2: From Floor Plan to Building Plan
How do we know what ancient buildings looked like, when all we have are marks in the ground? Thérèse meets up with treewright Darren to talk roofs, walls, and ask: could Neolithic builders make planks? Read More
This is my archive
How Does Farming With Flint Work?
The team is back to harvest our ancient crops! But this time, it's not the crops we're so interested in -- it's the tools. How does harvesting with flint tools work, and what can we learn about early farming by doing it ourselves? Read More
1: Why Our New Build is Unique
We're about to embark on one of our most exciting projects yet -- building a 5,000 year-old Stone Age structure with some of the most incredible and unique evidence we've ever seen. Thérèse joins archaeologist Martin Green to explore what makes this site so fascinating... Read More
How Long Does a Roundhouse Last?
Imagine: you're an archaeologist, and you've just discovered evidence of 80 roundhouses. But how do you know if that's 80 separate houses, or just one that kept getting rebuilt? The Butser team explores this question through summer maintenance. Read More
8: How to Turn Wood Into Rope
As work continues on our Danebury roundhouse build, we run into an unexpected problem: the walls are wobbly! The team springs into action to save the roundhouse -- and Darren shows us we can actually use wood just like rope! Read More
How Did Early Farming Work?
Humans invented farming around 12,000 years ago. But without modern crops or even metal tools, what exactly did that early farming look like? We're turning back the clock to experiment with our crop field! Read More
7: A New Recipe for Daub!
You've probably heard of 'daub', the ancient mud wall plaster; you might even know one of its key ingredients is animal poo. But what else goes into it, why does it work so well -- and wait, there are different recipes for this thing? Read More
6: How to Thatch an Iron Age Roundhouse
Our new Iron Age roundhouse is finally ready to thatch! Get it wrong, and this could risk the whole building... Luckily, thatcher Paul teaches us how it's done, while Thérèse explores the evidence for thatched roofs in prehistory... Read More
3: Did Roman Hypocausts Get That Hot?
We're testing our Roman hypocaust, running it non-stop for eight days -- and making some fascinating new discoveries in the process! We follow the experiment as it unfolds, and see what we can learn from this exciting experiment. Read More
2: How Do You Test a Hypocaust?
Part two of our hypocaust experiment, and it's time to get to work! But how can you really test a hypocaust, and what are we even looking for anyway? Thérèse gets some help (and gadgets!) from a rocket scientist... Read More
