Wooden
rafters & reed thatch
Celtic Houses
Reconstructed Iron Age roundhouses at Castell Henllys.
Photo: Dydd Cross
Round houses
The British Celts lived in roundhouses. We know this from the archaeological remains that have been excavated and dated to the Iron Age. The size of the roundhouses can be seen from the rain ditches which surrounded the houses. From these ditches we know that some of the roundhouses in the hill fort are quite big and that there was room inside for a lot of people.
The structure and materials used
The roundhouses at Castell Henllys have been reconstructed using the archaeological evidence found on the site. Each of the upright poles which support the roof of the roundhouse have been placed into the original post holes.
Wattle
and daub walls - whitewashed and painted. Photo: Dydd Cross
Archaeologists have discovered that the walls of the houses were made of wattle and daub. The wattle walls were made from weaving a fence of hazel or willow sticks because they can be bent easily but the finished circular structure is found to be extremely strong. The daub was made of a mixture of clay, straw and animal dung! The straw and dung help to stop the clay from cracking and falling away. The daubed walls are very good at keeping the heat in and the wind out. Lime-washed walls help to create a better appearance and also help to make the houses a little lighter.
Heating, lighting, cooking
It is quite dark inside with most of the light coming from the doorway during the day. In the centre of the roundhouses there were fireplaces. At night the flames from the fire provide light but you need to get additional lighting from rush lights if you want to see things more clearly. It is more practical to use the daylight and get up at sunrise!
Inside
a roundhouse displayed as a central cookhouse. Photo: Dydd Cross
The fire would also have been used for cooking. Sometimes food was cooked on hot stones placed next to the fire and it is quite likely that a cauldron would have been used in one of the houses for communal cooking as it would have been a very costly item. A firedog may have been used to roast meat over the open fire. There is evidence of a saddle quern-stone, which would have been used to grind corn to make bread, and therefore there must have been an oven somewhere in the roundhouse. (Pictured - right) It is probable that not everyone had a bread oven and that the bread may have been brought to a central oven.
More about Daily life
We guess that these were the homes of the warriors and their families and that the biggest house would have belonged to the chief. It is thought that the peasants probably lived in hovels outside the walls of the fort although there has been little excavation to prove this.
Links
Interactive Map of the Roman Empire
External Links
More about Castell Henllys
Visit Castell Henllys
Children's Activity
Build a Roundhouse - BBC
Advanced
Bread oven & quern-stone
The classical author, Diodorus Siculus, was probably quoting the earlier writer, Posidonius, when he stated: "the inhabitants of Britain lived in mean dwellings made for the most part of reeds and wood ...".
Cassius Dio in his 'Roman History' wrote: "Caractacus, a barbarian chieftain who was captured and brought to Rome and later pardoned by Claudius, wandered about the city after his liberation and after beholding its splendour and magnitude he exclaimed: and can you then who have got such possessions and so many of them, still covet our poor huts?"
History Books For Children
See Through History: Celts
by Hazel Mary Martell
"The Celts" is a well-produced book which covers a wide selection
of topics which include daily life, transport and warfare.
It includes
four see-through scenes which illustrate both the inside and exterior of buildings and an ancient tomb. Read the full review
More Celtic History books for Children
Books about Celts