ROUNDHOUSE 3

Roundhouse 3 several years after construction and painted with bands of red ochre.

The third of the main exhibition structures to be built, Roundhouse 3 was constructed as a replica of the type of building known from the early part of the Middle Chalcolithic period (c.3500 BC) and was largely modeled on buildings uncovered from the earlier parts of the site of Lemba itself. The wall is constructed entirely out of mud with no stone foundations although stones have been pressed into the base of the wall on the interior in a manner similar to excavated buildings. It is thought that this may have been to protect the vulnerable lower part of the wall from wear through continuous use and occupation of the building. The house is 4.0m in diametre with walls 0.40m thick standing to a height of 2.5m. Like Roundhouse 2, the floor of this building has been hollowed out in a broad foundation scoop with the wall set along the edge of the hollow thus providing increased headroom within the building. Two tiny windows are also provided high up in the wall for ventilation. The roof is similar to that of Roundhouse 2 with rafters laid parallel from back to front across the wallhead and surmounted with reeds, straw and several layers of mud topped with a watertight clay surface.The entire earth structure of the roof is held in place with layers of stones set in mud around the edge of the wallhead. An upright forked post supporting the central ridge pole is placed slightly off-centre and demonstrates how a long beam in the roofs of larger houses might be supported leaving very little archaeological trace. The exterior walls of this building are protected by a layer of mud render which is renewed annually.


View of the site from the South with Roundhouse 3 to the left.

Inside, the building has not been fitted out with basins, hearths or ridges as would have been common in a building of this period. These would have been made in mud and would have been too fragile to survive the attentions of the growing numbers of visitors to the site. Instead, this building is used to test other types of internal Chalcolithic fixtures such as lime plasters and an oven. This will change from time to time.