Geograph - photograph every grid square

This large reconstructed Iron Age roundhouse at Butser Ancient Farm is constructed based on the archaeological excavations at Little Woodbury near Salisbury (SU149279).
The original site was first noted as a cropmark seen on aerial photographs by Osbert Crawford Link in about 1919, but it wasn't until the systematic (and at the time, revolutionary) excavations of German political emigré Gerhard Bersu Link in 1938 that its significance was realised. It was this excavation that led to the realisation that Iron Age man lived in constructed roundhouses rather than in holes in the ground; this earlier misconception having arisen due to the discovery of what have now been identified as storage pits.
The diameter of the roundhouse is about 50' (15m) and it is thought that it was about 30'(9m) high. The reconstruction at Butser has been faithful to the archaeological evidence, and it is one of the highlights of the Ancient Farm site. The large interior space, smoky atmosphere and materials (wood, thatch and skins) are very evocative. Although we cannot know for sure what the interior of such a building was like, this reconstruction creates a convincing idea of how it may well have been.
See SU7116 : Butser Ancient Farm - Little Woodbury interior and SU7116 : Butser Ancient Farm - Little Woodbury central hearth for interior views.