[Artemisia] A New Discussion - SCA Skills in a Modern Plague

[Allen Hall]

The Mandan Indians on the Missouri River had large earth lodges much like you describe.  Sounded like a good way to spend the winter.  Lewis and Clark wintered with them.  Earth berms homes have similar qualities.

As far as castles go, the thermal mass to hold heat is AMAZING.  Walls 10-15 feet thick have some interesting insulative qualities, as well as defensive qualities.

The southern most reaches of Artemisia has this little difficulty of no water to speak of...Maybe warmer in the winter, but a fire would still be required, and no water equals no firewood.  Of course there are places there that will work, but consider how things were during the Native American times.  What areas supported the tribes then?  It could return to that.  I know some people who look forward to the return of the buffalo.

Speaking of some of the southern reaches of Artemisia, next time you're down that way, swing in and check out Cove Fort.  It's about 80 feet square, with 18 foot high stone walls, about 4 feet wide at the base, tapering to 2 feet wide at the top.  Built to defend the pioneers down that way from possible Indian attack.  A pretty interesting structure, built by hand with native materials.

How do you make mortar for building rock/brick walls?

Alan

> From: kyria.thalia at gmail.com
> Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:20:24 -0700
> To: artemisia at lists.gallowglass.org
> Subject: Re: [Artemisia] A New Discussion - SCA Skills in a Modern Plague
> 
> One of the things that interests me is home construction.  Folks in the
> southernmost reaches of Artemisia *might* be okay, but in the northern parts
> how do you keep your homes warm in the winter?  Wood-burning stoves have
> been mentioned already, but it takes a lot of effort over the course of the
> year to stockpile wood.  Central heating probably won't last too long.  One
> of the ways to get around this is to take advantage of natural insulation as
> much as possible. The pit homes used by some of the Native American/First
> Nations people seem like a good solution to me and are designed to house an
> entire clan.  Which is good...because it's going to take a lot of digging.
> After a suitably deep and wide pit is constructed, a few logs and several
> layers of branches are laid on top to create a shallow dome, which is then
> slathered with mud and could probably have sod laid over the top, leaving a
> central opening to release smoke for the cooking fire and allow fresh air
> inside.  That can be covered over in event of a blizzard or rainshower.  I
> imagine a couple layers of modern-day insulation and canvas or tarpaulin
> could be added as well.  Sounds a lot warmer than a free-standing structure
> to me and it has the added advantage of natural camouflage if people don't
> know what they're looking for.  Keep a dutch oven or stewpot going over a
> low fire constantly and it should be pretty comfy.
> 
> Grainne Dhonn
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