the living area smoky. With recent changes in hygiene practises, the kitchen is now often in an extension at the rear of the house. The original Toba Batak houses were large communal houses, but these have now become rare, with most houses now built in the ethnic Malay style with both modern and traditional materials. While more spacious, better ventilated, brighter, and cheaper to build, the jabu is considered more prestigious. Where jabu are still lived, they are generally smaller single-family dwellings. Whereas previous versions of the jabu were accessed through a trap door concealing steps in the floor, times are now less dangerous and more convenient wooden ladders at the front of the house provide access. Toba Batak rice barns (sopo) were built in a similar style but are smaller than the jabu. Rice was stored within the roof and was supported by six large wooden pillars, which carried large wooden discs to prevent rodent ingress. The open platform beneath the roof structure was used as a working and general storage space and as a sleeping place for guests and unmarried men. Rice barns are now rarely used for grain storage, and many have been converted to living areas by walling off the open-air section between the sub-structure and the roof, and adding a door. Karo architecture The Karo rumah adat (traditional house), known as 'Siwaluh Jabu', is, as with the Rumah Aceh, oriented North-South, possibly for shelter from the sun. Karo rumah adat are longhouses, for multiple family occupancy, up to twelve families in some areas, though usually eight. A Karo longhouse would be large, in order to accommodate so many families, and is built on stilts. The houses are constructed from wood, bamboo, using ijuk fibres for binding (no nails or screws are used) and for the thatched roof. The design is naturally earthquake-resistant. In order to choose a suitable site for the house, the guru (witch doctor) would be consulted, who would determine whether the land was bad or good. A plot would be staked out using coconut fronds, and other villagers would be given four days to object to the proposed construction. After the four-day period had elapsed, a hole was dug in the centre of the plot, into which was placed a knife, betel leaf and rice. The guru and the kalimbubu and anak beru would perform rites to determine that the ground was