Prehistoric Periods

I was interested in learning more about the primitive igloos. The word "igloo" actually means house. The inuit would build these houses during the winter to live in while they hunted. The Inuit people didn't stay in one location very long so the structures they built as homes were very temporary.  Up until the mid 1950's there were still people living in these sorts of structures. The winter months were long and very cold with very few hours of daylight. The top layer of soil was so frozen it made digging beneath the soil almost impossible.

To build the igloos they would stack the snow ice blocks cut from a special knife. The blocks were stacked inwards to create the dome like structure. Loose snow was then used to fill in the cracks between blocks, this helped insulate the home. It only took the inuit people about 20-30 minutes to build the structures. Inside the home they would stack ice blocks then cover them with fur to create a sleeping structure.

During the summer months they would pack their things and relocate. The summer homes were tents constructed of caribou or seal skin. The skin was hung from wood pieces in the middle. Wood was very hard to come by so they were heavily guarded by its owner.

extra credit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-x5QOSqP3E
here is a short video on how the igloos are constructed