Pit house

In North America

Throughout the inland Pacific Northwest, indigenous people 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. 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.