Because Archaic people traveled in search of food, their homes had to be very simple and easy to build. So they built brush shelters that were very similar to the brush shelters people lived in during the Paleoindian period.

In the drawings below, you can see what an Archaic house looked like. The small drawing in the circle shows what the house looked like from the outside. In the big drawing, part of the wall has been removed so you can see inside the house.

To build their houses, Archaic people leaned poles around a shallow depression that they dug into the ground. Then they covered the poles with brush and mud.

Archaeologists often find fire hearths and storage pits both inside and outside Archaic houses.

Some houses during the Archaic period were built in open areas. Others were constructed in rock alcoves, which protected them from the weather.