Living in the Past (TV series)

The series began with the group building its Iron Age settlement with a hybrid of modern work tools and ancient tools, giving them time to adjust and get their bearings for living in an ancient time. The settlement they built was based on a nearby archaeological site dated to around the same time in the Iron Age as the series took place. The group began to phase out the modern tools and began only using ancient tools and techniques. The group lived on site from February 1977 until the end of March 1978. Their accommodation in two person tents ceased on 30th April 1977 when they moved into the still unfinished round house.

For the first ten weeks the group survived on food and supplies from supermarkets. But once the harsh weather relented and the settlement was self-sufficient, the group grew its own crops and used domesticated animals for dairy and meat. The settlement had several goats, cows, sheep, pigs, chickens and geese for the group's use. Breakfast almost everyday consisted of porridge of boiled wheat with milk and, if any was present, honey. On Sundays they treated themselves to bread with smeared honey and perhaps butter.

Their diet can be said to have consisted primarily of wheat, milk and meat. One of the daily tasks for the entire group was milling wheat for bread on a small quern. They made a soft curd cheese out of goat milk almost daily. They also had meat frequently which they obtained by slaughtering their animals although some group members were vegetarians. Eggs and fish were occasional food. Field beans and peas, parsnips and leeks were grown by the group as they are thought to have been available foods in Britain at the time. Many other foods were not grown or eaten by the group because they would not have been available at. These 'not Iron Age' foods included potatoes, rice, cabbage, carrots, swede, onion, turnip. Seasonal foraging for things such as wild garlic, young beach and lime tree leaves, mushrooms, blackberries and hazel nuts supplemented their diet for short periods during the spring and autumn. Hunting for rabbits, hares and the occasional pheasant made occasional additions to the regular diet.

The cooking was done communally with each couple being responsible for the meals and the fire for 24 hours from after evening meal each day. This included responsibility for keeping the fire alight and collecting fire wood. The day following cooking day was baking day when the couple were responsible for baking sufficient bread for the group. This was done in a dome shaped clay oven that was first heated by a fire inside it, then kept warm as the bread cooked with a much reduced fire still inside the oven. Bread consumption was a measure of the groups appetite. This peaked at around 10 loafs a day during hay making when the day length was longest, falling to around 3 loafs a day in December. Interestingly bread demand correlated with day length rather than temperature.

The group washed with water and clay, which didn't disinfect, but, as they found, was suitable to remove dirt and other impurities from their skin and hair. Each day one couple would have 'bath day' which for convenience always coincided with 'baking day. The couple were in the house and tending the oven fire so it made sense. The bath was a wooden half barrel. The water was heated by placing pieces of iron in the fire, then lifting them out with the blacksmiths tongs and plunging them into the water. That's probably not what Iron Age people did with highly precious pieces of iron but it did work. Yes, there were some technical compromises. A similar 'hot iron' method was used to sterilise milk vessels, which could quite quickly be brought up to boiling. Digestive upsets were rare.

As well as the daily cooking firewood gathering and baking there was the daily routine of feeding and milking the animals. 2, 3 or 4 different people were responsible for each type of animal. Each group had a carefully worked out rota to ensure that everyone was freed from animal care on their cooking day, and also had periodic rest days to enable a lie in bed a little longer.

The group spent about six weeks slashing hay to stock up for the coming winter to keep the animals supplied and also for insulating material.

The villagers also had to learn how to fish and had success setting up large fish traps in a nearby stream.

The group reenacted Pagan Celtic festivals and erected a fifteen-foot wicker man that they burned one night. The group foraged elderberries from nearby plants and had fermented elderberry wine to drink during the festival.

One couple decided to leave the settlement early in November when one of their children became ill. Although the child was not seriously ill, the parents felt more comfortable taking him home.

When the year was up the rest of the group celebrated with champagne brought in from the outside world. They took several possessions they had made during the year with them and were taken to a luxury hotel in Bath, Somerset.

To this day the group maintains that the experiment was paramount in teaching them to be self-sufficient and be able to survive like an Iron Age man if need be.

To stop the area from becoming a tourist attraction in the quiet section of woods where it was located, the settlement was burned down.