902 |
1914 |
1938 |
1976 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Coral spread | - | - | ||
Cross battens for loft | - | - | - | |
Cross beam | ||||
Cross beams for loft | - | - | ||
Diagonal Battens | - | |||
Floor of Loft | ||||
Frame | - | - | - | |
Gable | kijmen, |
- | - | |
Gable batten | ||||
Kingpost | - | |||
Loft | - | - | - | |
Longitudinal battens for loft | - | - | - | |
Longitudinal beams for loft | - | - | - | |
Open part below roof | - | - | l¼au | - |
Post | ||||
Rafter | - | - | katal (keerer [Rtk]) | jekpad, |
Ridge batten | - | - | ||
Ridgepole | ||||
Roof | - | - | - | |
Roof batten | ||||
Roof plate | - | - | - | |
Saddle roof | - | - | ||
Stick in thatch unit | - | - | - | |
Thatch unit | - | - | aj | |
Tile slat | - | - | ||
Wall | djÇdji | - | ||
Window flaps | - | - | - |
Type of building | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Boat house | - | - | - | - |
Chief's house | - | - | - | |
Church | - | - | - | |
Cook house | ||||
Hospital | - | - | - | |
House for the demented | - | - | - | |
Hut used to dry Pandanus preserves | - | |||
Latrine/Toilet building | - | - | - | |
Light house | - | - | - | |
Living house | ||||
Meeting house | - | - | ||
Men's House | - | - | - | |
Menstruation house | - | |||
Pandanus scraping house | - | - | - | |
Restaurant building | - | - | - | |
School house | - | - | - | |
Store House/Ware house | - | - | - | |
Tattooing house | - | - | - | |
Temporary House | - | - | - | |
Town Council House | - | - | - | |
Trade store | - | - | - | |
Two Storey House | - | - | - | |
Whore House | - | - | - |
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