David Freeman

Interiors  - What happens inside a home?

 

Quite early in the process of constructing houses, I started to explore what was possible with the interiors of the buildings.

I started to accumulate evidence from up and down the length of Britain.

 

The starting point was a quote from the Romans "... they (the Britons) live in brightly coloured houses." In excavations from Baldock, and Danebury Hillfort, we have pieces of daub surviving with paint still intact. A hint at patterns from an interior, and a red wash from the outside of a wall. That led to exploration of paints and pigments, and designs based on British iron age art.

 

Furnishing are a different matter. So many items would have been made of wood, leather, horn, bone etc. Very few survived to modern day, as all of these materials decay rapidly in the ground. Metalwork and pottery are often all that survives. Waterlogged sites such as the Glastonbury Lake Village are very important, with many artefacts of wood/bone/antler surviving.

 

Over the years I have collected, or constructed, a range of objects, all based on archaeological finds. From house to house, they have traveled with me over the years, each house layout improving as I learned more. The following photographs give you a glimpse of the latest house interior I have created.

 

Not all survive, disappearing as I move on.

 

Chiltern Open Air Museum - no longer.

 

Newbarn Field Centre - no longer

 

Peat Moors Visitors Centre - no longer

 

Museum of Liverpool Life - no longer

 

Butser Ancient Farm - in existance