Interview with Peter Reynolds of Cregneash about the House of Manannan (Manx National Heritage) project
Audio Player:
Date(s): after 1990 and before 1997
Creator(s): Manx National Heritage
Scope & Content: Tracks 1 & 2: Experimental archaeologist Peter Reynolds, in discussion with representatives of Manx National Heritage and others about a potential project to construct an Iron Age Round House in the Isle of Man. They talk about the concept of reconstruction of prehistoric buildings; use of deductive logic using data rather than imagination; importance of museums; cost of building an iron age hut; timescale and budget; timber and building materials; design of hut; floor design and timber frame; Gerhard Bersu excavations using internees in the Isle of Man; carbon dating and some of the conclusions from Bersu’s excavations; hut interior; purpose of roundhouses as meeting places; project as ‘a piece of museology’; potential for photographs, videos, virtual tours; sponsorship from companies for the project; example of National Museum in Wales; value of project to understanding of archaeology in Isle of Man; benefits of building in situ in the landscape; thatch; merits of ‘living history’; Plymouth Plantation experience in the US; volunteer actors; ring structure of round house; marram grass in thatching in the Isle of Man; turf walls in the Isle of Man; limitations of Bersu’s excavation findings; structure as more important than the internal dressing; Cockley Clay Iceni Village in Norfolk; the reconstruction of the round house as a ‘growth industry’; new galleries making people rethink what they thought about the island; entry to the gallery to be ‘a forest of timbers’; story telling and harpists within the structure; quality of acoustics in the structure.
Language: English
Extent: 1 hr. 25 min. 41 sec.
Item name: cassette tape
Collection: Sound Archive
Level: ITEM
ID number: SA 2019-0327/3
Access conditions: All reasonable attempt has been made by Manx National Heritage to trace and request permission (where needed) from the copyright holder(s) in this sound recording. If however you think you are a rights holder then please contact Manx National Heritage.
Subject tags : #UOSH