Houses and Architecture

Houses and Architecture. Huff Indian Village State Historic Site. All the houses at Huff Village were rectangular, except for one. The houses were constructed in shallow pits dug about one or two feet below the ground surface. These houses had gabled roofs, supported by three or more main posts placed along the centerline. Approximately 4,000 to 5,000 trees or posts and an equal number of rafter beams were used to build the 103 house structures. All of this timber and wood was harvested in the Missouri River floodplain somewhere near the village. , , You are standing in front of House 17. This house was excavated in 1960 and is typical of the houses found in this village. The house floor was placed in a shallow pit about one foot below the surface of the ground. The first step in the house construction was to cut sod from the floor creating a shallow house pit. Main supports of the roof consisted of two large vertical posts on either side of the entryway, one near the house center, and another near the back center of the house. It is likely these posts supported a ridge beam along the center axis of the structure, as shown in the speculative reconstruction by archaeologist W. Raymond Wood. , , The side walls are marked by closely spaced posts. These posts were too large to have been bent over to form the roof. The side walls were slightly convex and at least five feet high. Earth was banked along the sides of the house, but not along the ends. The house is slightly wider at the front than at the back. Posts were not used to form the end walls of the houses. Light-weight poles and bark or hide covers may have closed off each end. , All the houses entrances face away from the river toward the southwest. The entryway extended well beyond the house floor and was bordered by small poles. A fire screen was usually placed between the entrance and the main hearth that lay along the house centerline. Houses had a main hearth and up to five auxiliary hearths. Inside, basin and bell-shaped cache pits of various sizes were common. , House 12 , House 12 is unlike any other excavated dwelling at Huff Village. Its outline is roughly square with rounded corners. Four main support posts in the interior are symmetrically placed. The main hearth lies slightly off-center. There is no evidence to suggest that this dwelling was constructed and used earlier or later than any other houses at Huff Village, or that its occupants belonged to a different culture than other residents. House 12 can be interpreted as reflecting the beginning of a change from long rectangular to a circular house form.