Butser Ancient Farm
Butser Ancient Farm seen from the reconstructed Roman villa
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 Location within Hampshire
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| Established | 1970 |
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| Location | Windmill Hill, Hampshire |
| Coordinates | 50°56′35″N 0°58′37″W / 50.943°N 0.977°WCoordinates: 50°56′35″N 0°58′37″W / 50.943°N 0.977°W |
| Type | Archaeological open-air museum |
| Website | Butser Ancient Farm |
Butser Ancient Farm is an archaeological open-air museum located near Petersfield in Hampshire, southern England. Containing reconstructions of late prehistoric buildings such as Iron Age roundhouses, it is used as both a tourist attraction and a site for the undertaking of experimental archaeology. In this latter capacity, it was designed so that archaeologists could learn more about the agricultural and domestic economy in Britain during the millennium that lasted from circa 400 BCE to 400 CE, in what was the Late British Iron Age and Romano-British periods.
Founded in 1970 by the Council for British Archaeology, in 1972 they recruited experimental archaeologist Peter J. Reynolds to run the site as project director. It was initially located on the site of an original Bronze and Iron Age farmstead on Butser Hill, but in 1989 was fully relocated to a site at Hillscombe Down before being moved, this time to Bascombe Copse on the slopes of Windmill Hill, in 1991.
The farm is open to the public and runs various events throughout the year. Prominent British archaeologist Mick Aston has commented that "Virtually all the reconstruction drawings of Iron Age settlements now to be seen in books are based" on the work at Butser Farm, and that it "revolutionised the way in which the pre-Roman Iron Age economy was perceived".
Butser Ancient Farm was founded in 1970 by the Council for British Archaeology and in 1972 they recruited experimental archaeologist Peter J. Reynolds (1939–2001) as director. The farm was named after its original site at Little Butser, a northerly spur of Butser Hill, a few kilometres from Petersfield in Hampshire. In the original Bronze and Iron Ages, a farmstead had been found on Little Butser, whose occupants had farmed the valley to the north and east.
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