Year 2's Time Travel into the Iron Age

On Wednesday 2nd November, Year 2 jumped back in time to become Celtic warriors for the day when they visited the Iron Age Village in Dorchester.

Chieftain Duncan greeted us as we entered his village with a cheery blow on his animal horn, which to the unsuspecting, was terrifying and made us all jump!  We tentatively entered the village relieved to discover that Duncan was, in fact, kind, friendly, and eager to share his Celtic life with us.  He was dressed from head to toe in authentic costume with the exception of his glasses, watch and pants!   Duncan encouraged us to create a timeline from the Ice Age to the 20th Century just to put the Iron Age in to context.  His costume generated a lot of curiosity and questions.  Kristyna said, “he had big shoes made of leather”.  Saffron pointed out that his clothes were very colourful and Jess remarked on how dirty they were!  Antonia said that “the torque around his neck was platted and gold” and Abi noticed that he was wearing a long cloak made from sheep’s wool.  

We were horrified to learn that hospitals didn’t exist in the Iron Age and that they made their own medicine.  We picked special leaves called Plantain and Emily said, “we had to rip up the leaves and bash them with a mortar and pestle to make them look like pesto”.  This juice was used as an antiseptic to heal cuts and grazes.

The roundhouse was a highlight.  Inside it was very warm and smoky, making it difficult to breathe.  “The fire in the middle was the only light,” said Louisa and Ophelia remarked that “we all sat on sheepskin beds”. 

The most intriguing part of the day was the thought of the Iron Age ‘facilities’ and the idea of ‘a long drop outside’ caused much hysteria. 

Overall a wonderful day was had by our Celtic warriors and our weary time travellers returned back to the 21st century and to school a little smelly, tired and happy!