Tikchik village: a nineteenth century riverine community in ... - Cluster

VANSTONE: TIKCHIK VILLAGE 235structurally similar, we can deal with them as though they did representa cluster of contemporary residences. It would be well to keepin mind, however, that there may have been no time during theperiod of occupation when all ten houses were occupied.In constructing the houses, the builders in each instance made anexcavation in the ground slightly larger than the proposed house beforethe wood construction was begun. Thus, all the houses weresemi-subterranean dwellings. The species of wood employed werespruce and cottonwood. Spruce was utilized for all wall logs anduprights, while spruce and some cottonwood were used for roof timbers.The roof beams in all but two houses (H-3, 5) had disappeared.At the level of the roof of one of these structures (H-5) badly decayedsheets of birch bark were recovered. This sheeting was clearly abovethe roof logs and doubtless served as a protective layer. It is verylikely that on the roofs of at least several of the houses, and perhapsall of them, sod or dirt was placed on top of sheets of birch bark toFig. 4b.Tikchik in August after excavation.