tures have a larger center post and often a
hearth or cooking area is centrally located.
Some early historical accounts indicate
that the houses were often inhabited by
more than one family that each had their
own sleeping area within the house, but
these areas were not separated by partitions.
The sleeping quarters were arranged
around one wall of the structure and consisted
of furs spread on woven mats on slats
raised above the ground on forked sticks.
Not all of the structures that have been
discovered at the site were occupied at the
same time. In fact, the most that could
have been occupied simultaneously would
have been eight structures. This is evident
because five structures that have been uncovered
are overlapping onto other structures,
indicating that they were built at a
later time. For example, structures 1 and 9
overlap each other; structures 3 and 14
overlap; structures 6 and 8 overlap; and
structures 7, 12, and 13 all overlap. It has
been proposed that the maximum life span
of a Caddoan house would have been about
20 years before the wooden posts would rot
to the point that they were unstable and
would have to be replaced. If we use structures
7, 12, and 13 as examples and assume
a life span of 20 years for each, then we can
postulate that the site was occupied for a
minimum of 60 years.
Most of the structures at the Oak Hill
Village site appear to have been used as
habitations, though one, Structure 11, is
too small to have functioned as a habitation
and probably served as a storage facility
or granary. They apparently were raised
above the ground on platforms to help
deter rodents and other vermin.
Two of the other structures at the site,
Structures 2 and 4, have several unique
characteristics and may have been the
dwellings of the caddi or some other person
of elite status, or they may have been used
as ceremonial or religious buildings. Structure
2, for example, which is located on the
extreme southern perimeter of the plaza, is
unique in that it is the only structure at the
site with an extended entrance way. This
entrance, located on the northwest side of
the structure, is about 25 inches wide and
extends about 6.5 feet out from the structure.
It was constructed by digging two
narrow trenches about 15 inches deep in
which posts were set to form the extended
entrance. Presumably, the entrance was
covered with thatch like the rest of the
structure. Perhaps the extended entrance
served to prevent any common person from
'' ^/^C EN T
01 * 3 4 5:
Pictured are some of the objects unearthed at the Oak Hill Village, including (above) ceramic vessels from the
burial site. The middle image is of ceramic pipe stems and bowl fragments used for smoking tobacco and
recovered from the midden areas at the site. Finally, pictured at the bottom is a groundstone celt from the site
that was used for cutting trees.
HERITAGE * WINTER 1995 13
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