Houses of the Woodland culture were made in different ways. They would
have a winter camp and a summer camp. They would move season to season.
Some camps had well over 100 inhabitants such as Sugar Camp Hill Site in
Jackson County. Houses in the Early Woodland were very small houses. The
sites were mostly near valleys, rivers, or bluffs. In the Middle Woodland
period houses were getting bigger. In the Late Woodland period the houses
were permanent. The sites were much larger and they lived in valleys all
year long.
The Late Woodland Indians lived from 250 to 800 A.D. We learned a lot about
their houses and we'll share this with you. Their homes were a variety
of sizes. Before they put posts up to build the walls they dug basins or
small ditches that were four to five inches wide. There were two main posts
placed on the North and South corners to support the roof. They put wood,
clay, and different grasses on the sides of the poles to build the sides
of the house. For the door they put an animal hide over a large opening.
There were many ways in which houses were constructed. One structure was
an oval wigwam made of young bent trees.
The other was a rectangular shaped hut that held eight to sixteen people.
Sometimes the Late Woodland Indians built small walls around the permanent
houses to keep them warm in the winter. When a house became buggy it was
burned down and built again in the same place.The houses were built near
rivers and at the base of bluffs. Their populations were large. Several
hundred people lived in one village. The Indians lived in one village for
about one year. Three main resources were good soil, game, and lots of
trees. Good soil was used for farming. The wood was used for houses and
tools. The animal skin was used for their clothing.
