Food and Farming in Prehistoric Britain by Paul Elliott

Author:Paul Elliott
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781781555088
Publisher: Fonthill Media
Published: 2016-04-09T04:00:00+00:00

Iron Age roundhouse with its associated farming enclosure at Hod Hill, Dorset. The ditched yard contained a stable or cattle byre. (I. A. Richmond)

The Modern Experience

Although I cannot in any way claim to have recreated the life of an Iron Age farmer, I have been lucky enough to spend several weekends inside Ryedale Folk Museum’s roundhouse along with three colleagues. Ordinarily the house is quite sparsely furnished, a central hearth is flanked by two benches, two timber beds at the rear use straw as their mattresses, and to the left of the doorway (as one enters the house) is a rotary quern stone and a vertical weaving loom. Visitors rarely see the fire lit, with the result that the house appears cold, empty, and dark. Our aim was to furnish the house and spend two days and a night within it, cooking, eating and drinking, talking to the public, and then sleeping in the straw-filled beds.

It is interesting to compare our experiences with the archaeological evidence. Immediately we needed storage space, a place for the meat, vegetables, and other consumables that we had brought to cook. With the morning sun illuminating the ‘work area’ to the left of the doorway, we decided to place it in the periphery, against the outer wall to the right of the doorway. To conceal the stores from members of the public, we erected a heavy canvas screen around them, leaving access for ourselves at the rear. We threw deer and boar skins onto the beds along with undyed woollen blankets. Our spears, decorated shields, swords, and other Iron Age paraphernalia we decided to place in a prominent position so that visitors would not fail to be impressed by them. The best place seemed to be on the platforms that had been built over the beds as well as in the backspace—directly opposite the entrance to the roundhouse. By late morning the sun illuminated this area beautifully.

Our baskets, sacks, and farm tools were piled up against the outer wall, wherever there was space. The aim was to keep the central area around the hearth free of clutter since we would be spending much of our day there. A basket of charcoal and a large stack of firewood had to be close by, however, and so it was decided to put it along the front of the hearth, well out of the way. With sunlight streaming in through the entrance it seemed natural to sit in a horseshoe shape around the fire, facing both the light and any visitors who should enter. Tools, knives, chopping boards, bowls, and cups were stacked on handy tree stumps that served as low tables, or were stuffed underneath or just behind the benches. In this way they were always within reach, and being so close to hand meant that we didn’t have to fumble through bags or baskets in the darkness at the back of the house to search for them.

The Iron Age house at Ryedale Folk Museum has a Celtic-style firedog over the hearth, which is an iron frame that stands over the fire.

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