Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 288
Various views of the functional spaces around the outside of a house
Dghweɗe people lived in close contact with domestic animals in and around the family
homes, especially during the farming season. We have seen above that animal sheds were
integrated into the groundplan of a house, as were the granaries. The use of rocks and a
further platform construction was often linked to the entrance area which was to the side of
the house. The view from the front demonstrated status and success rather than serving an
agricultural purpose. Behind and around the house we find storage facilities for which natural
rock formations were also used. The changing views around the outside of a house were
determined by the seasons, for example during the harvesting period when firewood was
prepared, or when hay was stored. The following images will demonstrate this.
Plate 23a shows the connecting platform between two neighbouring houses. We are looking
at Buba Nza'avara's house, some of the interiors of which we will see in the next subsection.
In our photo he is sitting, perhaps with his wife, on a circular bench which is also the base for
a storage facility. We see the hay being stored for the dry season, as well as the corn stalks
leaning against it, presumably waiting to be used for re-roofing one of the rooms. The tree in
the centre of the yard was an additional very useful storage facility, such as for hay, but we
can see in the picture that the tree was also an important provider of shade.
Plate 23a: Platform leading to the entrance of Buba's house
Plate 23b: Buba's entrance
Plate 23b shows the entrance into the main section of Buba's house. We can see the typical
widening of the upper part of the stone entrance (1), which we assume was done to facilitate
movement of animals or for carrying heavy loads in and out of the house. We can also see the
wooden supports for a flat roof (2) as part of the entrance area. The front of the entrance was
framed by wooden sticks bound together as two entrance posts (3). These are called wuts
gwazgafte, meaning 'in front of God'. Later we will learn more about the ritual function of the
entrance posts of a house, and the threshing ritual 'slaughtering for God' (har gwazgafte).
The six pictures of Plate 23c to Plate 23h show different typical views around the exterior of a
house. They show for example the importance of rocks and how they were integrated into the
building, such as how one huge flat rock in the middle of a farmstead was used as a drying
area for germinated sorghum for beer making. Another image shows how wooden sticks and
grass were stored against a terrace wall. In the same photo we also see a huge broken pot
placed upside down on the edge of the terrace, and in front of it a stone for sitting or working
on.
Next to it I added a photo of a tree as a storage facility near a house, and we can see how the
shade of the tree allows family members to rest underneath. Below we see a picture of a
temporary goat enclosure, for while they were to remain tied up during the growing season.
We can see that wooden sticks similar to those in the other photo were used to fence the
goats.
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