Longhouse

The Neolithic long house type was introduced with the first farmers of Central and Western Europe around 5000 BCE, 7,000 years ago.

As glass was not available until the middle of the 16th century,[7] they were oriented loosely East West with openings (for a door and latticed unglazed windows) only in the south wall to provide the maximum shelter from the worst weather and catch the sun.

They are often dug into the hillside, the lower parts of the walls are formed from rough stone in mud pointing with cob above, as before the 17th century lime cement was virtually unknown.The floors were not made a true level.

The cross passage (often misnamed as a breezeway did not pass right through the building) establishes distinct areas for people in one half of the house and livestock in the other, but would only be needed for a couple of months at most in the winter.

There was a fire pit, sometimes with a stone reredos (as in Hendre’r-ywydd Uchaf Farmhouse, Denbighshire), behind which the smoke rose to the eaves and passed through the thatch.

As skills and wealth increased, after 1500 many had built in settles,[8] most by 1700 would have been adapted and have: separate buildings for livestock, a second storey, stairways, a chimney with bread oven, an outshut (pantry/larder/dairy which was only accessible from inside the house), glazed windows, lime screed floors and at least some decorative plasterwork.

The longhouses inhabited by the Iroquois were wood boards/bark-covered structures of standardized design "in the shape of an arbor" about 6 to 7 metres (20 to 23 ft) wide providing shelter for several related families.

In South America, the Tucano people of Colombia and northwest Brazil traditionally combine a household in a single long house.

The Xingu peoples of central Brazil build a series of longhouses in circular formations forming round villages.

The Yanomami people of Brazil and Venezuela build a round hut with a thatched roof that has a hole in the middle, called shabono, which could be considered a sort of longhouse.

In Daepyeong, an archaeological site of the Mumun pottery period in Korea, longhouses have been found that date to circa 1100–850 BC.

In Igeum-dong, an excavation site in South Korea, the large longhouses, 29 and 26 metres long, are situated between the megalithic cemetery and the rest of the settlement.

Groups like the Siraya of ancient Taiwan built longhouses and practiced head hunting, as did, for example the later Dayaks of Borneo.

Cooling air could circulate underneath the raised floor of the dwelling, and the elevated living areas were more likely to catch above-ground breezes.

From front to back, such a house, called an "uma", regularly consists of an open platform serving as the main entrance place, followed by a covered gallery.

The Mnong and Rade of Vietnam also have a tradition of building longhouses (Vietnamese: nhà dài) that may be 30 to 40 metres (98 to 131 ft) long.

[15] In contrast to the jungle versions of Borneo these sport shorter stilts and seem to use a veranda in front of a short (gable) side as main entrance.