Iron Age Britain 

Glad you enjoyed it!

Next time I make more Iron Age videos, my soapmaking will be one of them.

Glad you enjoyed it!

@@IronAgeGuru I’ve watched less than half your video, but I’ve already subscribed to your channel. I wish your production standard was higher, but the content is great!

Believe me Welsh Red Gamer...It keeps me up at night too mun!

Hi Peter, I remember about 20 years ago, I bought a 100% wool blanket and washed it. When I came home, my wife had put it in the dryer and it turned to thick felt, I remember being both amazed and depressed by the whole thing. To answer you question, you can make as much felt as you like, its good for Scythian saddles and all kinds of reproduction clothing... Just I wanted to focus on spinning, dyeing and weaving for that scene. Thanks for watching.

Hi Charles, there have been two attempts to do this. First in the 1970's (Check out "Living in the Past" ) and 1998 the BBC did "Surviving the Iron Age" you can find them on youtube. Though promising the 99 version failed miserably because they focused more on the tragedies than actually having people with the skills using them successfully. But you might find them helpful.

Hi John, Good Point, but the thing is, although it makes sense, if I started wearing a Tartan rather than a Plaid, it would look too Anachronistic, too modern. But in theory it makes sense right? As a member of a tribe, you'd automatically know, who was in your tribe just by looking at them, so what was the identifier? Colour, weave, hair style? Jewellry? We can only surmise.

Foreigners get excited over tartans however they don't have a long history at all - though the thought of it is a good money-spinner. The clan tartans are a modern invention, occurring in the late 18th and mostly 19th century including the Robertson tartan. Plaid was also a common fabric for a very long time back in to history.

Demonmixer, There used to be another smaller Iron Age village in Somerset, but it closed over 10 years ago. It could be that you visited either one. Henllys is not too far from Somerset

@@IronAgeGuru Probably that one.

Generally reenactors have been looking at preserved versions of shields from Denmark which show planked construction or the surviving metal rims of shields such as the Deal Grave Warriors Shield in UK. It suggests the thickness of the outer edge. However, recently, a shield was unearthed in England which was made out of a single layer of birch bark, surrounded by a sewn alder edge and using a braided nettle boss covered in Resin to harden it. So our understanding of shields have changed even since I made this film.

@@IronAgeGuru - Planked shields, where the individual boards are butted together and glued at their edges, yes. This is seen on the (few) surviving shield boards from La Tene in Switzerland and Hjortspring in Denmark. What you describe though, (between 16:50 - 16:59 in this video) is something very different; *". . . made from three layers of Ash that are glued together in alternate grain to give it strength like modern plywood."* Presumably, the front/back layers either running horizontal/vertical, and the center layer running opposite to them. To the best of my knowledge, the only shields with this construction are Roman Scuta. If there is documentation of this construction method in a Celtic artifact it would be newsworthy, and I would very much like to see it. The metal edge bindings and fitting are invaluable for the information that can be gleaned from them regarding shield construction. Much later Viking shields have thin, sheet metal clips that were placed overlapping the edge of the shield board. These indicate the the edge thickness was less than 3 mm. However, these same shields were about 9 mm thick toward the center opening under the boss. A shield with this even chamfering puts center mass at the hand, making for much more "lively" shield use. A similar even thinning from center to edge seems to be shown by the shield boards from La Tene. And the metal rim bindings from places like Gournay-Sur-Aronde in France also indicate thin edges. The Deal shield was also of the uniquely British "Hide-Shape" if I remember correctly. And yes, there have been a couple of new shields discovered recently; Pocklington and the Enderby bark shield being notable surprises.

Much appreciated, Glad you enjoyed it

You are so welcome

Lusolad, If I were going to create an 'Iron Age Shield" again, I'd create an Enderby shield made from Birch bark with a nettle cordage boss soaked in Resin. Or, I might make a leather front shield like the Clonbrin version from Ireland. Regarding the Deal Warrior Grave shield, it was probably of the planked variety found in Europe, however, that's just conjecture. I chose the three layers of ash glued in alternate grains , like the Roman Scutum's just to try it. Hope this helps?

Not everyone is as crafty as you are.

I've tried it with milk and I don't like it. Nothing to say they didn't use milk. I am just making the bread I like. :)

@@IronAgeGuru Respected. thanks again for the video. Slainté Math 😁

@@IronAgeGuru Was it gritty? You still have teeth?

You are thinking like an American John Doe! :) I didn't mean sweet corn, I meant corn, the cereal crop, as in wheat, Spelt, Barley etc