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Pithouse
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Dugouts, also known as earth-houses or '''mud huts''', are one of the most ancient type of human housing, known to Archeologist s. The same methods have evolved into modern " Earth Sheltering " technology.

Dugouts are often used as temporary shelters, e.g., during the War or in Hunting . Also, they may serve the purpose of an Ambush , due to their concealed nature. Dugouts can be fully recessed, with a flat roof covered by ground or dug into a hillside, as well as semi-recesssed, with the wooden roof standing out.

In north China, especially on the Loess Plateau , Caves called Yaodong s dug into hillsides have been the traditional dwellings from time immemorial. The advantage of a yaodong over an ordinary house is that it needs little heaiting in winter and no cooling at all in summer.

In ancient Scotland , earth houses, also known as yird, Weems and Picts' houses, were underground dwellings, extant even after the Roman evacuation of Britain . Entry was effected by a passage not much wider than a Fox burrow, which sloped downwards 10 or 12 ft. to the floor of the house; the inside was Oval in shape, and was walled with overlapping rough Stone slabs; the roof frequently reached to within a foot of the earth's surface; they probably served as storehouses, winter quarters, and as places of refuge in times of War . Similar dwellings are found in Ireland .

In the Interior Plateau of the British Columbia and in the Columbia Plateau of the Pacific Northwest the remains of a form of pit-house called a Quiggly Hole or ''kekuli'' are common, and come in large groups named quiggly towns, which are correspondingly the remains of ancient villages.

In North American archaeology, pithouses are very common during the time of the Hohokam culture. These houses were built by digging a shallow hole into the ground, usually around 6" to 18" deep. There were usually two rooms in them. One of the rooms was for storage of dry goods, and the other was for the living quarters. In the center of the pithouse was a heart, used to heat the whole structure. There was also a hole over the hearth that was used for ventilation as well as the entrance and exit via a ladder.