Earth lodge

An earth lodge is a semi-subterranean building covered partially or completely with earth, best known from the Native American cultures of the Great Plains and Eastern Woodlands. Earth lodges are circular, dome-shaped dwellings with heavy timber superstructures covered by thick layers of earth, typically with a central or slightly offset smoke hole at the apex and a tunnel-like entryway. The type emerged in the early 1500s and persisted into the reservation era of the late 19th century. Tribes most frequently associated with earth-lodge architecture include the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Pawnee, Otoe, Kansa, Omaha, and Ponca, although several other groups also adopted the style. Earth lodges have also been identified archaeologically at Mississippian culture sites in the southeastern United States.

With diameters of up to 60 feet (18 m), historic-period earth lodges were the largest and most complex structures built on the Plains until the 20th century.