Thejacal (/həˈkɑːl/;Mexican Spanish fromNahuatlxacalli contraction ofxamitl calli; literally "hut") is anadobe-style housing structure historically found throughout parts of theSouthwestern United States andMexico.[1] This type of structure was employed by someaboriginal people of the Americas prior to European colonization and was later employed by both Hispanic and non-Hispanic settlers inTexas and elsewhere.[2]
Typically, a jacal consisted of slim close-set poles tied together and filled out with mud, clay and grasses. More sophisticated structures, such as those constructed by theAncestral Pueblo people, incorporated adobe bricks—sun-baked mud and sandstone.
Jacal construction is similar towattle and daub. However, the "wattle" portion of jacal structures consists mainly of vertical poles lashed together with cordage and sometimes supported by a pole framework, as in thepit-houses of theBasketmaker III period of the Ancestral Puebloan (a.k.a. Anasazi) people of the American Southwest. This is overlain with a layer of mud/adobe (the "daub"), sometimes applied over a middle layer of dry grasses or brush which functions as insulation.
