de Laguna] ARCHEOLOGY, YAKUTAT BAY AREA, ALASKA 61 



HOUSE 9 



In trenching through House Pit 1 , we discovered the remains of a 

 small burned house in the rectangular depression at the southeastern 

 end of House Pit 1 (map 7), which was evidently younger than the 

 latter. Still later, after House 9 had been burned down, another 

 structure was erected over the remains, as is shown by the numerous 

 holes for poles and posts that perforated the burned planks of House 

 9. We could not determine the nature of this last building, but 

 believe from the size of the postholes that it must have been very 

 substantial. It was built during the terminal phases of the occupa- 

 tion of Old Town. Since it was impossible to complete the excavation 

 of House Pit 1 and its entranceway, our understanding of these 

 various structures and their relationships to each other is admittedly 

 uncertain. 



Unfortunately the carbonized remains of House 9 were found in its 

 western and southern parts (fig. 7). The other end may not have 

 burned, and the timbers there were either removed or allowed to rot, 

 so reconstruction of the house is somewhat tentative. It was about 

 20K feet long (northwest-southeast) and about 17 feet wide, although 

 it expanded to a maximum width of 18 feet near the northwestern 

 end. It was built in a pit that had been excavated from the floor of 

 House Pit 1 to a depth of 12 to 18 inches, or about 30 inches below 

 the present surface. 



WALLS 



Traces of vertical wall planks have been found around the north- 

 western end of the house. Small poles (P, P), about 1 to 2 inches in 

 diameter, have been pushed into the sand inside and outside the walls, 

 perhaps to keep the planks from rattling. 



A post {A), about 13 by 8 inches in diameter, stood 2 feet inside 

 the northwestern end of the house; a smaller post {B) was on the 

 hne of the waU; both of these were in line with the longer axis of the 

 house. It is not unreasonable to suppose that both (or the larger 

 one) supported a single ridgepole. An intrusive posthole (JJ) has 

 destroyed the last foot or so of waU plank along the floor area (D), 

 north of the smaller post {B). If this wall plank were restored there 

 would still seem to be a gap in the wall almost 3 feet Avide, in the 

 middle of which was the smaller post. The short floor plank {E) 

 was evidently inserted after both posts {A and B) were in place, for 

 it would have been impossible to dig holes for these after the plank 

 was laid. In the reconstruction (fig. 8) the short plank has been 

 interpreted as a sill for a doorway, but the space would seem to be 

 too narrow for an entrance, and the evidence for a ramp is not at all 

 clear. It would be more reasonable to suppose that the entrance 



