Shors - Settlements

The Shors live in permanent settlements, although in the past these settlements were moved from time to time to find new cropland or following the death of a member of the village community. In traditional times villages were inhabited solely by the members of one exogamous patrilineal clan (seok) and the in-marrying wives. Today the term "village" is synonymous with the term ulus, a Turkic/Mongol word that may be translated as "local district"; the makeup of the village population now resembles only superficially the seok of the past.

At the turn of the century the Shors lived in low four-cornered log cabins roofed with birch bark. Some also lived in yurts, although by this time Russian-style houses had largely replaced them. Hearths were made of clay, and chimneys of woven branches. In the southern part of Shor territory log barns and log storage buildings that sat on posts were used. Wealthier Shors built two-and three-story houses and farm buildings, some of which were covered with iron. Today wooden houses and huts are used. Both in the past and today, families move to the fields for planting and for harvest, during which time they live in tents ( odaq ) made of vertical beams covered with birch bark. Men hunting in the forests make use of these tents as well.