Kecskés Péter (szerk.): Upper Tisza region (Regional Units of Open Air Museum. Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 1980)

2. THE VILLAGE

more conservative. The principal was to build a separate structure for each kind of animal and for every function; thus, the farm-site consisted of a number of various smaller and larger erections. The architectural proof of a retarded situation existing over several centuries would only disappear after the rivers were regulated and the geographical isolation somewhat diminished, which involved the use of newly acquired land and more intensive husbandry. (Some buildings, not to be found any longer in the Erdőhát villages, were brought to the Museum from the neighbouring Bereg County or the Tiszahát region.) The way of buildings The most characteristic trait of the architecture of the region is the large amount of wood used and the remarkable professional skill of the carpenters. The woodwork of the church and belfry as also of the grinding mill, conserve such complex methods of joining which are in the medieval Gothic tradition. The belfry of Nemesborzova is put together with a range of joinery demonstrating high craftsmanship. The belfry erected in 1794 shows how knowledge had been passed on from medieval craftsmen to carpenters who built wooden belltowers and from peasant craftsmen to simple peasants over the centuries. The wooden structure of the enourmous barns is clearly visible. However, dwelling houses are plastered and whitewashed as in other Hungarian regions, and only by close observation can it be seen that under the plaster there is a wooden contruction. How strong tradition is, is proven by the fact that the house of Milota, built of adobe-bricks, has imitation wooden construction at the corners. In both dwelling houses and farm buildings, the roof was constructed of huge oak-trees growing in the surrounding forests and was the work of skilful peasants specializing in building. Their implements were a narrow hatchet for splitting wood, the half-bladed axe to give the plank its shape, and after the surface was hewn smooth, the tenoned construction was made with a grooving iron and chisel (111. 6.). This old type of contruction, consisting of logs laid up on one another and crossing at the corners, has remained in existance only in a few side buidings, such as pig-sties. However, the wooden construction of the last century still exists in dwelling houses, stables and barns. 16