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| Butser Ancient
Farm opened its doors over the weekend of 27th/28th
August to show the public what experimental archaeology
is all about. As well as having the opportunity to
discuss the whys and wherefores of the construction of
the various roundhouses and Roman villa and watch copper
being smelted, visitors also had the chance to take part
in experiments themselves. One was set up to find the ideal pitch of a thatched roof. If it is too flat, it will leak; if it is too steep, the roof will be very high and use a lot of wood and straw. Open Weekend Manager Alan Tatlow explained what experiments are and the methods required to make the results meaningful. He then recruited children to help him pour water down a section of thatch which could be set at varying angles. Visitors could also participate in an experiment to find how far pieces of pottery are moved by soil cultivations. Using metal detectors, they located the artificial sherds and plotted them on a map. Visitors could also try their hand at 'Geophys' as it is called on Time Team. Butser Ancient Farm has constructed a test bed for geophysical prospection - the technique of finding out what is going on below the soil surface without excavation. Readings were taken using a resistivity meter which when plotted showed up anomalies underground. The results of the experiment on roof pitch was about 45o . At 30o people inside would be getting dripped on and at 15o they might as well be outside ! |
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Butser Ancient Farm is open to the
public on the last weekend in the months
March – September
Created 17 May 2005 - Updated 02 September 2005