Building an Anglo-Saxon Pit House with Hand Tools - Part V | Medieval Primitive Bushcraft Shelter

Anglo-Saxon settlers built Early Medieval pit houses with primitive tools, digging foundations, raising earth and wattle walls and thatched or shingle roofs. After gaining victory over the Britons at the Battle of Peonnum in 658 A.D. the Gewissæ pushed south west towards the River Parrett. While the tribal elites fought for power and territorial control Anglo-Saxon freemen settled unclaimed land amongst their Romano-British cousins. The first structures built were pit houses, used first as military outposts and dwellings and then as workshops and storehouses once settlements grew and timber longhouses were erected. Anglo-Saxon pit houses are often found with the remains of loom weights, pottery or metal-working crafts, and are therefore interpreted as craft-related buildings or store houses subsidiary to larger post-built dwellings. Today, all that remains archaeologically of these structures is the pit itself and the accompanying post-holes. There is usually little evidence for floors, walls or roof structures. Reconstructions of Anglo-Saxon pit-houses must therefore incorporate building techniques that are "archaeologically invisible" in order to be accurate or at least plausible. "Archaeological invisible" building technologies often proposed for Anglo-Saxon pit houses include A-frame rafters resting on the ground, wattle walls staked into the upcast earth but not below ground level, or walls resting on sill beams. The orientation, pit and post-hole features of this pit house are an accurate reconstruction of Sunken Featured Building 8 excavated at the West Saxon settlement near Lechlade-on-Thames, dated to the 7th century. The archaeological report can be found here: Prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon Settlements to the rear of Sherborne House, Lechlade: excavations in 1997. 2003. C Bateman, D Enright, N Oakey. www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2… Despite constant warfare between tribal elites, the Anglo-Saxons often peacefully settled land left unoccupied after the Roman withdrawal from Britain, amongst neighbouring Romano-British communities. This led to considerable cultural exchange between the Anglo-Saxons and Romano-British, resulting in what is now known as Insular culture during the late 7th and 8th centuries. The door was woven as a wattle panel from fresh cut hazel rods. The horizontal ledges were knocked into the ground as posts to keep them secure as the wattle was woven. The arched top of the door was measured roughly to match the arch of the entrance and lashed together, with the vertical rods woven in and trimmed off. Large, flat stones were gathered from the nearby river and neighbouring field, to create a stone path leading into the entrance of the house. This will hopefully keep this area from getting incredibly muddy in wet weather. The door was lashed to a sturdy post, with a long rod used as a hinge pin, so that the door could swing freely on the hinge pin, supported by the post. The hinge post was set quite far inside the doorway, with the horizontal door ledges left quite long to span the distance. This keeps the cordage lashings hidden behind the cob walls and out of reach of anyone on the outside of the door. This makes it harder to break in as the rope lashings cannot be easily cut. The walls were extended with hazel posts and cob, to finish the entranceway and give the door a nice snug fit within the doorway. A wool blanket can be lashed or tucked into the doorway to keep out the draught on cold nights. The reason for choosing to make a woven door over a traditional plank-built door is that, so far, all the materials for the construction of the house have come from within 100 yards of the house (aside from the straw thatch which travelled 15 miles). I wanted to continue with that idea of creating a truly local structure. The house now has its own little woven portal. It feels good to have a door, even a door of woven hazel and a wool blanket! The ability to create an enclosed space goes a long way towards making the house feel cosier, more nest-like; the door becoming a physical and (probably more importantly!) a psychological barrier against cold, wind and the terrors of the dark. The midwinter Wild Hunt will have to look elsewhere for lost souls left out in the cold! With thanks to: Herknungr, playing 'Нови Циклус' Hector Cole, Blacksmith, for forging the Saxon T-shaped Axe. Grzegorz Kulig, Silversmith, for making the pattern-welded knife. Matuls, Cooper, for making the alder bucket with hazel rings. If you would like to support me further, you can become a patron here: www.patreon.com/gesithasgewissa Join this channel to become a member: youtube.comhttps://www.seevid.ir/fa/result?ytch=UCBH-Uv2UIE0UE6mZxUpVgoA/join Or make a one-off donation: paypal.me/gesithasgewissa www.facebook.com/gesithasgewissa/ www.instagram.com/gesithasgewissa/

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