The Virtual Meier Site

Wall Trenches

The walls of the plankhouse were constructed of posts and plans set into the earth, often to a depth of 50-70cm. Further structural elements were placed in what we ollectively call a 'wall trench', a feature type encountered in several excavation units which identified the boundaries of the plankhouse.

The wall trench generally consisted of a 10-30cm deep ditch, U-shaped in cross-section, which was occasionally lined on the bottom with fire-cracked rock. Adjacent to the wall trench, normally within the plankhouse, but occasionally outside, posts and planks were set into the ground as supports. These featues are very common and many overlap near the wall areas, indicating a lot of movement and maintenence of these structural elements of the plankhouse during its uselife. In the case of small planks and posts, much of this movement may have been related to the sort of short-term adjustment of wall planks mentioned in several ethnohistoric documents, which indicate that inhabitants could move wall and roof elements to taste, to regulate temperature, rain and light.

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