Here are pictures I hope will explain better the problem. It looks like (I was told) they used timbers. and put the old house on block foundation. I dug out the rotted part (looks like a downspout was located right where the rot took place).
but as i dug out rotted sill wood I could feel...
i just bought a really old house which had been placed on a foundation about 50 years ago. The Northeast corner looks like a 10 by 10 or a squared log which runs along the foundation. the corner beam that runs vertically is about as large. I was told the joists underneath are huge tree timbers...