It’s not very nomadic… but it looks totally awesome.
Anyone build a replica of one of these?
I agree, Celtic Roundhouses do look pretty awesome. I think the thatching would be the biggest obstacle though–most of us are unlikely to have the opportunity to learn that skill from an expert. I’ve seen pictures of other kind of European shelter that look easier, and some definitely seem more portable or less permanent.
Both Jesse and I have been collecting photos of prehistoric huts, benders, Sami houses and tents, gypsy tents, and so on, on pinterest. The sod or turf huts are my favorite, but I wonder if we have too much rain to make those practical here.
BTW, I love the parallels between some of the European and North American dwellings. Obviously laavus and tipis are closely related, but the construction of the bender tent appears identical to that of the wikiup.
Dude. I am IN on building a replica of these. I was going to build a viking-syle pit house at my new place but now I’m not sure how long we’re going to be there. I am also partial to turf roofed structures. It seems like they would probably fare okay here. Salish tribes have pit houses. Iceland has turf roofed houses. There’s some in Norway. I think I might’ve seen some in Ireland. They seem to be kind of all over the place, including wet locations.
One of the cool things about building a thatched structure is that we could use some invasive/introduced grasses. I think people have used reed canary grass. I know you can use european beach grass. I think there’s some other reeds that aren’t native. I think invasive people should use a lot of invasive plant species. 