Video summary
Archaeologist Raksha Dave visits Stonehenge and a barrow burial to explore life in the Bronze Age.
What we can still see is used to explore how, when and why Stonehenge was built, and why it was such an important centre for people at the time. Differing theories and contradictions in the evidence are discussed.
There are also lots of barrow burials around Stonehenge and one of them, Bush Barrow Man, now in the Wiltshire Museum, is used to find out about the Bronze Age.
The Bush Barrow Man was buried surrounded by artifacts, including a gold cloak fastening, a dagger from Brittany and amber from Denmark, indicating that perhaps he was a very important person.
This clip is from the series Roman Voices.
Teacher Notes
Could be used to explore Iron Age life by asking the question, ‘Why did this tribe take so much trouble to make Maiden Castle so secure?’
Could also be used to compare and contrast life between the Stone Age and the Iron Age – what has changed and what has stayed the same?
Children could use toy building tools to construct their own fort defenses using Iron Age techniques.
This clip will be relevant for teaching History and Social Studies at KS2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 2nd Level in Scotland.
Discovering iron in Iron Age Britain. video
Raksha visits an Iron Age mine in the Forest of Dean and explores iron mining. Iron mining in the Forest of Dean dates back nearly 2,500 years where iron ore was found near the surface.
Iron Age daily life video
Archaeologist Raksha Dave explores Maiden Castle, the biggest Iron Age Hill Fort in Britain, to try and piece together what it would have looked like 2,500 years ago.
Discovering wool in Bronze Age Britain. video
Raksha visits Butser Ancient Farm and learns how woollen cloth was made in the Bronze Age, a re-enactor at the farm shows her how to use a spindle and loom.
Discovering metalwork in Bronze Age Britain. video
Raksha visits Butser Ancient Farm to look at the beginning of the Bronze Age and construct a Bronze Age axe head in exactly the same way Bronze Age man would have done.
Iron Age forts and tribes. video
Raksha explores Maiden Castle – the biggest Iron Age Hill Fort in Britain.We find out how it was built and about the weapons they used to defend the entrance.
Stone Age farming and homes. video
Raksha explores life in Britain during the Stone Age first by looking at hunter-gatherers who lived by hunting animals and collecting fruit and nuts, and then moves on to explore the first farmers
What do ancient bones tell us about the Stone Age? video
Raksha gives us a real insight into the life and times of higher status hunter-gatherers in the Old Stone Age by looking at The Red Lady of Paviland, one of the oldest skeletons found in Britain.
Discovering Stone Age tools made of flint video
Raksha explores the importance of flint to Stone Age man. A modern day worker makes a replica of a Stone Age arrow, showing us how skilled Stone Age people were in their use of flint.
