Neolithic long house

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The Neolithic long house was a long, narrow timber dwelling built by the first farmers in Europe around 7,000 years ago. They were the largest free-standing structures in the world at that time yet dated by archaeologists. Long houses are present across numerous regions and time periods in the archaeological record.

It is thought that these Neolithic houses had no windows and only one doorway. The end farthest from the door appears to have been used for grain storage with working activities being carried out in the better lit door end and the middle used for sleeping and eating.

Twenty or thirty people, could have lived in each house with villages of six or seven houses known. They first appeared in central Europe in connection with the early Neolithic cultures such as the Linearbandkeramic or Cucuteni culture.

Structurally, the Neolithic long house was supported by rows of large timbers holding up a pitched roof. The walls would not have supported much weight and would have been quite short beneath the large roof. Sill beams ran in foundation trenches along the sides to support the low walls. A long house would measure around 20m in length and 7m in width.