nazSTUFF - Building a Virtual Pithouse in 3D

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Rebuilding a Sinagua Pithouse - Part 03

"Northern Arizona Experience" - CLICK ON ANY IMAGE for more information and design details. Make changes.

Continued from previous page...

Applying this exercise to a different architecture.

Recently, Thomas began observing a new building design in ancient housing. These stone outlines that uncannily resemble the "T-shaped" doors found in pueblos like Chaco Canyon are outlines of a new kind of ruin, not seen before in 30 years of recording archaeological sites. Most of these sites show up in a survey conducted by Thomas Parry in 1977, although little of distinction was said about them. They all face the winter solstice sunrise and are often built in pairs. Intrigued, we decided to take this virtual 3D reconstruction experiment to this shape. Notice these differences, for example. This new shape is not round and it has a substantial row of boulders on the periphery. We'll start with the same basic structure geometry.

Like before we assume that the floor was dug down into the earth. Getting below the frost line has many benefits immediately. We rebuild the same core support structure composed of four vertical posts and a mantle.

This is where to, we believe, the ledge is replaced with a line of foot-stones to act as a foundation for the rafters. This drawing is an effort to test this theory.

We install some side rafters connecting the mantle with the ground and using the large stones for structural strength. Might even explain the need or desire for large stones.

Another view to better show how the stones keep the load-bearing rafters from eroding and slipping out when covered with heavy mud.

To add some reality to our project we've introduced the ladder. This single center rafter is our first effort to reconcile this floorplan. We have no reference drawings. Interviewing professional archaeologists produced several sketches of "alcove" houses which do not match this structure.

It is obvious that the next step is to pyramid down to the ground stones.

This construction step is simply repeated from each corner.

Top view of our rafter system so far, limited to just one half of the house.

Our 3D model has enough done to use as a prop in an interview. The integrity of our structure seems OK for that stone age time period, it conforms with known similar structures.

Encouraged, we added the small horizontal thatch poles and the thick mud covering. If our assumptions are correct this might be the external finished house.

For comparison, here's another museum exhibit of a reconstructed pithouse.

Here's an actual internal thatched wall over rafters, as shown in these renderings.

Hopefully, this has been useful. JV - Webmaster.

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