Peter J. Reynolds

Peter John Reynolds (6 November 1939 – 26 September 2001) was a British archaeologist known for his research in experimental archaeology and the British Iron Age and for being recruited as the first director of Butser Ancient Farm, a working replica of an Iron Age farmstead in Hampshire.

Early life

Reynolds was born on 6 November 1939 in Shifnal, Shropshire, England. He was educated at The Priory School, Shrewsbury. He read Classics at Trinity College, Dublin, graduating in 1962 with a Double First. He then studied for a teaching diploma at Reading University.

Career

After completing his teaching diploma, Reynolds became the classics master at Prince Henry's Grammar School, Evesham. Here, he was also a Sixth Form tutor.

Reynolds was the director of the Butser Iron Age farm, a living experiment in Iron Age archaeology. Public education was a major focus of the farm, as was furthering archaeological knowledge. Over the years of its operation, hundreds of experiments were conducted at Butser covering a wide range of subjects in Iron Age life in Britain, including the construction of houses, the storage of grain, the keeping of livestock, and the production and use of ancient technologies.

Reynolds was an innovative researcher, who made a major contribution to our understanding of Iron Age life.

A full list of his publications can be found here http://www.butser.org.uk/iafhist08_hcc.html.
The work of Butser Farm is described here http://www.butser.org.uk/

He demonstrated that ancient roundhouse dwellings could be constructed without a hole to let smoke escape, a feature that may have drawn the interior air through far too quickly, but that the smoke simply passed through the thatched roofs.

Personal life

Reynolds was twice married. He married Bridget in 1976. Together, they had a daughter, Jemma.