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So, how do you build an Iron Age roundhouse? Although we think we know how Iron Age roundhouses were built we can never be absolutely sure. This is because most of the building materials were natural such as timber and reed. Organic materials like these do not survive for a great deal of time unless they are protected in some way such as in very dry, very cold or waterlogged conditions. Out in the open and exposed to the elements, natural organic materials used in roundhouse construction rarely survive the test of time. So how do we know what roundhouses looked like? Archaeological excavation has revealed evidence across Britain for the foundations of roundhouses such as postholes, stake-holes, wall gullies and stone wall foundations. Other features include the remains of hearths, occasionally drains, drainage trenches and drip gullies formed by rain water dripping off the end of roof eaves and falling on exposed ground. Sometimes the daub plastered on the walls survives in lumps with voids that show where the hazel wattle was covered. Daub sometimes becomes fire hardened almost like pottery. Occasionally we find packed clay or daub floors within the interiors of the roundhouse wall foundations. We hardly ever find surviving structural timbers except, very rarely, in waterlogged sites. To build up a picture of an Iron Age roundhouse beyond the archaeological record, which usually will only take the structural evidence to the walls, we have to use other sources. The engineering dynamics can help plot the shape and dimensions of the roof through the optimum roof slope angle required by a thatched roof to shed rain and snow efficiently. This angle is around forty-five degrees. Any less than this and rain will saturate the thatch and speed up the process of rotting; snow will also stay on the roof adding a further weight burden to it. If the angle is greater than forty-five degrees the efficiency of the structure is diminished with the height of the roof too extreme. Another potential source can be found with roundhouse constructing cultures present today. These are most common to Africa where roundhouses are still built today. It is important not to make too many gereralisations; although some of the archaeological evidence provided by excavation may suggest similarities with roundhouses built today, their use and appearance in the Iron Age may have been radically different. See Occasional Article "Roundhouses in the Landscape" by Phil Bennett |
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