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North Carolina History Digital Textbook Project

Excavating Occaneechi Town: An archaeology primer

From the UNC Research Laboratories of Archaeology

24 An excavated post hole structure

A circular ring of excavated post holes at the Wall site, near Occaneechi Town, showing where a house once stood.

A circular ring of excavated post holes at the nearby Wall site, showing where a house once stood. (Photograph courtesy of Research Laboratories of Archaeology. More about the photograph)

Here’s the same structure after the post holes and pits have been excavated. This structure was originally a house, some 23 feet in diameter. The framework consisted of saplings, which were driven into the ground, then bent over and lashed together at the top to support the roof. The walls and roof, now gone, were probably covered with bark, woven mats, or thatch. This is the kind of house in which a family would have lived. Most of the structures at Occaneechi Town are not as well-preserved as this one.