Eskimo dwelling: why the entrance to the igloo is always open and located so low

The Eskimos, residents of the northernmost regions of our planet, have survival skills in harsh climatic conditions, which any resident of the middle strip would envy. One of the most important inventions of the Eskimos, time-tested, is the igloo - traditional houses made of ice and snow. We will talk about the features of this amazing structure in our review.

Researchers believe that the Eskimo tribes inhabited the Arctic in the XI-XII centuries. Today, the Eskimo population is about 170,000 people, and they live mainly in three regions: the island of Greenland, owned by Denmark, in northern Canada and the US state of Alaska. By the way, the Eskimo is an Indian word that literally translates as "raw foodist", and the Eskimos themselves call themselves Inuit.

The traditional homes of the Eskimos are summer yaranga - a domed structure made of animal skins and snow igloos that build the cold season. Building a real igloo is not such a simple job, requiring certain skills and knowledge.

The igloo can be built in a large snowdrift of dense snow or composed of separate ice blocks. The size of the needle is small: about 3-4 meters in diameter and no more than 2 meters high. If there are no suitable snowdrifts, then the needle is built from blocks that are cut out of ice or snow. The blocks are laid in a circle, which gradually tapers towards the ceiling. In order for the structure to acquire greater strength, it is watered with water during construction. The windows are made of ice blocks, but the needle can be without windows. In this case, sunlight penetrates through the snow walls.

The most important, from the point of view of the functionality of the entire building, is the correct arrangement of the entrance to the needle. If the igloo is being built in a large snowdrift, then the entrance is done directly in the floor, and a tunnel breaks out to exit to the surface. If the needle is built from blocks, then the entrance is always made below, at the floor level. At the same time, no door is provided in the traditional dwelling, the entrance is always open.

Such a low entrance is made so that the warm air located under the ceiling does not go out. But the needle is open so that there will always be an influx of fresh air saturated with oxygen into a small room. If several people are in the needle and the oil lamp or cooking center, which is also used as a heater, is lit, then a lot of carbon dioxide is formed in the air and the oxygen content decreases. Heavier carbon dioxide goes down and out through the low inlet, and fresh air enters instead.

Despite the fact that most Eskimos no longer live in their traditional houses from ice and snow, Eskimo communities still remain, which build a needle and are engaged in fishing for marine animals. In addition, the technique of building an igloo is owned by polar explorers and some tourists who go on winter trips, because a shelter from the snow is very convenient.