Family steps back to the Bronze Age
Submitted by PaulM on Wednesday, 20 August 2003 Page Views: 2033
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSix members of the Pogmore family are spending a week living in a Bronze Age roundhouse. The experiment, organised by Carlton Television, is taking place at the Flag Fen Bronze Age visitor's centre.The Pogmores are dad Phil (38), mum Vickie (35), Keeley (19), Gavin (17), Phil (15), Claire (14), and 12-year-old twins Steven and Brendan.
They are living and sleeping in a roundhouse typical of the age.
No contact with the outside world is permitted. And they have to get by without any 21st century conveniences.
Their task is to try and live as close to how a real Bronze Age family would have lived 4,000 years ago.
They will have to build another roundhouse on the Flag Fen site and make tools from the time.
Elin Styles, operations manager at the site, said: "They're not allowed any modern luxuries that we take for granted, like pizza or mobile phones.
"They have to cook over a real fire, sleep on a bed of straw and wear traditional Bronze Age costumes."
The family, from Nottingham, beat off competition from 30 others to take part in the experiment.
They are banned from speaking to the press or knowing anything about the outside world until they are "released" on Friday.
Mrs Styles said: "Judging by their laughter. I think they're having a great time.
"They're all involved with scouts and guides, so they're used to being outside, although this is completely different.
"I think they're having a really good time doing it."
Meanwhile, Flag Fen will be hosting a family fun day this Bank Holiday Monday.
The event will feature displays of Roman armour and weapons, as well as a Bronze Age man and a Roman soldier.
In order to make the day more entertaining, Flag Fen are daring visitors to come to the site in their own versions of costumes from the past.
Prizes will be awarded for the best efforts.
• For more information, telephone 01733 313414.
Factfile – Earthly paradise for archaeologists
• Flag Fen was found in 1982 after a mechanical digger working on one of the fen's drainage ditches pulled up some timber.
• The Bronze Age was the period when weapons and tools were made predominantly of copper and its alloys.
• The Flag Fen site contains timber that has been preserved, through waterlogging, for more than 3,000 years.
• Excavations at Flag Fen have concentrated on areas that are under threat of drying out.
• Within 20 years a large part of the site will be lost if work is not carried out now.
• The director of the site is Dr Francis Pryor, one of the stars of the recent Time Team Big Dig television programme.
• Archaeologists led by Dr Pryor are working to retrieve as much information as they can about our ancestors.
Source Peterborough Now 20 August 2003
20 August 2003
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