This April, the Playing with the Past club took part in the Neolithic Houses Building Project at Old Sarum. Led by English Heritage and the Ancient Technology Centre (ATC), the workshop gave the young archaeologists and their parents the chance to get involved in some fantastic experimental archaeology.
The morning started with a tour of the houses by Luke Winter from the ATC. Luke explained that the houses are based on archaeological evidence found during excavations at Durrington Walls.
We were able to get involved in several parts of the building process, including weaving hazel branches to form wattle walls and mixing crushed chalk with straw and water to produce daub. We also experimented with flint and bronze axe-heads to see which material was most effective at chopping through a log.
We finished the morning with a delicious bowl of soup as we surveyed our handiwork.
This FREE club will be held on the third Saturday of each month at the Beeches Community Centre in Bulford. Meetings will cover a range of interesting archaeological topics and periods and feature hands-on activities and games.
To find out more about the Playing with the Past club and details of the next meeting click here.
To find out more about the Neolithic Houses Building Project click here.
To return to the main Project Florence blog click here.