Online Activities: Iroquoian Longhouse
Post Moulds
Iroquoian longhouses were built of wood. The most basic element of the longhouse building was the post. Posts of about 3 to 5 inches (about 7 to 12 cm) across (diametre) were sharpened at the ends and put in the ground. Sometimes a hole was dug to put the post in. Other times the post was twisted and turned until it was deep into the soil. Longhouse posts were often made of cedar because it is a wood that does not rot quickly in the ground.
After the village was abandoned, the houses began to fall apart and the walls and the posts rotted away. The above ground remains of the houses disappeared as the years passed, but in the ground, archaeologists can still see the remains of posts (called post moulds) and other features. Together, posts and features indicate where the longhouses were and tell a story about these houses of the past.
When archaeologists study post moulds, they look at their sizes and location on the floor plan and in cross section. When a cross section is made of a post mould or feature, it is cut in half so that archaeologists can study the shape of the post. It is by looking at cross sections that we know that the posts were sharpened before they were put in the ground.
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An archeologist has discovered the presence of a post mould in the subsoil.
An archeologist prepares to create a cross section.
A completed cross section.
