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Excavation at the Pit House | Excavation at the Acker site
Previous Events: 1800-1900

 Excavation at the Pit House
  Photo: Laird Niven, Learning Resources & Technology.
Nova Scotia Museum.
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Pit House

Imagine arriving in Nova Scotia in the summer or fall of 1783. You need a roof over your head, but lumber is in short supply. Or you don't have time before winter comes to build a house. So you dig a hole in the ground and make a roof of tree trunks and canvas over the hole. The British Army often lived this way while on the march, and Black soldiers and engineers had built hundreds of them during the war. This pit house, AkDi-12, was excavated by St Mary's University Field School archaeologists in 1994.

Related: Scissors
Related: Earthenware cup