Peter John Reynolds (6 November 1939 – 26 September 2001) was a British

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

known for his research in experimental archaeology and the British

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

. His work as the first director of

Butser Ancient Farm Butser Ancient Farm is an archaeological open-air museum and experimental archaeology site located near Petersfield, Hampshire, Petersfield in Hampshire, southern England. Butser features experimental reconstructions of prehistoric, Romano-Britis ...

, a working replica of an Iron Age farmstead in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, made a significant contribution to our understanding of the Iron Age, and to the field of experimental archaeology.

Early life

Reynolds was born on 6 November 1939 in Shifnal,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was educated at

The Priory Grammar School for Boys, Shrewsbury The Priory Grammar School for Boys was a maintained (state-funded) grammar school for boys located in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, England. It was established in 1910 and the last grammar school students left in 1983. History Th ...

. He read

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, graduating in 1962 with a

Double First The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

. 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 Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

. Here, he was also a

Sixth Form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in co ...

Butser Ancient Farm

In 1972, Reynolds was recruited as the first director of

, an experimental archaeology research site in

, southern England. The site began as a working Iron Age farm, reconstructing Iron Age roundhouses from UK archaeology to test current theories on Iron Age building techniques, as well as economy and culture. Reynolds' work at Butser established the current understanding of the roundhouse, showing that Iron Age roundhouses did not need a chimney or other hole for smoke to escape through, and disproving prevailing thought at the time. The projects at Butser were instrumental in establishing experimental archaeology as a legitimate archaeological discipline. In the 50 years since its establishment, hundreds of experiments have been conducted at Butser, covering a wide range of subjects including the construction of houses, the storage of grain, the keeping of livestock, and the production and use of ancient technologies. Today, the site includes buildings from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

, and

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

period, including a replica Roman villa, and continues to run experiments and educate the public. During his time at Butser, he also appeared on various episodes of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

television series ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

''. The 6th episode of Series 9, in which he appeared, is dedicated to him, as he died after filming but before it aired.

Personal life

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

Publications

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 at th
Butser Archive

Books

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Peter J English archaeologists 1939 births People from Shifnal 2001 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin People educated at The Priory Boys' Grammar School, Shrewsbury