What is Adobe?
{{For|the company|Adobe Inc.}} [[File:Pima Indian woman sitting on the ground making pottery by an adobe and grass hut, Gila River Reservation(?), ca.1902 (CHS-772).jpg |thumb|right|250px|{{Center|[[Pima people|Pima Indian woman]] making [[pottery]] by an adobe hut}}]] '''Adobe''' is a building material made from [[soil]] and often [[organic matter]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.solidearth.co.nz/adobe-brick-technique.php |title=Solid Earth Adobe Buildings |publisher=SolidEarth.co.nz |access-date=January 8, 2017}}</ref> Adobe means [[mudbrick]] in Spanish.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adobe |title=adobe |website=Meram-Webster Dictionaries |publisher=Merriam-Webster, Incorporated |access-date=January 8, 2017}}</ref> It can also mean any kind of earth construction. Adobe is one of the earliest building materials ever used.<ref name=preservationNPS>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/briefs/5-adobe-buildings.htm#adobe |title=Preservation of Historic Adobe Buildings |website= Technical Preservation Services |publisher=National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=January 8, 2017}}</ref> It is found all over the world. The techniques used in adobe construction have not changed since the [[16th century]] in the [[Southwestern United States]].<ref name=preservationNPS/> Because they are not [[fire]]d in a [[kiln]] they never become hard.<ref name=preservationNPS/> They [[wikt:shrink|shrink]] and [[wikt:swell|swell]] as the water content in them changes.<ref name=preservationNPS/> Also, as they get [[wikt:wet|wet]]ter, they become [[wikt:weak|weak]]er.<ref name=preservationNPS/> Adobe does not permanently stick to [[wood]], [[metal]] or stone because it moves more than they do.<ref name=preservationNPS/> This causes [[Cracking joints|cracks]] and [[wikt:seperation|seperation]] from other materials.<ref name=preservationNPS/> Stone is sometimes used as a [[foundation (engineering)|foundation]] and wood for the [[roof]].<ref name=preservation