Manso
(aka Tanpachoas, Gorretas)
Manso houses in the ethnographic period
We know from oral history and also from some photographs of a house used in the early 1900s what Manso houses in the valley probably looked like. These chozas were shallow pit houses made of adobe with wood beams (vigas) and latias, with an earth roof. And, at least later in time, these houses were rectilinear. These were covered with branches and then dirt, as shown in the wattle-and-daub wall in the color photo below. This formed an adobe shelter that kept occupants cool from the summer heat.
The floor was depressed so that when anyone entered they would have to kneel or crouch and lower their head so that if they came to do harm they could easily be clubbed over the head. The preceding photographs show this attribute.
Later houses were made with sun-dried adobe blocks.
This image shows Manso Navidad Camargo standing in front of a later adobe brick structure, and adjacent to a pottery vessel made by his Suma mother.
According to Cruz Camargo, Manso winter settlements were less substantial. They would build fires to cook during the day, and then in the evening, they would cover the fire pit and its rocks with dirt and lift the hut superstructure over the firepit so they would sleep warm at night, safe from the elements. These were brush structures made of willow or other flexible branches and were covered with hides or other material.