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A pit-house (or pit house, pithouse) is a house built in the ground and used for shelter. Besides providing shelter from the most extreme of weather conditions, this type of
earth shelter An earth shelter, also called an earth house, earth-bermed house, earth-sheltered house, earth-covered house, or underground house, is a structure (usually a house) with earth (soil) against the walls and/or on the roof, or that is entirely burie ...
may also be used to store food (just like a
pantry A pantry is a room or cupboard where beverages, food, (sometimes) dishes, household cleaning products, linens or provisions are stored within a home or office. Food and beverage pantries serve in an ancillary capacity to the kitchen. Etymol ...
, a
larder A larder is a cool area for storing food prior to use. Originally, it was where raw meat was larded—covered in fat—to be preserved. This method slowed spoilage by sealing out air, bacteria, and moisture. In colder larders (4°C/40°F or lower) ...
, or a
root cellar A root cellar (American and Canadian English), fruit cellar (Mid-Western American English) or earth cellar (British English) is a structure, usually underground. or partially underground, used for food storage, storage of vegetables, fruits, nu ...
) and for cultural activities like the telling of stories, dancing, singing and celebrations. General dictionaries also describe a pit-house as a dugout, and it has similarities to a half-dugout. In
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
, a pit-house is frequently called a sunken-featured building and occasionally (grub-) hut or grubhouse, after the German name ''Grubenhaus''. They are found in numerous cultures around the world, including the people of the
Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...
, the ancestral Pueblo, the ancient Fremont and Mogollon cultures, the
Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
, the
Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
, the people of the Plateau, and archaic residents of Wyoming (Smith 2003) in North America; Archaic residents of the Lake Titicaca Basin (Craig 2005) in South America;
Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
in Europe; and the
Jōmon people The Jōmon (縄文) were a prehistoric hunter-gatherer culture that inhabited the Japanese archipelago approximately between 14,000 BC and 300 BC. Both genetically and culturally, the Jōmon are among the earliest known ancestors of the modern ...
in Japan. Some Anglo-Saxon pit-houses may have not been dwellings, but served other purposes. Usually, all that remains of the ancient pit-house is a dug-out hollow in the ground and any
posthole This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F ...
s used to support the roof. In the nineteenth century, it was believed that most prehistoric peoples lived in pit-houses, although it has since been proved that many of the features thought of as houses were in fact prehistoric food storage pits or served another purpose.


Mammoth bone dwellings

The oldest pit dwellings were discovered in Mezhyrich,
Central Ukraine Central Ukraine (, ) consists of historical regions of left-bank Ukraine and right-bank Ukraine that reference to the Dnieper River. It is situated away from the Black Sea Littoral North and a midstream of the Dnieper River and its basin. The ...
. Dating back 15,000 years to the
Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...
age, the houses were made of
mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...
bones. The base is circular or oval in shape, in diameter, with limb bones used for walls and lighter, flat bones used for the roof. Presumably, animal hide was stretched around the exterior for insulation. Each dwelling had a
hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a low, partial ...
. Groups of houses were arranged around a base camp layout, occupied by families or relatives for weeks or months.Hoffecker, Joh
''A Prehistory of the North: Human Settlement of the Higher Latitudes''
Rutgers, 2005,


Early medieval Europe

Pit-houses were built in many parts of northern Europe between the 5th and 12th centuries AD. In Germany they are known as ''Grubenhäuser'', and in the United Kingdom, they are also known as grubhuts, grubhouses or sunken featured buildings.
Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
evidence indicates they were built in a shallow sub-rectangular pit and vary in depth (often relating to the preservation of the site). Some may measure 0.25m by around 2m by 1.5m, whilst examples from excavations from the 1950s onwards at West Stow in the United Kingdom are 3.7m-4.44m long x 2.72m-3.5m wide x 0.58m-0.97m deep. Within this pit were placed two (but sometimes 0, 4, or 6) substantial wooden posts in
posthole This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F ...
s at either end of the long axis. Some archaeologists have suggested that a suspended wooden floor lay over the pit and that the cavity beneath was used for storage or to control dampness, although others have disputed this, suggesting that grubenhäuser did not have suspended floors at all. A
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
d roof supported by the timber posts covered the hut, which likely had no windows and had a single entrance at one end. Excavations at West Stow in the 1970s found preserved evidence of charred planks, suggestive of suspended floors. Hearths were also found, which sat partially over the edge of the sunken pits and appeared to have collapsed downwards when the structure supporting their overhanging sections (possibly a suspended floor) was removed. Grubenhäuser are often understood to have been domestic dwellings. However, their use may have varied, especially on a regional basis. In Western Europe their small size and the fact that they can be found near other buildings and associated finds of loom weights has led to theories that they had a specialised purpose such as for
weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...
sheds. In the Slavonic regions of Eastern Europe, Grubenhäuser are larger and often have a fireplace. In most settlements there have been no features of buildings at ground level. There are reconstructions of pit-houses in several open-air museums, e.g. in the Hitzacker Archaeological Centre, the Kalkriese Museum and Park, the Oerlinghausen Archaeological Open Air Museum, and the
Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave The Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave is a richly-furnished Celtic burial chamber near Hochdorf an der Enz (municipality of Eberdingen) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, dating from 530 BC in the Hallstatt culture period. It was discovered in 1968 by a ...
. To compare with the Swedish Backstuga that were very poor peoples homes until the middle of the 20th century.


In North America

Throughout the inland
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...
,
indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
were generally mobile about the landscape during the warmer months, procuring resources at different locations according to the season and tradition, and moved during colder months into permanent semi-subterranean pit houses situated near major rivers and tributaries such as the Columbia and
Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...
. Pit house villages provided community opportunities and assurances over the winter, as well as social gathering space through which local and regional economies, customs, and traditions were practiced and developed through time. Individual pit houses could vary in shape, but were typically round with wooden frames covered at ground level with thatch and earth, and featured an earthen bench along the circumference used for sitting, sleeping, and storage. The houses could range in size from a few to greater than twenty meters in diameter. A common design featured a central hole in the roof that provided ladder access and ventilation, including for the smoke of an interior fire, though side-entry pit houses were also used. In the northwestern
Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...
and the Plateau region located nearby, climate changes and extreme temperature and weather conditions made it difficult to live year-round. Hot summers led to the building of simple tent-like structures that were portable and could be packed up to move. For cold winter months, pit-houses provided the warm, protected shelter necessary for survival.


In Asia

In Korea, '' umjip'' were widely used from the Neolithic Age until the
Three Kingdoms of Korea The Three Kingdoms of Korea or Samhan (Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla) competed for hegemony over the Korea, Korean Peninsula during the ancient period of History of Korea, Korean history. During the Three Kingdoms period (), many states and statele ...
period.


Cross-cultural patterning

A cross-cultural middle range model of pit-house architecture using
George Murdock George Peter ("Pete") Murdock (May 11, 1897 – March 29, 1985), also known as G. P. Murdock, was an American anthropologist who was professor at Yale University and University of Pittsburgh. He is remembered for his empirical approach to ethn ...
's 1967 ''Ethnographic Atlas'' found that 82 of the 862 societies in the sample occupy pit structures as either their primary or secondary dwellings.(Gilman 1987:540) All but six of the 82 societies live above 32° north latitude, and four of the six cases in this sample that are below 32° north latitude are from "high mountain" regions in east Africa, Paraguay, and eastern Brazil.(Gonzalez 1953) The last example is from the YamiKano and Segawa (1956) who occupied a small island south of Taiwan. Three conditions were always present among groups in the sample: 1) non-tropical climate during the season of pit structure habitation; 2) minimally a biseasonal settlement pattern; 3) reliance on stored food during the period of pit structure occupation. These conditions may be related to other factors of society and the presence of any or all of these three elements in society does not pre-condition occupation of pit structures. Nonetheless, these three conditions were present in all cases of pit structure occupation present in the ''Ethnographic Atlas''. Other cultural patterns were common, but not universal across the sample. These commonalities include: cold season of occupation, low population estimates, and simple political and economic systems. The ethnographic sample is based almost entirely on case studies from societies located in northern latitudes. The period of pit structure occupation is generally during the cold season, probably due to their
thermal efficiency In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency (\eta_) is a dimensionless performance measure of a device that uses thermal energy, such as an internal combustion engine, steam turbine, steam engine, boiler, furnace, refrigerator, ACs etc. For ...
. Dug into the ground, pit structures take advantage to the insulating properties of soil, as well as having a low profile, protecting them from exposure to wind-induced heat loss.Gilman (1987:542) Since less heat is lost by transmission than is in above ground structures, less energy is required to maintain stable temperatures inside the structure.Farwell (1981) Out of the 82 ethnographic cases in the ''Ethnographic Atlas'', 50 societies had population estimates. Of these, 64% had fewer than 100 people per settlement.Gilman (1987:544) In only 6% of cases were there more than 400 persons per settlement. The cases with the highest population densities were the Arikara and Hidatsa of the North American Great Plains and the Konso of Ethiopia. Gilman attributes high population densities among the Arikara to the availability of buffalo. Pit structure occupations are generally associated with simple political and economic systems. For 86% of the sample, class stratification or social distinctions based on non-hereditary wealth were reported as absent.Gilman (1987:547) However, some pit-dwelling societies are characterized by chiefdom level complexity. In terms of economic organization, 77% of the societies who occupy pit structures had a hunting and gathering economy.Gilman (1987:545) This is a large fraction of the sample, but is not considered a universally consistent feature like biseasonal settlement and a reliance on stored foods during pit structure occupation. During the part of the year when people are not living in pit structures, activities should be focused on acquiring foods to store. Based on the sample from the ''Ethnographic Atlas'', this may be through either hunting and gathering or agricultural activity. Many different prehistoric groups used pit houses. Although generally associated with the American southwest cultures, such as Fremont, Pueblo, Hohokam, and Mogollon, pit houses were used by a wide variety of people in a wide variety of places over the past 12,000 years. Large pit house formations have been excavated in British Columbia, Canada, such as at Keatley Creek Archaeological Site.


See also

* Burdei *
Dugout (shelter) A dugout or dug-out, also known as a pit-house or earth lodge, is a shelter for humans or domesticated animals and livestock based on a hole or depression dug into the ground. Dugouts can be fully recessed into the earth, with a flat roof cov ...
*
Earth shelter An earth shelter, also called an earth house, earth-bermed house, earth-sheltered house, earth-covered house, or underground house, is a structure (usually a house) with earth (soil) against the walls and/or on the roof, or that is entirely burie ...
* Earth lodge * Kekuli *
Kiva A kiva (also ''estufa'') is a space used by Puebloans for rites and political meetings, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, "kiva" means a large room that is circula ...
*
Larder A larder is a cool area for storing food prior to use. Originally, it was where raw meat was larded—covered in fat—to be preserved. This method slowed spoilage by sealing out air, bacteria, and moisture. In colder larders (4°C/40°F or lower) ...
*
Pantry A pantry is a room or cupboard where beverages, food, (sometimes) dishes, household cleaning products, linens or provisions are stored within a home or office. Food and beverage pantries serve in an ancillary capacity to the kitchen. Etymol ...
*
Quiggly hole A quiggly hole, also known as a pit-house or simply as a quiggly or kekuli, is the remains of an earth lodge built by the First Nations people of the Interior of British Columbia and the Columbia Plateau in the United States. The word ''quiggly' ...
*
Root cellar A root cellar (American and Canadian English), fruit cellar (Mid-Western American English) or earth cellar (British English) is a structure, usually underground. or partially underground, used for food storage, storage of vegetables, fruits, nu ...
*
Sinagua The Sinagua were a pre-Columbian culture that occupied a large area in central Arizona from the Little Colorado River, near Flagstaff, Arizona, Flagstaff, to the Verde River, near Sedona, Arizona, Sedona, including the Verde Valley, area around ...
* Zemlyanka *
Timber framing Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...
*


Notes


References

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External links

* * {{Authority control Archaeological features House types Puebloan architectural elements Semi-subterranean structures