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We have been busy! The temporary props for the 4 main posts have been removed, along with the tower scaffolds used to guide the purlins into position. The square frame now stands majestic over the levelled chalk platform.

Volunteers have marked out the building footprint. First a baseline datum that runs through the centre of the building was marked out, taking the main post bases as reference. Then the positions of post-hole centres were pegged – using a metre frame/grid.

Our mission is to get the wall posts in the ground before Christmas. The first series of post-holes were augered by machine and the first posts placed in their holes. Initially, this process was relatively straight forward. The base of each hole was measured using a water level (datum marked on each of the main posts at 1000 mm above finished floor level. Each wall post was measured from its base to its tenon shoulder, and this measurement corrected in the base of each hole using layers of tamped chalk. Dry chalk compacts very well using simple stick tampers. Once the desired depth is tamped to a solid base, the post is dropped into position and its tenon orientated with each adjacent peg. Once happy with its vertical (checked with plumb lines in two orientations) the post is tamped into position using dry chalk. The whole process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the problems encountered. The aim is to align the wall posts – ensuring their tenon shoulders are somewhere close to 1000 mm above datum to ensure the easiest wall-plate fit later on!

The water level requires skill to use accurately. The logic being that Neolithic builders had access to water and tubes (in the form of intestines) that could be utilised to ensure levels where required. I feel the use of an accurate level on this Neolithic landscape is demonstrated by the Stonehenge monument which exhibits perfectly level lintel tops, despite each upright being of different lengths in the ground.

Week 11 continued with the installation of the wall posts – although some very wet weather made the task all the harder. Some of the post-holes slumped and we were forced to discover a different method for placing them at the correct level. Some posts were ‘screwed’ into position by attaching a Spanish windlass to them and rotating them with downwards pressure through the thick chalky slurry.

Incredibly, the end of week 11 saw the placement of all 45 wall posts! this is a remarkable achievement for the team and pushes the project on a step further.

Work has commenced on preparing the Oak posts that will form the facade of the building. The facade consists of 6 posts that interact with a single 6 metre lintel. The two largest of these posts are the main door posts – 3300 mm long and around 450 mm in diameter. originally, I had an idea that this facade might be jointed and raised as one complete unit – and although I feel this might be possible, recent weather conditions are curtailing this idea. The heavy rainfall of the last two weeks (and forecast for next week) will adversely affect the ramped post holes we are digging to take these large posts. I cannot risk preparing 6 large holes only to have them slump in heavy rain. I have changed the plan, and now hope to place the two largest door posts, and back-fill them, before we risk digging the next two, and so on.

The positioning of these posts will be the first major lift on the project using person power and simple methods. Nevertheless, adverse weather still has the ability to affect this scaled down operation. In simple terms, we cannot afford to place the posts and NOT immediately tamp them in securely. However, they can only be tamped in with relatively dry chalk to ensure they are secure in the ground.

After much delay while modern elements of this project were engineered and installed, the 4 main structural posts have been installed onto their stainless steel base plates!

The need for modern foundation elements in this project has been discussed previously. As you will have seen from my other project blogs, I am familiar with the manual raising of earth-bound posts as the structural components of traditional buildings. Nevertheless, this stage of the project marks the beginning of the end of the modern aspects of this project and therefore a stepping stone to the more traditional elements of the build.

It is worth discussing the topic of compromises further. Any reconstruction project like this is beset by compromises from the outset. In the modern world, those compromises include the use of modern access solutions such as aluminium ladders and tower scaffolds, along with (in this specific case) the need for modern footings on the main structural posts that are capable of giving a known building longevity. However, the intrusion of the ‘modern’ reaches fundamentally into a project like this in the form of the volunteer teams who are physically building the structure. In terms of experimentation and data collection with polished stone tools, we are hampered by the simple fact that our volunteers are NOT Neolithic carpenters. They do not have the skills and knowledge of Neolithic carpenters based on their knowledge of the Neolithic world around them. They have not used these tools from birth, nor have they made their own tools to their own exacting requirements. As a result, these remarkable modern volunteers are having to make up for 5000 years of lost knowledge by immersing themselves in learning the tools and their capacity within their own knowledge and bias of a world with not just metals but also mechanisation! However well they adopt these lost methods and master their nuance, they will only have, at best, a few months experience rather than the lifetime of acquired skill their Neolithic ancestors would exhibit.

There is a certain irony in the fact that when this team of volunteers finish building this incredible Neolithic Hall, they will be ready to build their first Neolithic Hall! What a luxury it would be to take these volunteers immediately onto another traditional construction project. The collected data for efficiency would be dramatically closer to some sort of Neolithic ‘truth’!

Week 9 saw the installation of the 4 main Purlins onto the main uprights. This marks the last of the modern lifting in this project and creates a substantial square frame that will support the roof structure. The curving line of the wall posts have been marked with wooden pegs and now the strange ‘Square in Circle’ footprint is plain to see! Very soon, the ash wall posts will replace these simple wooden pegs and form the low wall of the building. In the meantime, pegs are being made that will hold the wall plate in position while the epic and seemingly unending task of hewing the 10 metre Scots Pine rafters continues.

The wall post tenons – measuring some 400mm long and 50mm thick are being cut using steel axes – but several key experiments are being run to also produce those same joints using stone tools. It is amazing to see the volunteer teams begin to really get to grips with the use of stone axes, adzes and chisels to shape the tenons to the required dimensions! After 8 weeks of hard, physical graft, the volunteers are now approaching this task with skill and stamina and are producing incredible tenons that exhibit very similar marks to those found on surviving Neolithic carpentry from Germany.

The epic task of timber processing has continued while we wait for some of the modern aspects of this project to be completed.

The experimental tool use has continued, with volunteers displaying marked improvements in their tool use. Data sets continue to be collected. It will be interesting to see what detail we will be able to glean from our experiments – although it may be many months before we have collected and analysed enough experiments to yield worthwhile results.

The four main posts have returned to the project – having been fitted with stainless steel bolts. This modern compromise is an essential aspect of this project for English Heritage. Given the expense of a traditional structure like this, these modern elements enable an organisation to plan many years ahead in terms of building longevity. Although important experimental data is lost by the use of modern footings for the 4 main structural posts, it means that the building has a known longevity and this justifies the expense of the project.

Experimentally, this project is still very worthwhile – with 50 further (but smaller) posts being earthbound, along with the hundreds of experiments that will examine the use of polished stone tools, the creation of Neolithic carpentry joints using those tools, and the record of individual volunteers and their learning curves while performing each type of task. By the end of the project, will will know far more about the realities of producing large-timber buildings in the late Neolithic at Durrington Walls.

The four main posts have been prepared. Their surfaces scraped with flint tools, and the main joints (cup joints with integral tenons) shaped with steel tools. Time constraints have forced our hand – and we have had to use modern tools on these key joints in an attempt to make up some of the lost time due to the modern ground works. Although this opportunity has been lost to the experimental process, we will shape a similar joint in one of our oak off-cuts as the project progresses – allowing us a valuable chance to gather this unique data set.

During the working of Main Post 4, a potentially serious ‘shake’ (split) was discovered that threatened to destroy the post. Unlike our Neolithic ancestors, we do not have the luxury of ‘simply’ felling another tree for the required task. Post 4 was already fitted with the stainless steel fittings and so we were forced to remedy the issue with additional modern fixings (16M threaded bolts, nuts and washers). The fixed timber will be plugged to disguise this essential fix and another lesson learned that the combination of modern and ancient methods do not always sit comfortably with each other.

Our hope is that the modern elements of this build will be completed in 2 weeks time – thus allowing Neolithic and traditional methods to take over. The volunteers are as keen as mustard to push the project on and to get to grips with actual construction. After many weeks of timber preparation, we are all more than ready to start putting things in the ground and to see the build take shape.

Well, the weather this week gave us a glimpse of the encroaching winter. Strong winds and rain buffeted the volunteers as they continued the labour intensive tasks of timber processing.

The project has been delayed by some of its essential modern aspects. The ground works continue with the machine levelling of the site, the excavation of four pits that will house concrete pads to support the four main structural posts. The decision to install the main structural posts into modern footings has been taken to extend the lifespan of the building.

Although this modern aspect is not usually a part of my projects, it is an understandable concern on the part of any client (English Heritage) that their investment in the construction of an educational space is worthwhile.

Modern aspects aside, the rest of this project will be carried out using more traditional methods, including stone tools. The realities persist however, that this project, like all projects, is a compromise between what experimental archaeology would like to achieve and what the paying client requires of the finished building. I am happy with the compromises on this project, and I know that there is still a significant opportunity to conduct a range of experiments that have the potential to provide an insight into the structural sophistication of our Neolithic ancestors.

This week, the volunteers have worked hard again to process a range of structural timbers while conducting a range of experiments with polished stone axes.

What became apparent to all of us as the weather swept in, bringing wind and rain, was that the sky above our heads was in constant flux. The natural features of the weather became points of interest to each volunteer as they worked or rested tired arms and backs. Several rainbows arched the scudding skies and each one was heralded by a call from the volunteers. All of us stopped and stared – marvelling at the sheer beauty of our surroundings and the multicoloured brush strokes that rewarded our endurance of the conditions.

This project is forcing us to consider the landscape and our environment, and our relationship with it. For modern humans who endure the majority of our time beneath roofs with electric light and heat, this project is teaching us our real place in the world. It s amazing to think that although the landscape has changed dramatically since the Neolithic, the sky has remained unaltered. It is the same sky our Neolithic ancestors gazed at, the same sky they built beneath.

Another strangely dry week has come to an end (we’re not complaining!).

The volunteers are progressing well with their tasks. Although all timber related, the tasks offer a range of activities that (hopefully) prevent repetitive strain injuries. At this stage, mainly timber processing, the work can be awkward and back-breaking as heavy logs are stripped of their bark and hewn to reduce their weight and shape them into usable timbers.

Experiments have continued and expanded. Stone axe notches are being cut into the logs to aid in the further refinement of each timber. Each experiment is being recorded on sheets which will (in time) be transferred to a database.

The recording process aims to allow the data to reveal aspects of human and tool efficiency, along with logistical aspects of building a Neolithic-type structure.

Each form records the volunteer, the date, the time of the experiment (to allow sequences in each day to be understood), a detailed task description, the experiment duration, the number of blows taken, the specific tool chosen for the task and the volume of timber removed during the task (we take a Plasticine impression of the axe-cut notch and place it in a measured volume of water to measure its displacement).

We are also interested in less tangible aspects of the volunteer experience such as weather conditions, the reasons behind specific tool choices, working positions, and social aspects of being involved in such a unique project.

This week, as the volunteers have improved (dramatically) their skills with hand tools such as steel axes, our experiments have moved on to possible reduction methods that take a whole tree to a prepared structural timber. The potential methods include notching and removing the waste with a stone adze, notching and side axing with stone axes, and notching and removing the waste with wooden wedges and mauls.

Each method produces subtly different surface finishes and, we assume, will vary in efficiency and time (this data will emerge as the project progresses). It raises certain questions regarding the aesthetic of Neolithic carpentry.

Although a lasting assumption is that Neolithic carpentry was largely expedient, the little available evidence suggests otherwise. The few known surviving Neolithic timbers (in the form of well-linings from Germany and an amazing, three-planked door from Zurich) all demonstrate high levels of timber processing and finishing, even in well-linings that, once installed several metres in the ground, would never be seen again. This degree of processing leads us away from the notion of simple round-wood structures, with the bark left on and a minimum of processing, to the idea of Neolithic structures that exhibit an aesthetic of radially split planks and timbers, a range of complex carpentry joints (including mortise and tenon), and beautiful timbers exhibiting the unmistakable scallops of a well balanced stone adze.

After much discussion, we feel that the Durrington 68 Neolithic Hall should attempt to demonstrate a range of authentic finishes to the visiting public, from split surfaces, hewn and adzed surfaces and (perhaps as expected), natural surfaces. We feel this approach will allow interesting discussions to be initiated by the interpreters of the building – with the visiting public.

Our aim, after all, is not to produce a one dimensional vision of how the structure would have looked, but to create a three dimensional vision that presents a range of interpretations within the building.

TIMBER PREPARATION

Another fine week has ended. The weather is still surprisingly warm and dry for October!

After last week’s induction, the Core Volunteers have returned to begin the preparation of structural timbers for the building. The Primary Rafters, twenty two Scots Pines, each one eight metres long, have been hauled out of the compound to be processed. Each of these trees will need to be de-barked and hewn to shape using steel and stone tools. The aim is to reduce their overall weight and to present a ‘squared’ finish in the finished roof members. Some people might find the effort to dress these timbers to a square (technically rectangular) finish as surprising. The assumption is usually that large structures in the Neolithic would have used round timbers in the most expedient way possible.

Although direct Neolithic carpentry evidence is rare, examples of sophisticated timber processing can be seen in the remarkably preserved well-linings of Germany. Here, clear evidence of radial splitting, plank shaping with stone adzes and the cutting of mortises and square tenons are clearly exhibited. It is worth remembering that these well linings, although supremely functional, were never intended to be seen once installed. Looking at the beautiful adze marks on the planks and the care taken to make complex interlocking carpentry joints, we can only imagine the care and attention to detail those same Neolithic builders may have demonstrated in large buildings!

The Core Volunteers have continued developing their axe skills and the progression from last week to this is plainly evident.

We have also been introducing the first stone tools to the project. Polished stone adzes and axes have been tentatively tested by the volunteers. The learning curve is steep at this stage. For many, last week saw their first ever use of steel axes and already they are having to take their new-found skill and adapt it the the very different angles and swing required to use stone tools efficiently.

Our stone tools have been produced by Dr James Dilley, an experimental archaeologist I have known for many years. He has produced some stunning tools with sturdy, functional hafts and it has been a pleasure to swing them against freshly felled Scots Pine for the first time. We are recording the effects of these tools during their use. Our data will include timings, number of blows, and volume of material removed by each tool and individual volunteer as a baseline. In this way I should be able to see the progression and refinement of individual skills along with any subtle differences in tool efficiency. My goal is to be able to point ant any authentically worked timber or joint and be able to say how long it took, which tool and volunteer was responsible and potentially suggest the volume of labour required to produce the entire structure with polished stone tools.

However, we are also interested in the less tangible aspects of this project; the lessons, thoughts and observations of the people involved. One early observation by volunteers has been the audible difference between the sound of steel and stone tools at work. The stone tools produce a more mellow sound on the timber. I have taken advantage of a quiet day to record many of these sounds as a Neolithic axe soundscape. The results are here…

At this stage, the majority of work on site surrounds the preparation of trees into structural timbers. As the project progresses, these blogs will look in detail at the construction process and the debates that surround a unique project like this.

A rare chance to just sit and knap with a lovely piece of flint. Equivalent to a three dimensional game of chess, Flint-knapping is a process that relies on contingent thought to solve the ever occurring errors imparted by the knapper (in this case – me!) and the quality of the raw material.