Abstract
The Neolithic Dugout Hut(Um house) has not been built by means of the scientific analysis and architectural design, on the other hand it has been improved and constructed through the long life experience. Various materials to build the Um house could have been obtained from the natural resources such as the soil, rock, trees plants and rice straw etc. Especially the soil and Eaung(planted rice straw for the roof cover) have been useful materials for the Um house. The soil has been used for the ground floor and the wall of the house, and the Eaung for the roof cover by which indoor air temp. variation of the Um house could have been minimized as well as the indoor air of the house has been heated by the charcoal brazier located at the center of the ground soil floor. The Um house is not only simple but also convenient for the housing facility. This thermal characteristics of the Um house could be useful for the standardization of Korean type emergency shelter and also of the eco-friendly low energy rural house. The structural configuration and the development process of the Um house were studied by the archaeologists and the architects, whereas the thermal environment of the house was not studied through the scientific analysis. In this study, the Um house was rebuilt through the historical investigation to analyse the thermal characteristics of the Um house. The temperature variation with layer of the conical thatched roof and the indoor air temperature-relative humidity of the Um house with the ambient temperature were experimentally analysed. The results can be summarized as follows; 1. When the ambient temp. was decreased from $24^{\circ}C$ to $14^{\circ}C$, the surface and the middle layer temp. of the Um house roof covered with the rice straw was maintained at $20{\sim}22^{\circ}C$. 2. When the temperature on the surface of the south orientation roof was increased from $48^{\circ}C$ to $55^{\circ}C$, that of the north orientation from $29^{\circ}C$ to $30^{\circ}C$. 3. When the ambient air temp. was lower than $19^{\circ}C$, the relative humidity of the inside air of the Um house was lower 14.6% than of the outside air, whereas when the ambient air temp. was higher than $19^{\circ}C$, the relative humidity of the inside air was higher 14.8% than that of the outside air.