A
dugout or
dug-out, also known as a
pit-house,
earth lodge,
mud hut, is a shelter for humans or
domesticated animals and
livestock based on a hole or depression dug into the ground. Dugouts can be fully recessed into the earth, with a flat roof covered by ground, or dug into a hillside. They can also be semi-recessed, with a constructed wood or sod roof standing out. These structures are one of the most ancient types of human housing known to
archeologists, and the same methods have evolved into modern "
earth shelter" technology.