Iron Age Comes to School

The second week in October was a very unusual one in the life of St Lawrence CE Primary School in Seal, Kent; the usual curriculum was suspended and the children and staff came to school wearing old clothes! This was because we were all spending a week under the instruction of archaeologists from ESAMP (East Sussex Archaeology and Museums Project) engaging in a variety of Iron Age activities. These included pottery, weaving on an authentic loom, woodworking using pole lathes, string making using nettles, fire making and cooking. But the most exciting project was the building of an Iron Age Hut in the school woods. The building, which is now complete, is based on archaeological evidence of prehistoric houses and the materials used are those which would have been available to prehistoric house builders in Kent. The shape, design and all the techniques were kept as authentic as possible. The children were involved in every stage of the building from mixing the daub in a ‘daub pit’ (very messy) to wattling the hazel rods and thatching the roof. They are now extremely proud of their hut and can discuss at length how it was made and what it would really have been like to live in the Iron Age. Interestingly, several children are convinced that they would have been happier!

The building should last about 30 years and so it will be a bit of living history for a whole generation of children. It is well worth a visit!

[fg]jpg|Above left: handsome coil pots and right: the Iron Age Hut.|Image[/fg]

ESAMP is a training organisation, offering a wide range of training opportunities to individuals within a number of museums and within the fields of archaeological reconstruction and experimental archaeology. They undertake commissions from heritage and educational organisations to reconstruct past buildings and technologies, and have put up over 20 buildings ranging from the Mesolithic through to the Saxon period. They also run courses in ancient crafts and technologies.