Living in the Past

February 23, 1978

The Archaeological background. Building the settlement.

March 2, 1978

Difficulties and delays.

March 9, 1978

Spring at last.

March 16, 1978

Learning to be self-sufficient.

March 23, 1978

The first signs of strain appear in the group's relationship with one another. They have problems with their livestock, but some successes as well.

March 30, 1978

Fun and games for the Celtic Festival of Lugnatha-a prehistoric August Bank Holiday. Harvest time begins and one of the group goes missing.

April 6, 1978

The group take in the harvest and run into more problems. They kill a pig and begin preparing for the winter.

April 13, 1978

The village has a disastrous crop failure. They train cattle, make clothes and shoes and deal with minor cuts and injuries.

April 20, 1978

The villagers celebrate the Celtic festival of Samhain, better known today as Bonfire Night. They burn a wicker man and enact a play with the spirits of darkness.

April 27, 1978

The Iron Age village prepares for the winter. Lindsay and Peter return home with the children and the others regret their departure. The villagers experiment with metal working.

May 4, 1978

The Iron Age village in winter. The group begin to master the skills of working iron and weaving. They talk about the lack of leadership and the lack of privacy in the Round House.

May 11, 1978

The Iron Age village during the closing weeks of the project. The group talk about the skills they have attained and their feelings about returning to the outside world. The archaeologists take over and give an assessment of the project as a whole, its failures and its successes.