Pit roasting
Cooking food in a hole in the ground lined with hot stones or coals and covered over with earth.
Also: earth oven, pit cooking
A pit oven, or earth oven, is one of the oldest ways to cook. A hole is dug, a fire heats stones inside it, and wrapped food is placed on top. The pit is covered with leaves and earth and left for hours. The food cooks slowly in trapped heat and steam. The method suits whole animals and large feasts. Versions include the Hawaiian imu, the Maori hangi, Peruvian pachamanca, Mexican barbacoa and the Fijian lovo.