Basque ethnography at a glance

Traditional farmhouse in Kortezubi (Bizkaia). Segundo Oar-Arteta. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

Occupants of the majority of farmsteads (baserriak) in the region of Busturialdea (Bizkaia) were renters (errenteruak) in former times. Landowners planning to build a house were popularly said to require at least 300 oaks (haretxak) for the council to grant them a building permit. Stone (harria) and clay (buztina) were equally indispensable.

Some of the new constructions were designed and supervised by an architect, but most commonly it would be local carpenters (baserri-arotzak), the same who made traditional ox carts, who were in charge of the works. Great numbers of Navarrese moved to this part of the country to work as sawyers, typically portrayed with large two-man saws (arpanak).

Wooden roof structure. Mendata (Bizkaia). Segundo Oar-Arteta. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

The framing of the house included posts and beams always made from oak wood. Wall frames were filled with stones bond together with lime mortar, and clay spread on them with a trowel (zarpea). In humble houses wattle and mud were used for interior walls, consisting of upright oak or hazel rods and branches interwoven between them, all daubed with mud.

Beams (hagak), and roof beams in particular, were made from oak wood. The most widely used nails, known as French nails (puntaparisak), were square in section and with a pyramidal tip, usually from ironworks in Arrasate (Gipuzkoa). Beams and rafters were securely joined with wooden pins. And curved tiles manufactured in local tile works were customarily used for covering the roof.

Ceiling beams and boards. Ajangiz (Bizkaia). Segundo Oar-Arteta. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

Porch and kitchen floors were more often than not bare earth; only large and thriving farms could afford slabs (harri-losak). The stable ceiling rafters served as flooring for the loft (sabaia). Gaps in-between boards were covered with annually renewed oak twigs and sheaves of wheat, particularly passage areas, for fear of falling to the stable right below. A long drop toilet would also be located in the hayloft over the stable.

Broad chestnut boards fastened with the above-mentioned nails were the most common choice for bedroom and dining room flooring on the upper floor. The steps of open riser stairs leading to the upper floor were also made from chestnut wood.

Detail of window. Forua (Bizkaia). Segundo Oar-Arteta. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

Window frames were made from the heartwood of oak, so remarkably resistant to woodworm. Sandstone (hareharria), and less frequently limestone (kareharria), blocks were placed around the windows of the more prosperous houses.

Segundo Oar-Arteta – Etniker Bizkaia – Etniker Euskalerria Groups

Translated by Jaione Bilbao – Ethnography Department – Labayru Fundazioa

Reference for further information: House and Family, part of the Ethnographic Atlas of the Basque Country collection.