Ox blood was used by the Spanish and early Mexican populations in the making of adobe bricks (a clinker or a coagulant).  Later, doing the American period (e.g in California) ox blood was no longer used, indicating the use of ox blood could be used as a temporally sensitive element.  I would not be surprised to find it in floors, also.

Jeanette McKenna
Whittier, CA  

-----Original Message-----
>From: Susan Walter <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Jun 28, 2008 10:38 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: cow's blood in floors
>
>June 28, 2008
>
>Hello All,
>Working in San Diego Old Town, we are bedeviled by trying to tease out fact from oral traditions...
>
>A current one we are dealing with regards the claim that cow's blood was a component of packed earthen floors.
>
>Long time residents of Baja that we know deny this as a fact.  Their packed earthen floors are solidified simply with water.  Other historians we have questioned have not found this blood addition was done.
>
>So,
>1.  Has anyone in the Histarch community heard of this?
>2.  Is there documentation of it?
>3.  Where and who documented it?
>
>Many thanks,
>S. Walter
>
>PS:  Then, when you are finished with bloody floors, there is the story that roof tiles were shaped over maidens thighs...  And we can follow up with documenting the number of girl's petticoats that were torn up to make American flags...  And, oh Lord save us from Ramona.