Iron Age Turf Roof

Like many icelandic villages houses here are roofed with turf a practice that developed in northern europe as early as the iron age.

Iron age turf roof.

Chris and shona scatchard from caithness have spent the last few years experimenting with building roundhouses inspired by iron age examples using the materials available locally. These ranged in size from less than 5m in diameter to over 15m. The old turf roof and walls were being stripped off layer by layer using knives left a very messy and muddy job. The iron age in britain started around 800bc and finished in 43ad when the bronze age began.

The discovery of ways to heat and forge iron kicked off the iron age roughly 1 300 b c. And 600 b c depending on the region and followed the stone age and bronze age. The iron age was a period in human history that started between 1200 b c. Roundhouses were the standard form of housing built in britain from the bronze age throughout the iron age and in some areas well into the sub roman period.

A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium planted over a waterproofing membrane it may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems. Chris has kindly put together this inspiring piece about his experiences. The house re construction was about 30 years old so the deterioration of the turf occurred more quickly than anticipated. In order to protect themselves and their livestock from the harsh climate the settlers constructed shelters using the trees to provide a framework and covering the frame with turf.

As a result all of the turf was scheduled to be replaced during 2002 2003. These could be made of timber or stone with a roof covering of thatch or turf depending upon locally available building materials. There have been many attempts to reconstruct iron age roundhouses by archaeology groups and other enthusiasts but. The standard house was a roundhouse made of timber or stone with a thatch or turf roof.

At the time the metal was seen as more precious than gold and wrought iron which would be. Updating an ancient tradition icelandic turf architecture has its roots in building techniques dating back to the iron age indeed the romans used turf bricks to build fortresses and defensive.