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

VANSTONE: TIKCHIK VILLAGE 257removal of sod and overlying fill required some exertion on the partof the excavators because of the depth of the room, the excavationwas completed in a reasonable amount of time. Only the tunnel,being long and nearly completely filled, was difficult to excavate.The main chamber of kashgee 2 was virtually square.Horizontalwall logs were found around all four sides and they were held in placewith vertical supports. There were at least four logs along each walland possibly five. Single timbers stretched the entire length of theback wall but on the sides two sets of shorter logs were used. Bencheswere located on all four sides and were easy to define because of beingpartly made of beach gravel that had apparently been broughtup from the river bank. The hauling of gravel fill in this mannermust have been a major undertaking. An effort was made to determinehow deep the gravel was and it turned out to be at least 70 cm.in the three places tested. The surfaces of the benches consisted ofa dark compact layer beneath which it was virtually impossible todig because of the gravel. There was some indication that thinplanks may have covered at least one bench, but this was uncertain.The benches sloped away toward the center of the chamber in muchthe same manner as in kashgee 1 and the center floor, or hearth pit,117 cm. below the bench surfaces, was approximately 13^ m. square.This entire area was covered with bits of charcoal and darkened earthand gravel. The tunnel extended through the front bench and enteredthe hearth pit at the floor level, an arrangement described byZagoskin (1967, p. 115) for kashgees which he saw in southwesternAlaska in 1842-1844. There was a slight step-up about 75 cm. infront of the hearth pit and another one at the point where the tunnelentered. It will be noted that the tunnel did not form a cold trapin the usual sense, but doubtless served as one in terms of thoseseated on the high benches. It is probable that some form of trapdoor connected the two sections of bench on either side of the tunneland, in fact, the remains of a short horizontal plank at this pointsuggests such a disposition. This trap door would doubtless be downmost of the time but could be raised to allow people to enter the hearthpit area easily. A trap door may also have covered the center of thekashgee at a point level with the bench surfaces. This arrangementhas been described for the kashgee at Nushagak (Swineford, 1898,pp. 164-166) and would not only give more room for activities in thekashgee, but would allow performers in the ceremonies to appearmysteriously before those seated on the benches.