On this special 4 segment episode of A Life in Ruins Podcast, we are lucky to be joined Trevor Creighton, a project archaeologist at Butser Ancient Farm.

Butser Ancient Farm is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company with a focus on education and research, located just north of Portsmouth in the UK. They have a series of buildings at the farm, which are constructed based on evidence from archaeological excavations. They test theories about the technologies, building techniques and ways of life of ancient people by reconstructing parts of their homes and lives. They have constructed buildings from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Roman period in Britain and a house from the Anglo-Saxon era.

Trevor explained his very interesting journey from doing Radiography to getting an M.A. in Visual Arts and eventually getting an M.A. in Archaeology from the University of Leicester. He then delves into the history of Butser Ancient Farm, what they do and what time periods are represented. We then discuss more broadly about experimental archaeology and experiential archaeology. We finish off by discussing if their is an equivalent to Butser Farm in North America.

Butser Plus is a way you can view how the folks at Butser Ancient Farm explore the ancient past. Butser Plus contains behind-the-scenes mini documentaries of the farm. Go check it out for a remote way to observe experimental archaeology.

Interested in learning about how to use X-Rays and similar technology in archaeology? Check out the linked PaleoImaging course from James Elliot!

Connect with James on Twitter: @paleoimaging

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Transcripts

For rough transcripts of this episode go to www.archpodnet.com/ruins/103 

Links

• Butser Ancient Farm Website
• Butser Plus
• Butser Buildings and Experiments

Literature Recommendations

• Roman Britain in Black and White by Mary Beard
• Britain BC: Life in Britain and Ireland Before the Romans by Francis Pryor
• The Anglo-Saxon World by Martin J. Ryan and Nicholas Higham
• Britain AD: A Quest for Arthur, England and the Anglo-Saxons by Francis Pryor

Guest Contact

• Butser Ancient Farm Email Address
• Butser Ancient Farm Instagram
• Butser Ancient Farm LinkTree

Contact

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