Thorpe
Thewles Iron Age Settlement
The
Main House
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house | animals | artefacts
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The archaeology of the large central building
is extremely complex due to several phases of
construction but there is evidence to show that
the house was rebuilt at least twice. A substantial
drainage ditch, over 2.6 metres wide, surrounds
the house, again with access from the south-east,
presumably because in the Iron Age the prevailing
wind was the same as today, north-westerly. The
life span of the three phases of this house was
between 70 and 100 years.
The earliest was badly disturbed by the later
phases but it was broadly similar to the second
phase, which was some 12.8 metres in diameter
with a wall of upright stakes, coppiced from
the surrounding woodlands. Those were interwoven
with wattle and daub. The house was roofed with
a conical framework of rafters, resting on a
ring of posts. Thatch would have covered the
roof, the eaves of which would have overlapped
the walls and almost reached the floor.
The later phase was similar, but the wall lacked
any wooden element and consisted purely of puddled
clay, bonded with straw and hair. It is possible
that timber was becoming relatively scarce by
this stage in the settlement’s history,
as the surrounding countryside was successively
deforested. The final phase of the house was
completely covered by a thick spread of burnt
material that spilled across the walls and into
the partly filled ditch. The obvious deduction
is that the building was destroyed by fire, either
deliberately or as the result of a domestic accident.
Expansion of the Settlement
Initially this house would have been grouped
with one or two ancillary buildings but most
of the interior of the enclosure must have been
given over to the coralling of livestock. Room
may have been left for future expansion.
The erection of numerous structures and the
increased use of the space around them meant
that the next major phase of activity saw the
bank being pushed back into the ditch and the
site assuming an open character. The ditch became
completely filled in with occupation debris,
eventually levelling off the site. The settlement
by this stage no longer resembled a defended
farmstead but would be much closer to a village
in size, density and complexity.
intro | main
house | animals | artefacts
gallery | reports | further
information |
