how were longhouses built

• Origin and Definition. Until about the 18th century, northern Iroquoian-speaking peoples ( see Indigenous Languages in Canada) in Southern Ontario and upstate New York built and lived in residences made ...
• Construction. Men constructed longhouses by driving stiff wall posts made of wood into the ground. ...
• Function and Purpose. ...
• Contemporary Uses. ...

Full Answer

What is a traditional longhouse made of?

Longhouse. A traditional longhouse was built by using a rectangular frame of saplings, each 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) in diameter. The larger end of each sapling was placed in a posthole in the ground, and a domed roof was created by tying together the sapling tops. The structure was then covered with bark panels or shingles.

Where did the longhouses come from?

The indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest of North America also built a form of longhouse. Theirs were built with logs or split-log frame, and covered with split log planks, and sometimes an additional bark cover.

Why did the Iroquois build longhouses?

Sometimes separate longhouses were built for community meetings. The Iroquois ( Haudenosaunee or "People of the Longhouses") who resided in the Northeastern United States as well as Eastern Canada ( Ontario and Quebec) built and inhabited longhouses.

Do all longhouses have the same shape?

All longhouses have the same general shape, but were built with different kinds of materials and by different methods. Longhouses were the traditional homes for many of the farming tribes of American Indians that lived in southern New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The Iroquois people of upstate New York were among them.

How long did it take to build a longhouse?

It depends on what resources and materials were available. A possible estimate is one to two years (the reconstruction took one year to build), but we must also consider that the house seems to have been continually added to and maintained.

Who built longhouses structures?

The Iroquois (Haudenosaunee or "People of the Longhouses") who resided in the Northeastern United States as well as Eastern Canada (Ontario and Quebec) built and inhabited longhouses. These were sometimes more than 75 m (246 ft) in length but generally around 5 to 7 m (16 to 23 ft) wide.

Where are longhouses built?

Longhouses were the traditional homes for many of the farming tribes of American Indians that lived in southern New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The Iroquois people of upstate New York were among them.

What was inside longhouses?

Dried meats and corn, as well as other food and personal belongings, were stored on platforms built high up on the walls of the longhouse. Firewood was stacked in areas near the entrances at either end of the structure. Covered pits dug inside the house also stored food.

Did longhouses have floors?

A row of posts ran the length of the home in order to support the roof. There was no flooring material laid down in Viking homes. Instead, the floor was simply pounded earth. One end of the Viking longhouse was used to house cattle and other animals as well as stored crops and other tools.

How many rooms are in a longhouse?

From front to back, such a house, called an "uma", regularly consists of an open platform serving as the main entrance place, followed by a covered gallery. The inside is divided into two rooms, one behind the other.

What materials were used to build longhouses?

A traditional longhouse was built by using a rectangular frame of saplings, each 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) in diameter. The larger end of each sapling was placed in a posthole in the ground, and a domed roof was created by tying together the sapling tops. The structure was then covered with bark panels or shingles.

How tall is a longhouse?

The longhouse was a multi-family dwelling, from 30 to more than 100 feet in length, about 25 feet wide, and 12-15 feet high. The Iroquois used a rounded or Quonset-type roof, while the Delawares and Shawnees used a pitched or peaked roof. Poles and saplings bound together with tough bark strings formed the frame work.

How do you build a Viking longhouse?

0:524:23How to Make a Viking Longhouse - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipA long house has six components four walls. And two halves of the roof. You can see my six sectionsMoreA long house has six components four walls. And two halves of the roof. You can see my six sections right here and all the measurements. I use appear on the screen.

How were longhouses different from teepees?

Teepees were easy to dismantle and take to another location. Furs and hides were used to make the walls of a teepee weather-proof. Longhouses were built by the natives in the northeast part of the continent. The walls and roof of a longhouse was made of pieces of overlapping bark.

How did the Iroquois make longhouses?

A traditional longhouse was built by using a rectangular frame of saplings, each 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) in diameter. The larger end of each sapling was placed in a posthole in the ground, and a domed roof was created by tying together the sapling tops. The structure was then covered with bark panels or shingles.

What Indian tribes lived in longhouses?

The Iroquois lived in longhouses, large houses up to 100 feet in length usually made of elm bark.

What were Iroquois longhouses made of?

The framework of the longhouse was covered with sheets of bark. Trees whose bark could be peeled into large sheets were preferred because big sheets made the job easier. The Iroquois used elm bark if it was available.

Who lived in Viking longhouses?

VikingsVikings lived in elongated, rectangular structures called longhouses. Across the Viking world, most houses had timber frames but, where wood was scarce, stone and turf were also used as construction materials. The walls were often made of wattle and daub or timber planking, with a grass roof.

What is the architecture of the Longhouse?

The entire architecture is designed and built as a standing tree with branches to the right and left with the front part facing the sunrise while the back faces the sunset. The longhouse building acts as the normal accommodation and a house of worship for religious activities. The entry could double as a canoe dock.

How wide was the longhouse?

The longhouse had a 3 metres (9.8 ft)-wide central aisle and 2 metres (6.6 ft)-wide compartments, about 6 to 7 metres (20 to 23 ft) long, down each side. The end compartments were usually used for storage. Hearths were spaced about 6 to 7 metres (20 to 23 ft) apart down the aisle, with smoke holes in the roof.

What is the corridor in the Longhouse?

The corridor itself is divided into three parts. The space in front of the door, the tempuan, belongs to each bilik unit and is used privately but the dwellers will walk along this path as well. This is where rice can be pounded or other domestic work can be done. A public corridor, a ruai, runs the length of the building in this open space. The ruai, is used by people in the longhouse to get together, and sometimes to make handicrafts like mats, baskets, and pua kumbu. Along the outer wall is the space where guests can sleep, the pantar. Above the upper ruai, a panggau (hung suite) is built for young bachelors of the respective families to live and sleep. For maidens, a meligai is built over the upper main room, hung from the roof structure which is used for secluding maidens if the parents decide to do so, especially by the few aristocratic families. On this side a large veranda, a tanju, is built in front of the building where the rice ( padi) is dried and other outdoor activities can take place. The sadau, a sort of attic, runs along under the peak of the roof and serves as storage of paddy and other family possessions. Sometimes the sadau has a sort of gallery from which the life in the ruai can be observed. The pigs and chicken live underneath the house between the stilts.

How big were the Iroquois longhouses?

The longhouses inhabited by the Iroquois were wood boards/bark-covered structures of standardized design "in the shape of an arbor" about 6 to 7 metres (20 to 23 ft) wide providing shelter for several related families. The longhouse had a 3 metres (9.8 ft)-wide central aisle and 2 metres (6.6 ft)-wide compartments, about 6 to 7 metres (20 to 23 ft) long, down each side . The end compartments were usually used for storage. Hearths were spaced about 6 to 7 metres (20 to 23 ft) apart down the aisle, with smoke holes in the roof. Two families shared each hearth. Each longhouse would house several generations of an extended family; a house was built proportionately to the number of families it was expected to contain and might be lengthened over time to accommodate growth. It is possible to infer the population of an Iroquois town from the sizes and number of longhouses it contained.

What were the Germanic longhouses?

Further developments of the Germanic longhouse during the Middle Ages were the Low German house in northern and especially northwestern Germany and its northern neighbour, the Geestharden house in Jutland including Schleswig, with its variant, the Frisian house.

What is the name of the house that spread along the North Sea coast to the east and north?

The Old Frisian longhouse or Langhuis that developed into the Frisian farmhouse which probably influenced the development of the Gulf house (German: Gulfhaus ), which spread along the North Sea coast to the east and north. The Scandinavian or Viking Langhus/Långhus and mead hall.

What is a long house?

A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building built by peoples in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America . Many were built from timber and often represent the earliest form of permanent structure in many cultures. Types include the Neolithic long house of Europe, ...

Where did the longhouses originate?

In North America two groups of longhouses emerged: the Native American/First Nations longhouse of the tribes usually connected with the Iroquois in the northeast, and a similarly shaped structure which arose independently among the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

What were the first permanent structures built?

Many were built from timber and often represent the earliest form of permanent structure in many cultures. Types include the Neolithic long house of Europe, the stone Medieval Dartmoor longhouse which also housed livestock, and the various types of longhouses built by different cultures among the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

What was the name of the building that the Vikings lived in?

Vikings lived in a long, narrow building called a longhouse. Most had timber frames, with walls of wattle and daub and thatched roofs. Rooms were partially set off; one end of the longhouse might be used as a barn to keep cattle and horses in the winter as well as storage for crops and tools.

Where did the Iroquois live?

Longhouses were the traditional homes for many of the farming tribes of American Indians that lived in southern New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The Iroquois people of upstate New York were among them. To the Iroquois people, the longhouse meant much more than the building where they lived.The longhouses inhabited by the Iroquois were wood boards/bark-covered structures of standardized design “in the shape of an arbor” about 6 to 7 metres wide providing shelter for several related families.

Where did the longhouses come from?

Our knowledge of longhouses is derived largely from archeological excavations on Iroquoian village sites dating from the 1400s through the 1600s. Excavations on longhouse sites in New York State and adjacent areas of Quebec and Ontario Provinces, and in Pennsylvania, have provided a wealth of information about longhouse lengths, widths, interior spatial organization, and the uses of these spaces.

What are longhouses used for?

Longhouses have another thing in common besides their shape: they were built to serve as a home for a large extended family. An extended family includes a number of family units consisting of parents and children, plus grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. In an Iroquois longhouse there may have been 20 or more families which were all related through the mothers' side, along with the other relatives. All these families belonged to the same clan; each clan in a village had its own longhouse; the clans had branches in other villages. Clans were named for animals and birds; Turtle, Bear and Hawk are examples. The symbol for the clan was used in decorations of household objects, in tattoos, and on the front of the longhouse.

How do Iroquois build houses?

Instead, they tied or lashed their buildings together with long strips of bark, or with ropes made by braiding strips of bark. When the bark is fresh and wet, it is flexible and can be wound around poles and posts to tie them together. When it dries, it shrinks a little and becomes stiff, thereby tightening the joint. Useful strips of bark can be pulled off some trees for a brief period in the spring when the sap is flowing freely. Basswood and hickory trees are good. Because the sap did not flow all year, the Iroquois probably harvested the bark when they could, then kept it under water until needed.

What is the longhouse architecture?

The design of the longhouse reflected the social organization of Iroquois culture, 300 - 500 years ago. Its architecture and construction are adapted to the raw materials available to the Iroquois in their immediate surroundings, and to the tools and technology in their possession.

How long is a longhouse?

Archeologists have found the post hole patterns of two longhouses that were 364 feet and 400 feet long: longer than a football field, and even longer than a city block! However, a typical Iroquois longhouse was 180 to 220 feet long.

How did archeologists find long houses?

Archeologists explore sites of old Iroquois villages by digging carefully in the upper layers of the soil. At some of these sites, they found traces of many longhouses in the form of circular stains in the earth where wooden posts had once been set as a frame for a longhouse. When the posts rotted away long ago, they left these stains in the soil which are called post molds. The pattern of these post molds makes the outline of the missing longhouse.

What is an Iroquois longhouse?

An Iroquois longhouse. Longhouses are exactly that: long houses that have a long, narrow, rectangular shape. They have been built by many different cultures around the world. Long ago, Vikings lived in longhouses; today, some rice-farming people in Borneo live in them.

What is a longhouse?

Native American longhouses were large homes designed for multiple families. They were especially popular among the tribes who lived in the northern United States, although many tribes used longhouses, partly as protection against the elements, and partly as a way to bind several families together into a tribe. ...

What were the longhouses of Native Americans?

According to modern standards, longhouses provided little privacy, but Native Americans were accustomed to pursuing all of their activities together.

Why were there holes in the top of the longhouse?

Holes were usually made at the top of the longhouses so smoke could escape at the top. Doors were simply flaps at the front and sides of the longhouses and in spite of the basic structure, these hides and poles were designed to withstand all kinds of adverse conditions and harsh weather.

What did Europeans write about longhouses?

Europeans who came to the US wrote about Native American longhouses in their diaries and letters. They often described at length how these longhouses looked and how they were built. The Native American oral tradition also gives much information about longhouses. Many longhouses were excavated and are somewhat intact.

Did longhouses have nails?

Many longhouses were excavated and are somewhat intact. From the remains we can see how the entire structure appeared. Although there were no nails used in the construction of longhouses, it is amazing that simple bark and leather straps should keep a large structure intact for centuries.

When were longhouses first described?

Although firsthand descriptions of longhouses were published in the later 1500s and in the 1600s shortly after French, Dutch, and English explorers and missionaries returned home, most of these pamphlets and books are now very rare. Some personal and official accounts were not published at all. Fortunately, during the past century, interest in these descriptions led to their re- publication in English translation, with additional notes provided by their translator and editor. As you can see from the list of references above, Dr. Snow relied upon recent editions of these works, since these are more readily available. It does seem strange, however, to be reading a firsthand description dating to the 1600s of an Iroquois longhouse, and then see that it was published in the 1900s.

Where did the Longhouses live?

Longhouses were the traditional homes for many of the farming tribes of American Indians that lived in southern New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The Iroquois people of upstate New York were among them. To the Iroquois people, the longhouse meant much more than the building where they lived.

What is the longhouse architecture?

The design of the longhouse reflected the social organization of Iroquois culture, 300 - 500 years ago. Its architecture and construction are adapted to the raw materials available to the Iroquois in their immediate surroundings, and to the tools and technology in their possession.

What is a long house?

Longhouses are exactly that: long houses that have a long, narrow, rectangular shape. They have been built by many different cultures around the world. Long ago, Vikings lived in longhouses; today, some rice-farming people in Borneo live in them. All longhouses have the same general shape, but were built with different kinds of materials and by different methods. Longhouses were the traditional homes for many of the farming tribes of American Indians that lived in southern New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The Iroquois people of upstate New York were among them.

Why did the Iroquois bend their rafters?

The Iroquois probably bent their rafters from freshly cut trees, because green wood is much more flexible than dry. Fasteners: Holding the parts of a building together is an essential part of construction. Modern wooden houses are held together with steel nails, but the Iroquois had no nails.

Why were long houses built with doors?

Doors were constructed at both ends and were covered with an animal hide to preserve interior warmth. Especially long longhouses had doors in the sidewalls as well. Longhouses featured fireplaces in the center for warmth. Holes were made above the hearth to let out smoke, but such smoke holes also let in rain and snow.

What is a longhouse?

Longhouses were a style of residential dwelling built by Native American First Nation peoples in various parts of North America. Sometimes separate longhouses were built for community meetings.

How tall was the Suquamish Old Man House?

The Suquamish Old Man House, at what became the Port Madison Squamish Reservation, was 500×40–60 ft ( 152×12–18 m), c. 1850. Usually one doorway faces the shore. Each longhouse contains a number of booths along both sides of the central hallway, separated by wooden containers (akin to modern drawers).

How were the poles set in the ground?

Poles were set in the ground and braced by horizontal poles along the walls. The roof is made by bending a series of poles, resulting in an arc-shaped roof. This was covered with leaves and grasses. The frame is covered by bark that is sewn in place and layered as shingles, and reinforced by light swag.

What were the walls made of?

Scholars believe walls were made of sharpened and fire-hardened poles (up to 1,000 saplings for a 50 m (160 ft) house) driven close together into the ground. Strips of bark were woven horizontally through the lines of poles to form more or less weatherproof walls.

How many ventilation openings were there in the Longhouse?

Ventilation openings, later singly dubbed as a smoke pipe, were positioned at intervals, possibly totalling five to six along the roofing of the longhouse. Missionaries who visited these longhouses often wrote about their dark interiors.

How high were the Palisades in Longhouse?

Children were born into the mother's clan. Protective palisades were built around the dwellings; these stood 14 to 16 ft (4.3 to 4.9 m) high , keeping the longhouse village safe.

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