Butser Ancient Farm at 50: celebrating half a century of experimental archaeology

Butser Ancient Farm is an experimental and public archaeology site nestled in Hampshire’s South Downs, about 20km north of Portsmouth. Today it is home to an array of reconstructed buildings representing a wide span of human history, but its genesis came about thanks to a decision by the Council for British Archaeology (CBA), in 1970, to allocate funds for the study of the British Iron Age, with an emphasis on experimental investigations of agriculture. Two years later, Dr Peter Reynolds was appointed as Butser’s first director – a logical choice because of his prior experimental work with both prehistoric cereals and the experimental construction of some modest roundhouses based on Ir