Neolithic House Project week 12

This week our Archaeologist Claire talks about the porch design and construction of our Horton House.

In these strange times, there is only one thing I imagine most of us have been talking about, and quite understandably. Despite this and maybe indeed because of this, we at Butser have dedicated some time over the last few days to working on the porch of our Neolithic house. Doing a practical activity requires focusing on the task in hand to the exclusion of all the other jumbled up thoughts in our brains. A little bit of mindfulness in the midst of psychological chaos, you might say. 

In experimental archaeology, it is really important to reflect every aspect of the original archaeology as accurately as possible, including the direction in which the house faced. Over time, this will enable us to measure weather related wear and tear, and gain further insight into Neolithic building skills and knowledge. In the case of the Horton house construct at Butser, this means a doorway on the far side of the building, hidden from view and not immediately obvious to visitors. 

So, it would be useful to have a porch that visually defined where the entrance to the house is. But this was not our only consideration. It was also critical that the entrance provided unhindered access to the building for all our visitors, including those with mobility and disability issues. Fortunately, no compromise of the real archaeological evidence was required in order to achieve this. 

Thirdly, and equally importantly our porch has to be a feasible interpretation based on the evidence. There could have been a number of interpretations, and in fact there are at least two in existence. 

Compare the actual build here on site:

With the scale model constructed by Andy from Wessex Archaeology: (note how that Playmobil archaeologist from a few weeks ago is the perfect scale for this house!)

Note how Andy’s model has a porch the rafters of which run to the ground, with vertical planking on the front face, while our rafters stop far short of the ground. We loved Andy’s idea but our thatching schedule was such that we had already thatched round the porch, making Andy’s design too tricky to create! The important point here is that both are equally valid concepts. This is why we should always think of experimental archaeology as a means of understanding what COULD have happened in the past, and not a way of categorically defining what DID happen.

Neolithic House Project week 11

This week we have a guest blog post from Mackenzie who has been helping with our Stone Age house project as part of a student placement from Southampton University. We’ve now moved on to daubing our wattle wall and Mackenzie shares a bit more about this process below…

Hello! I am Mackenzie, I am a Masters’s student at the University of Southampton specialising in Osteoarchaeology. My personal interests in archaeology pertain to the investigation of animal (zooarchaeology) and human remains (osteoarchaeology) from the past. I am very interested in the assessment of disease pathology as well as burial practices and how these themes inform archaeologists today of past cultural behaviours. I completed my undergraduate degree in Anthropology at Portland State University in the USA and have participated in mortuary excavations in Poland at a medieval village site (see image above). 

Any who, enough about me…

Let’s get dirty! Last week the Wessex team completed wattling the west wall of the house and now it is time for the team to get down and dirty with some daub! In preparation for the Wessex team, Archaeologist Claire, work placement student Christian, and myself reconstituted the daub that was used on the previous Neolithic house. Just like a pre-made pancake mix, all we did to reconstitute the old daub was just add water! Because Butser is all about recreating the past experience, we did not simply use a spade to stir together our daub and water… nope, nope, nope we tried using a cow scapula!

Mackenzie using a cow scapula to stir daub!

I should note, in the past the scapula would have been hafted onto some sort of wooden handle, but our idea to try it out was very last minute and we did not have time to create a haft so we improvised as one often does in archaeology. Once we concluded that the Scapula method was indeed feasible, we did revert back to our modern tools of spades and feet- I think Claire had a bit too much of a good time stomping around in her wellies, we all know how she feels about cow poo after her last few blog posts!

On a more desk-based note, I have been holed up in Heartly Library at the University of Southampton trying to read up as much as I can on the houses of the Neolithic (see references below). I have found this much more interesting than expected, particularly combined with my personal experience of the build, and many revelations have come to pass… the biggest one of all being… Neolithic people were just like us! 

As archaeologists, and non-archaeologists, we tend to separate ourselves from people of the past. We always talk about how much more “advanced” we are today. In reality, when it all boils down, we are the same. This house construction project has proven that we use the same tools, such as axes and chisels. We use the same materials, the division of labour is likely to be very similar, and the activities done both in and outside of the house would have likely been similar to how we use our spaces today.

My research has shown me that in the British Isles many Neolithic houses were rectangular ranging in sizes up to 242m2, these houses typically had an entrance on the North-West wall, 2-3 rooms or cells and possibly lofts for grain storage. All these features are demonstrated in our reconstruction!

My time here at Butser has been invaluable through these experiences I have felt a deeper connection with our Neolithic Ancestors and a greater realisation of the continuity of cultural traditions overtime. Everyday at the farm is a day full of fun and I am continually astonished by the possibilities for new discovery presented in archaeology. There is always something to be learned, a source of inspiration and some way to get dirty!

References 

Werra, D., 2010. Longhouses and long-distance contacts in the Linearbandkeramik communities on the north-east border of the oecumene: “à parois doubles in Chełmno Land (Poland). In Anthropologica et Præhistorica, 121. Pp. 121-142. 

Smyth, J., 2006. The Role of the house in early Neolithic Ireland. In European Journal o. f Archaeology, 9(2-3). Pp. 229-257. 

Pyzel, J., 2012. “Chapter 8: Change and Continuity in the Danubian Longhouses of Lowland Poland”. In Hoffmann and Smyth (eds.) Tracking the Neolithic House in Europe. Springer, New York. 

Fairweather, A. and Ralston, I., 1993. The Neolithic timber hall at Balbridie Grampian Region, Scotland: the building, the date, the plant macrofossils. Antiquity, 67. Pp. 313-323. 

Darvill, T. and Thomas, J., 2002. Neolithic houses in northwest Europe and beyond (Vol. 1). Oxbow Books.

Neolithic House Project week 10

This week our projects co-ordinator Trevor Creighton has been reflecting on the many people who have been involved in our Horton House build so far , and the different building techniques we are using in the construction.

We’ve been recording the progress of the Horton Neolithic house build using time lapse photography. We have a bit of a laugh in the office watching the superfast action, with little figures rushing in and out of frame carrying thatch, tools, and mugs of tea, and the occasional visitor’s face popping – knowingly or otherwise – into frame. If you remember the Benny Hill Show you’ll get the picture. 

But the most striking aspect of watching these cinematic rushes is seeing how many different people have been working on the project. Claire has mentioned the fantastic efforts of the Wessex Archaeology crew in former posts. Their wattling is the stuff of legend – so much so that the western end of the building has been dubbed the ‘Wessex Wall’. We also have fantastic work being done by some of Butser’s regular volunteer team. They have been constructing the eastern wall using vertical planks set into the ground at the base, rising almost to the top of the building (we are leaving a small, triangular opening at the top for smoke to escape) and secured with wooden pegs. This labour of love is called the ... wait for it... ‘Volunteer Wall’. Poets and archaeologists are close bedfellows. 

The different types of wall are significant not only as great projects for the people involved, but also as aids to understand the building – both for visitors and for archaeologists. It is impossible to tell from the archaeology exactly how the walls on the original building were constructed. In building different variations – wattled walls at one end, planks at the other, and horizontal timbers on each side – we have two important aims. One is to demonstrate to visitors that experimental archaeology involves a lot of supposition (OK, informed guesses if you will). By offering three possibilities for the wall construction this process is clear for all to see – we are keen to avoid any suggestion that we are ‘rebuilding’ a known past. The other important aspect of this approach is that when the building is ultimately demolished, the footprint from each different wall interpretation might well give us some clues as to how the original was made! Let’s hope that’s a way off, though!

Neolithic House Project week 9

Week 9 of our Neolithic House project and we’ve been working on the wattle wall on one end of the house with the help of a team from Wessex Archaeology. Here our Archaeologist Claire reflects on the importance and nature of wattling!

We all have weird archaeological obsessions, and those who know me here will tell you mine is toilets and poo. To frame that in academic (and more palatable terms) that’s waste management and disposal in the past. So you can imagine my excitement when I get the opportunity to write about it under the guise of discussing building construction! 

Re-creating buildings from the past is often an opportunity to gain a better appreciation of the materials and their qualities. This is certainly the case with wattle and daub which we use extensively here. Wattle being the woven structure onto which a malleable filler made partially of cow poo is pushed, forced or pressed. 

It is one of the mainstays when it comes to traditional building materials, and has been since the Neolithic. We have evidence from many parts of the world, including Çatalhöyük in Turkey, commonly thought of as one of the world’s first large scale settlements. Variations on the same theme are mud and stud, jacal, bajarreque, pierrotage and columbage. Its modern equivalent is lathe and plaster. 

In Britain, the wattle frame has traditionally been made of quick growing coppiced woods like hazel and willow, woven around vertical staves made of hazel, oak, ash or similar.

The construction of the buildings here at Butser lend themselves to the more simple square panels, where the wattle is woven horizontally through long runs of open panel work, but during later historical periods building techniques created much smaller spaces between structural timbers, and therefore other techniques such as close-studding were utilised. I’d very much recommend Trevor Yorke’s delightful pocket sized ‘Timber-Framed Building Explained’ for those of you interested to find out more about such matters. 

Daub used to cover this frame essentially needs to consist of three things: a binder like clay, lime and chalk dust, an aggregate for bulk like soil or sand, and a reinforcement such as straw or hair. Animal poo, usually cow manure is a tried and tested ingredient – it’s sticky, stretchy and made up of organic, fibrous material. Mixed together by humans’ feet or trampled by livestock, these materials are glued by forcing it onto the wattle frame, left to dry and then often painted with clay or limewash. Fascinatingly, daub is one way of ascertaining through the archaeological record, that building homes was a family affair. Archaeologists can ascertain from examining lumps of excavated daub that there are cases where the balls were clearly formed by child sized hands.

While you can’t tell whether grandma or grandchild stuck this example onto a building, you can clearly see the impression of the wattle in this excavated example. (thank you Maisie from Pre Construct Archaeology, for this sample). 

On a final note, I’d like to return to the subject of books that have inspired me in the process of thinking about building techniques in the past. Originally published in the early seventies ‘Shelter’ by Lloyd Kahn is a beautifully illustrated and annotated book paying homage to building construction across space and time. Heart warmingly, at the core of this book is an acknowledgement that what drives humans to create structures for living goes further than just the need for shelter; it is the desire in all of us to have a place we can call home.

Here are some pictures of the team from Wessex who joined us this week to help with our wattle wall!

Neolithic House Project week 8

Week 8 and we are busy thatching, wattling and coppicing as well as talking to lots of lovely visitors about the build as part of our February half term activities. We were also joined by some of the team from Wessex Archaeology for a day helping us with our wattle wall, affectionately named the ‘Wessex wall’!
Here our archaeologist Claire shares a bit more about our progress this week…

Yesterday we were joined by Phil, Holly, Finn, Karen, Jenny, Robyn and Emma from Wessex Archaeology. It was great to have people from a wide number of departments, particularly office staff who don’t normally get to feel the wind and rain in their face during daylight hours!  

Because I didn’t have the wherewithal to take a group photo, I have substituted it with a scenic shot of a ‘typical’ archaeologist (according to Playmobil anyway). Actually I thought they got it pretty spot on: 

Dishevelled and unwashed, with clothes that could stand up on their own: Check! 

Hasn’t bothered to shave for a few days: Check! 

Hangover from hell: Check! 

Clearly modelled on a number of digs I have had the pleasure to be on but of course nothing like the professionals at Wessex. Out respectable, clean, sober and enthusiastic visitors were given a short introductory tour of the farm, followed by an opportunity to inspect the house under construction. In addition to trying out some thatching, our helpers are joining us to help construct one of the end walls of our house. 

At the wider end, we have chosen to build with wattle and daub. Our Wessex team divided into two groups. The first focused on stripping all the side shoots from hazel which we had cut down in our own little coppice here on site. This hazel will form the long rods which we wattle with. This was an exciting opportunity to be let loose with billhooks, and everyone enjoyed using hand tools, particularly Emma who normally wields a pen in the office. She proudly showed me the blister she had gained from all her efforts! 

The second team worked on preparing the upright ‘staves’ around which we will weave our wattle wall. There was some good humoured confusion and discussion about exactly how to get started with the wattle – it’s a bit of a challenge when it’s all being done under the eaves of a building as we are here. But, that is the nature of experimental building – testing out ideas and then adapting them as you go along. Hopefully by the time the second group of Wessex volunteers join us next Tuesday, we will be well on our way with the wattling. Probably best not tell the last group that all that will be left to do when they get here in a couple of weeks is the daubing (that’s sticking cow poo on the walls to you and me……)

Neolithic House Project week 7

Week 7 of our house project and Archaeologist Claire reflects on the team effort and resources that have so far gone into building our house.

Calculations and collaborations 

Like a scene from DIY SOS, the house had people swarming all over it yesterday, beavering away at various tasks, from thatching to attaching oak planking, tidying loose cordage, levelling the floor, and digging trenches for a sill plate to sit in. The weather was glorious, spirits were high and the feel good factor was evident. It’s the closest I’ve felt in terms of communality, to what a build might have been like in the Neolithic.

Throughout the construction, we have kept track of the amount of materials used. These calculations allow us to extrapolate how many ‘(wo)man’ hours it might have taken, and how much time within a community would have been dedicated to each task. Everyone from school age to the most hardened academic enjoys the thrill of knowing how many tons of thatch there are on the roof directly above their head. Current calculations for the amount of thatch round out at about 6.12 tonnes! 

We’ve also worked out that we’ve used to date, 1440 metres of cordage for thatching, 2728 metres for lashing the battens on to the rafters of the roof and another 864 metres of heavier duty rope for the major structural joints. 

In terms of the timber used, our calculations suggest we’ve used in the region of 6.6 tonnes of Scot’s pine just to form the main structure, plus around 570kg of hazel for the battens. 

Finally for this week, I should mention that we have a few special days lined up with Wessex Archaeology. 

Wessex have already been extremely generous with their time and expertise, joining us for events and allowing us access to their amazing array of skilled staff, from drone pilots to graphic designers. The directors at Wessex have generously agreed to allow 20 of their staff, from office staff to hardened diggers to join us across 4 ‘health and wellbeing’ days. Such activities offer opportunities for learning, skill sharing and networking, as well as being good for mental and physical health, particularly for those who many not otherwise work out of doors, or carrying out manual, hands-on tasks. We’re really looking forward to welcoming the teams to the farm to join us on the build in the weeks ahead!

Neolithic House project week 6

Week 6 of our Neolithic House project and we are busy working on thatching and erecting the end walls of the structure. Here, our Archaeologist Claire Walton looks at some of the tools we’ve been using along the way…

The Stone Age…. or should that be the Bone Age? 

One thing’s pretty clear: we revere what’s left, not what’s absent. Neolithic tools are a good example of this. The popular and skilled art of flint knapping is all about the cutting head of the tool. Where are the ‘handle hewers’, sitting in circles taking notes and carefully honing their skills? It seems the wooden handle gets left in the (woodwormy) dust. Obviously the durability of flint over wood in the archaeological record creates this paradigm. In the absence of material traces, experiments can be very helpful. You might think that because the axe head is relatively useless without being hafted onto a handle that there would be experimental archaeologists the world over studying what wooden handles might have been like, but stone trumps wood every time in the fascination stakes, it would seem! 

The same goes for bone tools. Because bone is an organic material, evidence of tools is far less frequent. However, it was readily available to any community, does not need to be obtained by trading, is durable and multi-shaped offering many options. The range of tools and objects created by the archaeological technician Wulf Hein, (see below) demonstrate the range, from awls and chisels, to needles, pins and even a flute. I echo the sentiment of other archaeologists when I say it should be re-named the Bone Age, not the Stone Age.

Image (C) Anke Udelhofen

Our original tests used bones already on site, which were probably a bit brittle and aged for our purposes. They were good enough to prove that the concept works. Now however, the plan is to take the practical experience we have gained, combine it with pre-existing academic research and formulate a more refined research question. In other words, take something experiential, and develop it into an experiment. (if you read last week’s post, you’ll know what I’m talking about!) 

Clearly, to replicate the actions of bone tools from the past, we need our bones to have come from animals whose diet and lifecycle mimics that of the Neolithic. Our new bones have been kindly donated by Knepp Castle Estate in West Sussex, famous for their rewilding project.

Because I’m an archaeologist and I like digging bones out of the ground, I buried them when they first arrived - this normally does a fast job of removing the last bits of fat and goo, but it’s been too cold, and on excavation last week, they proved to be still rather ‘fresh’ ( ie they really stank!) We’ve explored a few ways of speeding up the defleshing process… including jet washing! 

Here’s a mammoth I dug up earlier…..

I know, it looks like it’s come from a hairy Siberian elephant but it’s actually a cow femur. 

Hopefully with some good planning and help from our partner UCL, we can begin to think about a really meaty (sorry!) project to get out teeth into (sorry!).

Neolithic House Project Week 5

As we reach week 5 of our Stone Age house project, and the thatching marches on, Butser Archaeologist Claire Walton reflects on experimental archaeology and what it’s all about!

What the heck is experimental archaeology anyway?

The answer is, the most fun a person can have. Lighting fires and melting stuff, wrestling with goo, weird smells and bits of animal, making and building things like our Neolithic house, all in the name of research. It’s sort of thinking about the past by doing, rather than doing by thinking about the past, if you see what I mean.

The original remit of Butser Ancient Farm was to conduct empirical experimental research, and included Peter Reynolds’ work in constructing Iron Age roundhouses. The Horton house continues this theme of thinking experimentally about architecture and construction techniques, in the immediate term exploring materials, consumption of resources, time and technique. In the long term, we can study the wear and tear on the building, and therefore its lifespan.

I use the word ‘experimental’ loosely. Unless there is a sound methodology, with strict controls and parameters inside which you will conduct your research, the fun I describe above often ought to be classed as ‘experiential archaeology’. Here’s a good explanation for those seeking clarification on the distinctions between experimental and experiential.

The building process has of course provided opportunities to carry out this less formalised, more individualistic ‘experiential’ archaeology. Make no mistake, I worship at the altar of academia, but I also believe experiential archaeology is the cornerstone out of which many good, serious experiments are born. The flintstone-esque bashings which took place at the start of our construction project have proved the instigation for some further, more careful examinations of bone tools and next week’s blog will look at plans for these experiments in more detail. 

And in my final support of the experiential, I think it is important to point out its wider benefits. Society is now beginning to recognise the importance to human health and wellbeing from spending time in the outdoors, doing tasks such as learning creative crafts and skills – things that please the heart as well as the mind. Experiential archaeology is the most fantastic way of doing all those things. It might ultimately be good for the world of archaeology, but it’s also good for the human soul.