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Buildings
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The Vikings built many different kinds of houses, depending on what materials were available. Their houses were not built to last very long. After some years, villages and farms were often abandoned and rebuilt nearby. Because they had open fires and no chimneys - smoke escaped through a hole in the roof - the houses often burned down. Floors were simply earth, beaten hard. Walls were lined with wood, sometimes carved into panels. Buildings had only one storey, although some big farmhouses were quite tall, with wooden pillars inside to support the roof. The same kind of building might be a home, a workshop, or even (in Christian times) a church. A Viking "longhouse" often had an area at one end for storing grain or for keeping cattle in winter.
(A) APPRENTICE
House building was one of the skills that every boy learned.
(B) THATCHING
Vikings made roofs from thatch if reeds were available.
(C) WOOD
Viking houses were built from wood when it was available.
(D) BUTTRESSES
Heavy timbers propped against the walls at an angle kept the building steady, as it had no foundations.
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Previous:
Back
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Book:
The Vikings
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Section:
The Vikings
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Chapter:
Buildings
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