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Roman bath building in Trier, in southern Germany, about 300 AD

Iron Age buildings: a Roman bath building in Trier, in southern Germany, about 300 AD

Roman buildings in northern Europe

By the time of the Roman Empire, about 1 AD, many people in Northern Europe were living under Roman rule, and their buildings began to look more and more like Roman buildings from other parts of the Roman Empire. At Trier, for example, the Roman army built a stone bridge over the Mosel river, a large bath building, a fort, and a basilica. Even outside the area held by Rome, people began to build stone buildings in the Roman style.

What’s a basilica?
More Roman architecture
Bronze Age buildings in Europe
Iron Age art in Europe
Iron Age Northern Europe
All our Northern Europe articles

Saxon house from Tofting on the North Sea, about 300 AD

Iron Age houses in Europe

But most people still lived in rectangular wooden houses. A normal Saxon house from Tofting on the North Sea from about 300 AD has two rows of wooden posts running down the middle to hold up the roof. The outer walls are still of wattle and daub. One end of the longhouse was for people to live in, and the other end was often for the cows and sheep and pigs.

History of houses
Where do pigs come from?
Iron Age timeline

Learn by doing: what do people build houses out of near you? Are most houses wood or stone or brick? Walk around and see.
Medieval German architecture

Bibliography and further reading about Northern European buildings:

More about Northern Europe
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