After the removal of the plough zone, the archaeologists exposed the ancient houses and inserted white stakes in order to allow visitors to recognize the house walls. The 139-foot longhouse in the centre of the photograph had a 49-foot extension on one end, made simply by tearing out the end of the house and extending the structure to the desired length.
The insert is a scale drawing of an Iroquois longhouse. It appeared on a map of Fort Frontenac, now Kingston, Ontario. According to historic records, a group of Oneidas from New York State settled around the French fort, and the drawing is most likely one of an Oneida house about A.D.1720. Such fragments of historical documentation are essential to accurate restorations of the above-ground portions of prehistoric longhouses.
Courtesy: National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada.
