Point of interest
Post-built house
A reconstructed house explains building methods and settlement on hillside terraces.
Content language
Homes in the ancient settlement stood on prepared hillside terraces. These levelled areas made it possible to build on sloping ground. The reconstructed post-built house represents a type of dwelling identified by archaeologists from traces preserved in the soil.
Houses at Rzucewo had rectangular plans measuring about 6 metres long and 3-4 metres wide. Their walls consisted of a single row of posts. The term “post-built” refers to this construction method, not to a house raised on stilts above the water.
The entrance was in a wall parallel to the shore. The building's position thus related both to a prepared surface on the slope and to the direction of the water's edge. Today the reconstruction gives a three-dimensional form to traces recorded on excavation plans.
Fish-processing areas were identified near the houses. Remains included cod, flounder and herring, as well as freshwater fish such as pike, roach and bream. These homes belonged to a settlement where work connected with fishing and preparing the catch took place close to people's living spaces.
The outdoor reconstructions and viewpoint are accessible all year, 24 hours a day.
For children
A hillside is not flat, so a level area had to be prepared before a house could be built. The inhabitants made terraces, or steps in the ground, and built their homes on them. The house in the park is a reconstruction of this kind of building.
The old houses were rectangular: about 6 metres long and 3-4 metres wide. Their walls consisted of a single row of posts. That is why they are called “post-built houses”. It does not mean that they stood on tall stilts above the water. The entrance was in a wall running parallel to the shore.
Fish were prepared close to the houses. Archaeologists identified remains of cod, flounder and herring, as well as pike, roach and bream. People at the settlement therefore ate both sea and freshwater fish. Building traces and food remains help reveal the inhabitants’ everyday activities.
Question 1 of 2
What were the approximate dimensions of the ancient houses at Rzucewo?
- Location
- Northern section of the archaeological trail