Sasak - Settlements

Villages range in population from several hundred to about 15,000 people. They tend to be clusters of houses around a road or path, surrounded by fields that separate one village settlement from another. The village mosque, administrative office, and marketplace are located along the main road, usually in the middle of the village. House construction varies by village type and by affluence of owners, with houses made of native materials predominating in the more isolated and traditional villages as well as among the less affluent in the more populous villages. Typically, these houses are one- or two-roomed, thatched-roofed, windowless structures built on platforms of packed earth, with bamboo frames and walls of bamboo, earth, and woven grass or palm fronds. Rice barns, containing raised platforms used for entertaining or working, are associated with houses of this type. The more modern housing style often contains several rooms. These are also single-storied structures but are made of concrete or wood with a few windows and roofs of corrugated iron.