Iron Age and Roman Roundhouses
Background information and suggestions for teachers
Later Iron Age/Early Roman Britain
The period after c.700BCE is known as the Iron Age because it marks the transition in technology from the production and use of bronze to that of iron. The adoption of this new technology did not occur everywhere at the same time, but broadly speaking we can see 700 as a ‘start date’ for the British Iron Age. The Iron Age lasted down to the Roman conquest and had several phases. The final phase (or Later Iron Age), began around 100 BCE. This date roughly marks the point of increasing contact with the expanding Roman world. In the 50s BCE Julius Caesar (busy adding neighbouring France to Roman territory) made two landings in Kent and Essex, strengthening these contacts in important ways. Caesar called these landings ‘conquests’, but that’s just Roman spin – the real conquest came in CE 43, under the Emperor Claudius.
Roundhouses
During the Iron Age, most people in Britain lived in circular dwellings known as roundhouses. These did not just disappear in the Roman period. In the north east of Britain in particular, many people continues to live in circular buildings for hundreds of years after the Roman conquest.
‘Virtual’ reconstruction of the Forcegarth Pasture Roman period farm (Teesdale).
You can explore this site in detail on the excellent Past Perfect website:
http://www.pastperfect.org.uk/sites/forcegarth/index.html
For an excellent beginners guide to the Iron Age try the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/british_prehistory/ironage_intro_01.shtml
Click below to see a (timber) roundhouse being built – a fantastic resource
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/british_prehistory/launch_ani_roundhouse.shtml
Make a roundhouse village in class. A template to cut out and build can be found here:
http://www.teesarchaeology.com/downloads/documents/Roundhouse.pdf
All you need is some paint, straw for the thatched roofs, plastic farm animals, and anything else you can use to make it look realistic!!
Roundhouses generally consisted of either a timber and wattle-and-daub base or a stone base, supporting timber roof beams and a thatched roof. In many instances the interior floor was partially covered with timber or stone blocks, and most roundhouses had a central hearth for heating and cooking. Smoke from the fire simply percolated up through the roof (there was no hole at the top of the roof).
Two thousand years ago, in the Iron Age, people would have built houses much like this one. It is called a roundhouse.
What do you think the roof is made from?
How did daylight get in?
How did the smoke from the fire get out?
Do you think this would have been a nice place to live?
What would survive from a building like this for archaeologists to dig up today?