Talk:Dugout (shelter)

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Added by anon:

When living in a dugout on the prarie, some frontier families had cows grazing on their roof, and had them "drop in" for dinner. It's true!

[edit] Pit Houses in the American Southwest

In time, I'll probably withdraw the brief information here on pit houses into an independent article. They are quite a specific form. Any objections? WBardwin 06:03, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Excellent idea. I was unaware of the importance of pithouses to the evolution of the kiva until I did some reading on them. wvbaileyWvbailey 00:34, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge and shuffle two articles

I would propose that the Dugout (shelter) article be used as a generic overview of the widespread archictectural type while the Pit-house article focus on the archaeological findings of these forms, particularly in the American Southwest. The Pit-house title might have to be changed. Opinions? WBardwin 01:40, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

I'd prefer to see Pithouse dedicated to American southwest architectures. When I found that wikipedia included "pithouse" in "dugout" I was startled. For example, as an American westerner my conception of an American-west "dugout" is far different than that of a native-American "pithouse"; dugouts were what pioneers built in a hurry and lived in while they worked on their above-ground homes and then used as root cellars etc as soon as they could vacate them. Like that guy and his wife did up by the gates of Lahore (I think its called) along the Green River in northern Utah. Bill Wvbailey 02:39, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
I think that's what I was suggesting -- Pit-house (archaeology) or Pit-house (American Southwest) or something similar. So, we agree? WBardwin 04:54, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
Yes. But I'd just go with Pit-house (if that's possible). My guess is most folks (kids in particular) would type that in first. Let disambiguation page(s) work out the details. Bill Wvbailey 14:25, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
Er, complicating this is the existence of the quiggly hole article; a kekuli (prn. "quiggly", and meaning "underneath", "below" in Chinook Jargon, which are similar by the look to the Southwest pit-house. I vote against the merger with Dugout (shelter) but now wonder about merging quigglies and pithouses....Skookum1 (talk) 16:18, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Two images of pithouses

Both images are similar, neither ideal -- as stated above I didn't realize their importance until later, so they appear in the background of other panoramic shots; the first one was shot from farther away so there's a significant loss of pixels. An almost identical image appears in Rohn and Ferguson on p. 32. There may be some information in the little guide you get on your self-conducted tour, but we didn't save it (I believe it cost a whole quarter. too bad: As it is a US-printed document it would almost certainly in the public domain so it could be copied with impunity). wvbailey00:34, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

A reconstruction shows the pit dug below grade, four supporting posts, roof structure as a layers of wood and mud, and entry through the roof; Step House ruins at Mesa Verde National Park.
A reconstruction shows the pit dug below grade, four supporting posts, roof structure as a layers of wood and mud, and entry through the roof; Step House ruins at Mesa Verde National Park.
A reconstruction shows the pit dug below grade, four supporting posts, roof structure as a layers of wood and mud, and entry through the roof; Step House ruins at Mesa Verde National Park.
A reconstruction shows the pit dug below grade, four supporting posts, roof structure as a layers of wood and mud, and entry through the roof; Step House ruins at Mesa Verde National Park.

I have done the required due diligence and sniffed the web; after about an hour I located the prehistoric Puebloan place in Utah that I remember --

  • The Anasazi State Park Museum
  • 420 N. Highway 12,
  • Boulder, UT 84716-1429
  • 435-335-7308
  • anasazi@utah.gov [??] this is one of three e-mail addresses I've encountered.
  • Lat. 37.90139, Long. -111.41667; elevation 6700 feet; located 22 miles NE of Escalante, just south of Boulder, UT
"Explore an Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) village that wsa likely occupied from A.D. 1050 to 1200, and one of the largest communities west of the Colorado River. Outside the museum, tour a life-sized, six-room replica of an ancient dwellling and view a portion of the original site. Inside, view artifacts excavated from this site and learn the lifeways of these people." (from the brochure of the Utah Office of Tourism, www.utah.travel, no date)
  • This is officially called "the Coombs site"


Two photos of a reconstructed pit house at the museum appear on the web:

(1) At Max Gertola’s site there's a jpg:

http://www.so-utah.com/hwy12/anasazi/homepage.html
http://www.so-utah.com/hwy12/anasazi/anas1.jpg

(2) But this image seems clearer:

http://www.wanderinglizard.com/Utah/SoutheastUtah/garfieldC/anasazistatepark/anasazistatepark2.html

I don't know any particulars of this reconstruction, and as I'm 2500 miles away I don't know when/if I will be able to find out directly. The question would be: The location of detailed reconstruction information (i.e. journal-papers, write-ups, plan views, descriptions, etc.) wvbaileyWvbailey 02:28, 26 July 2007 (UTC)