Archaeologists first began to recognize roundhouses through the traces left in the ground. Postholes, carefully arranged in circles, suggested the outline of walls and roofs that no longer survived. In rare cases, waterlogged bogs preserved timbers, giving a glimpse of their construction. The rest had to be imagined and tested through experimental archaeology. Reconstruction experiments revealed that a conical roof pitched at about 45 degrees was both strong and efficient. These tests also helped to explain daily life inside. According to Peter J. Reynolds, fires for warmth and cooking were lit indoors, but contrary to early assumptions, there was no smoke hole at the roof's apex. Such a gap would have drawn flames upward, setting fire to the thatch. Instead, smoke collected in the roof space and drifted out slowly through the thatch itself, darkening the interior but keeping the structure safe. Modern reconstructions draw heavily on these interpretations, though they remain partly speculative. Each attempt reflects archaeological reasoning as much as it does ancient reality. In the later 20th century, the idea of the roundhouse was revived for ecological building, this time with cob, cordwood, straw bale walls, and green roofs. These modern versions echo the form of ancient homes while applying new materials and ideas about sustainability.

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Iron Age Roundhouse