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
This is my archive
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
5: How to Make an Iron Age Roof
It's finally time to put the roof on the roundhouse! But how do we know what Iron Age roofs even looked like, or what tools they were made with? Thérèse talks us through the process, and Darren shows us how it's done. Read More
Can You Thatch Using Gorse?
Student archaeologist Sarah sets out to explore why a recently-discovered Saxon building used gorse for a roof. To us it just seems spiky -- what did the Saxons know about it that we don't? Read More
4: Did We Get Our Roundhouse Wrong?
We've been building this new Iron Age roundhouse for a few weeks now, and something's not right... Our build may not even be possible. Thérèse goes back to the archaeology to re-interpret the data and see what we missed! Read More
How to Make Prehistoric Art
Did ancient people paint their houses? Rachel mixes up some paint using prehistoric methods, and Thérèse digs up an old experiment to try and answer this question... Plus, we paint our newest Iron Age roundhouse! Read More
What Have We Learned From Our Bronze Age House?
Why are we re-thatching our Bronze Age house just one year later? We're learning! Butser archaeologist Thérèse explores the house and our discoveries about the way it might have been built and lived in. Read More
