Online Activities: Iroquoian Longhouse
How are the villages of Iroquoians found by archaeologists?
The licensed archaeologist walks through farmers' fields looking for artifacts. This is called a surface collection. Finding Iroquoian pottery, pottery designed and decorated in the Iroquoian way, tells the archaeologist that an Iroquoian site has been found. Finding a lot of pottery, worked animal bone and stone artifacts over a large area, tells the archaeologist that an Iroquoian village has been found. Once she has located a site, the archaeologist can begin excavations to find the remains of Iroquoian longhouses.
Explore the Village
- What is a longhouse?
- Why were villages built on plateaus?
- What is a palisade?
- How are sites found by archaeologists?
- Where were the corn fields?
- Why were villages built near water?
Archaeologists conducting a surface collection.
