This replica Iron Age roundhouse at Flag Fen is interesting in a
number of ways. Apparently the pitch of the roof is too shallow for thatching -
rain seeps through because it doesn’t run off quickly enough. The problem has been solved with turf as you can see, but a turf roof has proved to be very heavy. Our guide told us this along
with many other fascinating aspects of the Flag Fen site.
As I’m sitting here typing this blog post I see it is just
over two degrees centigrade outside so that is another obvious question – how did Iron Age folk survive a British winter? The roundhouse seemed to keep out the wind well enough and had a pleasant earthy aroma, but I wouldn’t call it
cosy. Even if a central fire had been kept burning day and night it isn’t easy to
see how the interior could ever have been toasty. Smoky but not toasty, so how did they survive winter?
As we know, many didn't survive and very few reached my age so that may be part of the answer. Perhaps they were constantly busy with the routines of daily
life, burning far more calories than we do so generating their own body warmth
during the day. Presumably they curled up next to each other under animal skins during long winter nights to preserve that warmth and maybe they curled up with their animals too.
Perhaps they also put on lots of weight during the warmer
months so they could exist partly on accumulated fat reserves. In which case
nobody would have pointed a finger at them and called them ‘fatty’ because only
fatties survived.
Lots of questions, lots of more or less probable answers, lots of speculation. It's what makes history so endlessly fascinating, but beneath all that is a suspicion that the core of it, the soul of those Iron Age lives cannot be grasped by moderns. Too much lost detail, the myriad daily stratagems which left no trace but everyone knew them, had to know them and used them to survive and even enjoy life where we could not even survive.
Lots of questions, lots of more or less probable answers, lots of speculation. It's what makes history so endlessly fascinating, but beneath all that is a suspicion that the core of it, the soul of those Iron Age lives cannot be grasped by moderns. Too much lost detail, the myriad daily stratagems which left no trace but everyone knew them, had to know them and used them to survive and even enjoy life where we could not even survive.
On a damp and chilly day the replica roundhouse certainly
reminded me of something. Our British climate may be classed as temperate, but
is harsh and unforgiving without the technology we now take for granted. How do we make the technology last, or should we learn how to build a roundhouse?
Back in 1978 the BBC broadcast a series where volunteers lived on an Iron Age farm as Iron Age people. I remember watching it. Interesting but somehow unsatisfactory I thought at the time. Moderns gamely trying to grasp what perhaps cannot be grasped.
Back in 1978 the BBC broadcast a series where volunteers lived on an Iron Age farm as Iron Age people. I remember watching it. Interesting but somehow unsatisfactory I thought at the time. Moderns gamely trying to grasp what perhaps cannot be grasped.
7 comments:
I'm mildly fascinated by the Iron Age. (Flag Fen was mainly Bronze Age with I think one Iron Age hut reconstruction, so I'm assuming you've got the right one!) Have you ever visited Castell Henllys in Pembrokeshire?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castell_Henllys
They have built some Iron Age huts, which are thatched and very cosy. Apparently the trick is to keep the fire smouldering at a very low level. If it blazes up, it sucks in cold air from the door and under the eaves, and the hut remains icy except where you are toasting yourself right next to the fire; just like a bonfire outdoors. With the fire low, the smoke filters out through the thatch, coating it with tar. The ancient Brits also used to hang their boats in the thatch, according to the Romans. Result: both boat and thatch last longer, and repel water. The hut itself does not fill with smoke, except under the thatch. Until they discovered this trick, the volunteers living there got "red eye", just like modern teepee-dwellers who live in smoke. The guides living at Castell Henllys said they were cosy all year round. Just part of the general sophistication and civilisation of the Iron Age.
I reckon Flag Fen would have been thatched. We went there last summer. A tad underwhelming, I thought, but I liked the contrast with the huge wind-turbines a couple of fields away, and we got some nice photos!
Interesting. I don't suppose people in the past were stupider than us, so they will have found ways to maximise comfort.
I once visited Butser ancient farm and came away feeling there was something missing. Either life in winter back then was very very wretched or perhaps being snuggled up with the cows and pigs in straw etc was not so bad.
As an aside I burn about 4 tons of wood/winter using one open fire, gas and leccy are extra. Cutting that wood takes from April to end of May with a chainsaw and axe. A friend who depends much more on wood fires burns far more. This suggests to me that either early man spend a stupendous amount of effort gathering wood and food or they spent their time snuggled up with the food...
How did the Eskimos?
When in the Army messing about the North German countryside in the depths of winter, piles of sacking, straw or such would keep me warm. In the Iron Age I suspect they went to bed when it got dark and got up in the light. They may emerge for a few minutes now and again for personal reasons but if you kept the wind and frost out you would manage.
Sam - it's not something I'm familiar with but our Flag Fen guide suggested that roundhouse design details are rather more speculative than one might suppose. He thought there would be inevitable fire problems with thatch, although the Flag Fen replica leaked when it rained so that must have cast doubts on thatch to begin with. Maybe the fire was there to store fire in case of prolonged rain, not necessarily to heat the place.
All we needed when camping in cold weather was shelter and good insulation provided by sleeping bags, no heat source. Maybe that is a clue, but still speculation.
Sackers - yes they will have found ways, many of them probably lost to us.
Roger - we burn about a quarter of a ton in the log burner, but your four tons must give us some idea of what Iron Age people would have to burn to generate heat. Yes, I think they may have relied more on insulation and body heat.
James - good point - insulation and body heat are enough.
Demetrius - Iron Age people could have used piles of straw too. Should work well enough as it did for you.
Thatch shouldn't leak if it's done right. It does present as a certain fire hazard at times but that didn't stop people from thatching. As far as warmth goes the reed or straw thatch should provide much better insulation than a turf roof.
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