0:00:24 > 0:00:30Two years ago, a rambler stumbled over some fragments of flint sticking out of the cliff edge.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33That discovery led a team of archaeologists
0:00:33 > 0:00:36to unearth the remains of a wooden house.
0:00:36 > 0:00:43Painstaking work led them to believe they were the remains of a Stone Age settlement.
0:00:43 > 0:00:50Now the same archaeologists, joined by Alice Roberts, are back to test their theory
0:00:50 > 0:00:54and recreate what they believe is Britain's first house.
0:00:54 > 0:01:00This project is something really special to me -
0:01:00 > 0:01:03the chance to recreate a Stone Age structure
0:01:03 > 0:01:07on its original site from 10,000 years ago.
0:01:07 > 0:01:13Discovering how to build the house should give us an insight into an ancient world,
0:01:13 > 0:01:16which is otherwise hard to imagine.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23After more than two years of research,
0:01:23 > 0:01:28Dr Clive Waddington believes that this house will change our understanding
0:01:28 > 0:01:30of how Stone Age hunter-gatherers lived.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33This is the earliest evidence we have
0:01:33 > 0:01:37of a dwelling structure in this part of Britain.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39It's the earliest evidence of people here.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Why are you recreating it?
0:01:42 > 0:01:47It's giving us a chance to understand what we excavated
0:01:47 > 0:01:53and put that into practice to see what it was like as a built structure and whether it works.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57So we're testing our interpretation of the excavated evidence.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09So how do you know the structure was like this?
0:02:09 > 0:02:15When we were excavating, we found charred circles in the ground where the posts had stood.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19And on the outside of the hut, just round the edge,
0:02:19 > 0:02:24we found these stake holes which were angled towards the apex of the roof.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28We can measure from the angles of those stake holes what the pitch was.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32They were around 65 degrees, which made for a really steep roof.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40There's this idea of Stone Age people being pretty backward,
0:02:40 > 0:02:42living in caves - Flintstones.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47They are people and no less intelligent than we are.
0:02:47 > 0:02:53It was just a different technology. They might have been more ingenious, living on the edge.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58- There's all these skills we've lost. - Making the string.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02This is a really robust construction
0:03:02 > 0:03:06and stands in stark contrast to the traditional idea
0:03:06 > 0:03:11of Mesolithic people building only temporary and relatively flimsy shelters.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15With the build complete,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Clive has one more piece of evidence that points to this
0:03:19 > 0:03:23being a permanent dwelling for Stone Age hunter-gatherers.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27We found a series of hearths in the centre of the building
0:03:27 > 0:03:32and there was a succession of them, the latest ones at the top and earliest ones at the bottom,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35and we found hazelnuts inside each of these hearths.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37Hazelnuts only live for one year
0:03:37 > 0:03:40so we did all our carbon dates on hazelnuts
0:03:40 > 0:03:43and they've allowed us to date the different phases of occupation
0:03:43 > 0:03:47- and how long the hut was occupied for.- So how long was it occupied?
0:03:47 > 0:03:50The hut was occupied for somewhere in the region of 200 years.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54Several generations - many lifetimes, in fact.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57And it's that that makes this house so special.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00The proof that it was occupied
0:04:00 > 0:04:02for over 200 years
0:04:02 > 0:04:05has forced people to revise their theories
0:04:05 > 0:04:08about our Stone Age ancestors 10,000 years ago.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Rather than being nomadic, as was previously believed,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15these people were building complex houses like this one
0:04:15 > 0:04:17and calling them home.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Subtitles by BBC Broadcast - 2005
0:04:25 > 0:04:28E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk