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Butser Ancient Farm
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FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you wanted to know, and were not afraid to ask!

Q: Should there be a hole in the roof? (of a round house)

A: Only if you want to set fire to it! You run the risk of creating an updraft that carries sparks into the thatch.

Q: Did they (the Britons) keep the animals in the house as well?

A: No-one has ever lived with the animals, sometimes, in rectangular houses, the animals were in one end of the building. Anyway, would you want cow droppings on your carpets...

Q: Where did they go to the toilet?

A: Probably in a pot in the house. Occasionally a pit near the house can be identified as a midden. The solids would have gone to be composted, and the liquids are best left in a pot to go stale, then used as a chemical to aid curing skins, and as a mordant for dying cloth.

Q: Is Butser Farm on an origional (iron age) site?

A: No. We would not want, nor be allowed, to build on an archaeological site.
The only place this has been allowed is at Castell Henlys Iron Age Fort, in Wales.

Q: Who were the Celts?

A: This name is a modern one and refers to the western areas of Britain - Cornwall, Wales and Scotland. There is no historical evidence that the ancient Britons were ever called 'Celts'

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