Basically, a holiday in a reconstructed Iron Age village. No mod cons allowed at all.
Learn how to spin, herd, make charcoal, fish, weave, dye etc. from experts and historians.
You have all your modern possessions confiscated at the entrance and are given a set of clothes made to Iron Age standards.
Call it say...200 quid a week and this gives the projects a welcome source of income and you an unforgettable experience.-- squeak, Jun 10 2003 Surviving the Iron Age http://www.bbc.co.u.../surviving_ironage/Site about the BBC series that put 17 people in this exact situation for 7 weeks. [culturalvacuum, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] Evolutionary Education http://www.halfbake...tionary_20EducationLearn how to spin, herd, make charcoal, fish, weave, dye etc. from experts and historians. [phoenix, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] Third World slum "theme park" http://news.com.au/...4%255E13762,00.htmlAnother 'vacation' for those not interested in being pampered [krelnik, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] £200 per night, more likely. You'd need appropriate food - no corn, potatoes, etc., but you'd get Mastodon steaks and dodo eggs and the like.
P.S. Given that the various native American cultures were Iron Age (i.e., pre-Gunpowder Age) before whitey came over, you could do this pretty darn easily in the States.-- DrCurry, Jun 10 2003 We have theme parks here in the U.S. that emulate life in our colonial era and in Medieval Europe. I also went to a recreation of a nineteenth century gold rush town in Australia once (Ballarat, I think).
They're all pretty fake, and not about the iron age, but along the same lines.-- snarfyguy, Jun 10 2003 (For those like me who wondered: "mod con" = British slang for "modern conveniences")-- krelnik, Jun 10 2003 I believe one of the more common iron age meals was vegetable gruel which should open up the possibilities of marketing the holiday as a dieting aid.-- squeak, Jun 10 2003 And [snarfguy], the difference between this and a medieval theme park (gods that sounds terrible) is that this is a total immersion experience.
No queueing for the lav, just go behind a bush. No giant turkey legs (didnt have them in europe then) just rabbit stew etc.-- squeak, Jun 10 2003 A mate of mine is actually doing something similar right now. It's in England somewhere, and about 2 - 300 people take part each year. They stay in and by a castle and re-enact different historical periods in the life of the castle. This year they're doing 1530 odds. My mate's a serf this time round. Not Iron Age exactly, but I'm sure you get those camps too.-- saker, Jun 10 2003 If you saw the BBC series on this subject (see link), you'd know that this lifestyle was low on fun and high on mud, brutally hard work and fatigue. The potential market for a "holiday" this strenuous and mundane is pretty slim, unless all the participants have all the work done for them, which would cut down a bit on the authenticity factor.-- culturalvacuum, Jun 10 2003 Sounds like "Survivor". What's in it for me?-- phoenix, Jun 10 2003 <grabs nearest woman by hair and drags her back to cave> I like this idea, but there would have to be some sort of rules. Otherwise club-based injuries will occur... </grabs nearest woman by hair and drags her back to cave>-- silverstormer, Jun 10 2003 Serfin' is the only life The only way for me. Now serf serf with me-- thumbwax, Jun 10 2003 Bom bom dip de dip de dip-- snarfyguy, Jun 10 2003 You could just go to Luton. Actually, in Valencia they have "Terra Mitica", based on romans, Egyptians, Greeks...but I don't remember the ancient Romans having roller-coasters. And I remember Kentwell hall in England, taking you back to Tudfor tymes. Theye even spake ye olde Englishe, and thou could eat tudor foode. Ever tasted meade (Fermented honey)? Hmmmmmm...-- git, Jun 10 2003 I've been on an Iron Age holiday at a reconstructed site where we got into costume, ate period food, posted guards and spent a weekend doing iron age things. It was only a weekend so no major skills were learnt other than a demonstration of primitive crafts and a lesson on how to use a spear and shield. They even had an on-site ancient breed of chicken!
I came away with a rather nice pot made from the same source of clay, and made with the same techniques, that were used in the iron age.-- Aristotle, Jun 10 2003 200 quid in an iron age village for a few weeks could make for some easy living. Of course the 200 "quid" wouldn't be what it is now, or what it was then.
Back in the iron age, a minstrel could be hired cheap. These days, a student of history hired to sing and dance before a tourist would likely want more money.
But in this day and age of theme parks, private boot camps, this "global village" idea from Habitat for Humanity, I say this idea has potential and will thus give it a plus.-- Great Satan, Jun 11 2003 A good idea, but baked. See Horizon, spring 1970, volume XII, No. 2, pages 97-101. The article is called “An Experiment with Time”, and deals with an experimental Iron Age village in Denmark. Being a time traveler myself, I can tell you that these Danes were totally off base.-- pluterday, Jun 11 2003 I do something similar every July at Danelaw Village, just outside York. It's a reconstruction Viking age village and we spend a weekend cooking (including spit-roasting a pig), wattling, daubing, dyeing - oh, and drinking. We try and keep the food authentic (no potatoes, tomatoes etc) but the beer is hopped and we do allow guitars in the evening!-- frigface, Sep 09 2003 [frigface] Do you play dungeons and dragons as well?-- squoink, Sep 09 2003 //including spit-roasting a pig//
dirty sod
And for the record, I know there are reconstructed iron age villages where you can spend a day or two and I know there are "survivor" type telly programmes. I want something in the middle and I don't want to be filmed. I just want to do hands on things like hauling water or mucking out animals or digging veggies or felting wool. It might not be some people's idea of a great holiday but then my idea of a great holiday isn't to go to Majorca to sit on a beach for two weeks. I like doing the tough stuff.
And alright [git], the mead definately contributes to the appeal.-- squeak, Sep 10 2003 PBS is doing this only they are calling it a "Reality Show"-- Bamboo, Apr 13 2004 random, halfbakery