pithouse

English

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

Alternative forms

• pit-house

Etymology

pit +‎ house

Noun

pithouse (plural pithouses)

1. (archaeology) A primitive building partially dug into the ground and roofed over.

Synonyms

• grubhouse
• sunken featured building
• SFB

Translations

primitive building

• German: Grubenhaus n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Further reading

• Pit-house on Wikipedia.Wikipedia