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AAL: Winners of the Archaeological Training Forum Award!

This week we attended the CIfA Conference in Newcastle where we were proud to win the Archaeology Training Forum (ATF) award for the AAL Commerical Archaeology Trainee Scheme! It’s really fabulous to have everyone’s efforts in passing on their skills and knowledge recognised in this way and massive congratulations are due to our trainers and trainees alike!

AAL Senior Manager Natasha Powers collects our award (with congratulations to Worcester Archive and Archaeology Service for their highly commended)

We believe that knowledge and skills are best when shared and that a smaller company can provide a more diverse training experience. We also see it as our responsibility to provide a rounded set of experiences which staff can use to take their career in whichever direction they choose. I said in my acceptance speech (whilst facing a stuffed giraffe) that I hoped we showed that training doesn’t need to be rocket science, and the judges commended our straightforward and pragmatic approach. So what have we done that’s so special?

It’s short – The logic behind this is simple. When recruiting we ask for three months experience of UK commercial archaeology, so rather than relying on finding people who already have this, we offer three months with us to meet that criteria.

It’s affordable – It is important to us that our traineeships are accessible so they are fully paid. The wage enables people who are not in a financial position to volunteer on research excavations to apply for the role. Keeping the timescale short makes this an even more practical option. Overtime and subsistence allowances are available and, Trainees have free transport to and from site and free accommodation if they work away (as do the rest of our staff).

It’s diverse – Trainees are given experience of and support with all the tasks that a Project Archaeologist would do. At AAL this includes survey (GPS and/or TST), GIS and illustration skills, photography and assisting with geophysical survey as well as excavation and recording.

…and so are out trainees – Our trainees have been recent graduates, early career individuals from outside the UK and young people with a genuine interest and aptitude but who have not followed a traditional academic route.

We advertise on our website based on the company workload and, whenever we can we overlap the start of each traineeship with the end of the previous one.

Each trainee is given a written training plan which references CIfA training standards and templates and is linked to NOS. Following feedback from our staff last year, a key set of skills are also evaluated by each Project Supervisor at the end of each site. If a Trainee is not considered to have achieved the required level in skills at the end of the three months, their traineeship is extended and they are given a documented forward plan. In the two instances where traineeships were extended, both staff put in tremendous efforts following feedback and completed their traineeships shortly afterwards. Our aim is that on successful completion of the final review, the Trainee is awarded a permanent contract as Project Archaeologist.

Alice learning single context recording at Lincoln Transport Hub

Tae on a rural, Roman site

The positive and constructive feedback from our trainees shows the scheme works and is helping us to improve it further.

“I found my trainee programme very beneficial as I previously had no experience digging – either commercial or academic, so was a great opportunity to get into archaeology and be paid for it.”

“It gave me a proper view of what commercial archaeology really was and I didn’t feel like my lack of experience prevented me from going on any site or prevented any opportunities. The staff at Allen are all very friendly and helpful which made asking questions, help and generally becoming a part of the team so much easier.”

“I’m very grateful the trainee scheme exists as it allowed me to get into commercial archaeology when it might have otherwise been difficult”

“There was a balanced mix of office-based and site-based work that allowed me to develop excavation skills on small to large scale excavations, whilst learning how to make the transition from site material to post-excavation reporting smoother for all involved. All in all, my experience was really quite rounded. I enjoyed it immensely and it gave me the skills to feel confident to work at any site, or in the office”

Recent reports show a 5% drop in university applications, particularly from those aged 19–25 years. In a discipline that currently draws 95% of its staff base from universities, we hope that the this provides a working model for a non-traditional entry route. Supporting and mentoring the Trainees also contributes to staff development and is particularly valuable in enabling newly promoted Project Supervisors to hone their skills. Giving staff the chance to build on and share their experiences is vital (even if it is potentially a little scary for the Management Team) and our ‘AAL Xmas lectures’ ensure that we have at least one day a year when the whole team gets together.

Since March 2015, ten trainees have joined us: both recent graduates and those with no formal qualifications. All but one successfully completed their traineeship and five are currently permanent members of staff.

Merely a mirror? Reflections from a conservator

Guest blogger Rebecca Plumbe, University of Lincoln Masters student

Objects can be very deceptive. Like people, most of them have secrets which stay hidden until you start questioning them. As a conservator, I am a nosey parker by nature. If I could, I would sit an object down under a blinding spotlight and interrogate it with endless questions: How old are you? What are you? What are you made from? And what were you used for? But I suppose that’s what I do when I conserve an object. Inanimate material things will not tell you anything and it is their silence which is the conservator’s challenge. What can I find out about this object to further our shared understanding of its purpose and its history? For the past three months, I have spent my time doing just this with an intriguing archaeological find excavated by Allen Archaeology that arrived disguised in the form of another object. But how can an object be misleading? Well, pull up a chair at the interrogation table as I reveal my findings . . . .

The suspected medieval mirror before conservation treatment

The object in question resembled a Medieval mirror case and had been found on a site close to a deserted medieval village. These kinds of mirrors were believed to be carried by Pilgrims, who thought that catching the reflection of a Saint would imbibe the mirror with their attributes. Initial observations and comparisons with other mirror cases from the period on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database revealed some striking similarities such as the circular recessed shape and the traces of a reflective metal inlay.

An 11th to 12th century mirror case (from Hinds 2010)

But all was not what it seemed! Underneath the layers of corrosion product hid a very different object all together. And one that was at least 900 years younger than was first thought!

Placing the object into the X-ray chamber for analysis

Cleaning the object

Analysis using XRF (X-ray Fluorescence) determined that the object was composed of a metal alloy (brass) as both copper and zinc were identified, the thinner, shinier metal inlay was nickel. But the real surprise came during the mechanical removal of corrosion product from the surface. Slowly but surely, small incised markings began to appear upon the nickel inlay, followed by a distinct horse-shoe shape bearing the letters ‘B_E_ A_ U_ C_ O’ stamped onto the main brass body.

Small incised markings in the nickel inlay

Stamped horseshoe-shaped makers mark

Markings such as these act as clues and allow us to do a little detective work. Although the lettering around the horseshoe was partially lost, due to the effects of corrosion, there was enough evidence to tie it to a French watch-makers, Pierre, Fritz and Louis Japy who manufactured under the name of ‘Beaucourt’. Time had finally caught up with the object’s true identity!

Beaucourt was the French town in which Japy Fréres (Japy Brothers) pioneered the mechanisation of time-piece manufacture, bringing the watch making process under one roof for the first time. Although Japy Fréres started making watches in 1770, the stamp located on this casing dates to around 1890-1900. Japy Fréres prided themselves on making time-pieces for ‘the common man’, so this particular pocket watch could be purchased at a reasonable price. The smaller incised markings appear to refer to the date at which the pocket watch was once repaired. The pocket-watch was nickel plated, which explained the presence of these thinner metal remnants along the lip of the casing.

Conservators tool kit and the watch case after conservation

The conservator’s tool kit. Mechanical removal of the disfiguring corrosion layers was achieved to stabilise and uncover the surface of the watch casing

So my time spent with a scalpel, dental tool pick and microscope was time well spent, as was the case (quite literally!) with this archaeological find. With the metal now stabilised and the maker’s marks once again visible, it can tell its true story. I like to think of objects as suspects: question everything until you discover the truth. Despite being inanimate, they can still pack a surprise or two!

References

Antique Horology, undated),Trademarks, Stamps & Signatures, [online] Available from http://www.antique-horology.org/Trademarks/default.asp [Accessed 1 March 2017].

Artclock, 2017, Japy Freres: Biography, History + Markings, Year, [online] Available from http://www.artclock.nl/horloges-pagina-2-info/11-japy-freres-history-marking-year-11a-kopie [Accessed 1 March 2017]

Artclock, 2017, Japy Freres: History + Mark, Year, Design Index, [online] Available from http://www.artclock.nl/11-japy-freres [Accessed 1 March 2017]

Hinds, K, 2010, WILT-F04EB6: A MEDIEVAL MIRROR CASE. [online] Available from https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/384545 [Accessed 17 Feb 2017].

Stephen-Smith, M, 2006, The Emergence of Modern Business Enterprise in France, 1800-1930. 1^st edition, USA: Harvard University Press

A Pietá from Lincoln

We have recently seen the return to our offices of a lovely piece of sculpture that we found in uphill Lincoln. This sculpture is a Pietá, a devotional depiction of the Virgin Mary holding the body of Christ after the crucifixion. The Pietá is one of the three main depictions of the Virgin Mary in art, the other two being Mater Dolorosa (Mother of Sorrows) and Stabat Mater (Standing Mother). This form of artwork originated in 13th Century Germany before spreading to France, Italy and Central Europe. Many early wooden examples emphases the wounds Christ suffered on the Cross, whereas the later stone sculptures carved outside Germany focus more on the purity of the Virgin rather than on their suffering. Probably the most famous Pietá was carved by Michelangelo and now rests in St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City. It is the only artwork that he ever signed, allegedly due because he had overhead people attributing it to his competitor Cristoforo Solari.

The Pieta shows signs of having been deliberately damaged during the Reformation

We found this Pietá during the construction of new buildings for Lincoln’s University Technical College (UTC) back in 2014. It is more than half a metre wide and, when complete, would have stood nearly a metre tall. Similarity to other examples from France, suggests that it may have been made in the mid-15th century. It was probably originally placed on the outside of a building, over a portal but had been reused in a retaining wall, the plain parts facing outwards, hiding its true form.

The sculpture is largely intact but the heads and feet of both Christ and Mary are missing (as are their right hands and Christ’s left shoulder and right knee). The missing heads and the reuse of the statue as building material indicate that it was probably defaced during the Reformation of the 16th Century. Icons of Christ and the saints were present in all Catholic churches but the new Protestant faith saw them as worship of false gods. Excavations on the church neighbouring Lincoln Cathedral, St Peter-in-the-Bail, found evidence of iconoclastic destruction from this period. The heads and hands of saints, both in sculpture and in paintings, were the main targets during this religious vandalism. C. Pamela Graves suggests this was done to remove any power from the saints personification and as a test of the idol and its supposed sainthood. For example when a statue of St Katherine was thrown into a fire, it not burn and by it burning it proved the idol was a sham. There is also a tale from the Old Testament about an image of the Assyrian deity Dagon who was struck down by God by having his head and hands cut off. Removing the head and heads of an idol also mirrored the punishment that was inflicted on heretics.

References:

Graves, C P, 2008, ‘From an archaeology of iconoclasm to an anthropology of the body : images, punishment and personhood in England, 1500-1660’, Current Anthropology, 49 (1), 35-57

The Rt Revd Lord Harries, 2015, ‘The Pieta in Art’, [Transcript] https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-pieta-in-art

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Christmas, such a festive time of the year for all to celebrate in their own little ways, making, breaking and faking tradition for gifts and toys. Fee knows it best, getting up on her feet and telling the rest, “shut up with the 12 days of Christmas it’s not yet even December“. In fact a favourite of mine the 12 days of Christmas (you know the one where we get 364 gifts for free) has some special meanings. For me let’s look at the partridge in a pear tree.

In Christian tradition the song begins as follows (sing along in your head, you can’t stop it now ha)
“O the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me, a partridge in a pear tree” in which the true love refers to yours truly, no? Fine, he actually represents God himself, the partridge in the pear tree (who really wants a pear tree? apples are where it’s at) symbolizing the sacrifice of Jesus to protect his followers, just as a mother partridge feigns injury to protect her young, by giving herself up, leaving her young to fend for themselves, grow independent, create an empire, betray one another etc etc (by the way statistically, sacrifice is a poor personal choice).

In truth, the Christian meaning and explanations for the song are a lie, but non the less helpful for those who are actually faithful. More accurately the song and the partridge in a pear tree is a mis-translation of an 18/19th century child’s lyrical game (sing a line wrong and you’re out, similar to adult drinking games where you sing a line incorrectly and you have to drink, dare I say ideas anyone?). Really the partridge in a pear tree is probably just a partidge in a tree with the pear bit translated on at some point.

Renditions of the song and the first gift have also changed through time, for example in Frank Sinatra’s version he substitutes the partridge and tree for a purple tie, and a radio version of the song by Bob Rivers replaces gifts for “annoying things to do during Christmas” in which the partridge in a pear tree is replaced by another, taller slightly piney / pokey tree.

Richard’s archaeological Partridge in a Pear Tree

As an archaeologist, My interpretation of the song is displayed in the picture, *partridge* (well we tried) bones on a high viz jacket that somehow kind of looks like a tree, with an actual steak of wood (probably a little sister or brother of an actual tree) being used as a tree. And one day it will end up in a book with some sort of meaning that I won’t be so sure about.

Honestly people on the first day of Christmas all I want is Alan Partridge and a cup of tea please.

Feature image recreated from Xavier Romero-Frias https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:XRF_12days.jpg under CC license

Islamic Palaces 1 – The Alhambra Royal Workshops Project

Over the past 6 months I have been working with universities in the south of Spain to investigate workshops and production areas within medieval Islamic palaces. This, the first of two blogs, will focus on trips taken earlier this summer to the Alhambra in Granada.

Arabesque and tiles

For those of you unfamiliar with the site, the Alhambra is a large palace and fortress complex situated on a promontory at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, overlooking Granada. It was constructed in the 13^th century AD during the Nasrid dynasty, a late Muslim dynasty in the south of Spain, and the palace is best known for its highly ornate arabesque reliefs, glazed tiles, pottery, glass and of course the beautiful gardens; and it was these gardens that had attracted the attention of academics from the Universities of Bournemouth, Newcastle and Granada. The question they were all asking – where exactly were the tiles, pottery and glass produced when the site was initially constructed?

The current gardens are a relatively modern addition and much reconstruction work of existing structures had been done to tidy its appearance; however, upon closer inspection some of these structures formed ‘keyhole’ shapes in plan, typical of kilns or furnaces.

Keyhole kiln

Prof Kate Welham and Dr Derek Pitman from Bournemouth University took the lead in May, undertaking a non-invasive survey of an area of garden using a whole suite of geophysical techniques (fluxgate gradiometer, electromagnetic survey, magnetic susceptibility and ground penetrating radar (GPR)), plus portable X-ray fluorescence (p-XRF). This approach was taken because of the likely nature of deposits beneath the surface – the site had been occupied by Napoleon’s forces during the Peninsular War, but upon his retreat significant parts of the fortress were destroyed including, most probably, the area of garden under survey. As little or no archaeological work had been carried out before, no one knew quite what to expect.

Surveying

Now, my first piece of archaeological fieldwork took place in 2000, and I’ve been in and out of the field ever since, but until this moment I’d never performed a geophysical survey. I’d always been that guy who can dig and, in more recent years, the GIS geek, often working with geophysical data but never collecting it. So just to prove to everyone that it did actually happen I got someone to capture the moment…

Using GPR at the Alhambra

I’m afraid I’m not able to reproduce the results in this blog, but I can say that several areas indicated the presence of high temperature activities. These results informed the implementation of an excavation strategy, and a couple of months later, two trenches were opened to investigate various magnetic enhancements recorded during the geophysical survey. These were directed by Dr Chloe Duckworth from Newcastle University and Dr Alberto Garcia Porras from University of Granada, and I was invited along to survey their findings and introduced them to the use of SfM to reconstruct a 3-dimensional image of each trench.

A trench being excavated

It was their first digging field season and the main priority was to take the topsoil off and map the uppermost deposits and any structural remains. Once this had been achieved it became increasingly apparent that the site was more complex than first thought. It had been occupied on and off for the past 800 years and many of the remains date to later activity, including the modern reconstructions which now mask the true nature of the kilns.

I hope to return in 2017 when these remains can be investigated fully and the full extent of production within the Alhambra is likely to reveal itself.

The Archaeological Toolbox

An Archaeologists toolbox

We all know that archaeologists own at least one trowel.

But there’s more to it than that, a menagerie of tools and pieces of equipment that are integral additions to the ‘tools of the trade’. But what makes up the elusive archeologist’s kit?

To start with the obvious; trowels, they are the universal (yet unofficial) symbol of Archaeology. A necessary part of the toolkit, and almost every archaeologist will own whether it gets used on a daily or yearly basis. I’ve spoken to people about their first trowel and they can always remember what happened if it is no longer with them. Fee fondly reminiscing about hers, which is likely now buried underneath concrete and tarmac from her first University Dig, and I can say that my first is still with me – gifted by my very proud grandparents.

Cat’s clearly identified, if rarely used, trowel

Gloves of both the waterproof and thermal kind are two things that are underestimated fairly frequently. General waterproof gloves that are necessary for health and safety, but thermal gloves are pieces of equipment that I admit that I have forgotten many times and consequently suffered…

Finds bags are a staple. While they’re provided by the company, they disappear fairly quickly and it’s a good idea to have a stash of them by your side when you carefully excavate that fantastic piece of Roman jewelry no one else noticed, or when the site’s storage is at a distance from where you are working.

Two that tie together (haha) are lines of string and nails. These two are important for creating section lines, creating plans, marking GPS points for small find locations, and bartering. For future reference, a nail is worth 5 biscuits or an extra cup of tea…

A notebook isn’t absolutely essential, but it’s highly recommended… Not just to track how many nails you’ve traded for other supplies, but to mark down important numbers and information that you’ll need while on site. If you’re digging a pit you’ll need to remember two numbers just for the cut and fill, and photo numbers & GPS points are also necessary for future reference. If one of your colleagues asks who dug a certain pit number, if you can’t remember if it was you or not… you’re able to go back and look. Unluckily, if it was excavated wrong, there’s proof that it was you. On the contrary, if it was you who’d dug it and found something amazing, like the Roman jewelry mentioned before, you can prove that it was yourself that first cast eyes upon the artefact.

A well organised pencil case is essential

A pencil case is also recommended. From drawing plans to writing on finds bags, a sharpie and sharpened pencil are important. Aside from the obvious, things like scale rulers and erasers and pencil sharpeners, pencils are somewhat different. They shouldn’t be HB. These pencils will smudge and blur on the permatrace, a bit like waterproof tracing paper, that is used for plans and section drawings, and as a result of this, 6H pencils are recommended to reduce this smudging.

Tape measures are, in essence, similar to the string and nails. They’re used to measure for planning, to map out the location and size of the feature, and for your unsuspecting colleagues to trip over. Surveyor tape, I should add, is also good for measuring as tape measures may not be the right length or maneuverable enough for general archaeological use. Clips of varying types are recommended to attach it to objects, to create a reliable measuring line for your plans and/or sections.

All sorts of strategy’s are employed to clearly identify kit

Line levels are important for when you start to plan the section of your feature. When drawing plans a straight line is needed as a base line for whatever you are drawing, and the line level would be used to make sure your string line is straight for finally drawing it out. Note that these are small and easily lost, and as a result your colleagues will ask to borrow them from you… and maybe give them back.

Finally I’ll be blunt – duplicates of everything. Archeologists enjoy ‘borrowing’ from each other for indeterminate amounts of time, and I think I can safely say that we’re all guilty of this…
In all seriousness, I started my traineeship with an entire tin of nails.

In conclusion, an archaeologist’s kit is varied and an amalgamation of tools that are the core essentials of any excavation and sometimes, they might even be the part of the original set that you bought.

Lest we forget

Lubenham Hill Guided Tours

Over the last couple of months we have had staff working on an excavation at Lubenham Hill, Market Harborough, in advance of a residential development by Linden Homes. On Thursday 28th July 2016 we are opening the site to three guided tours at 10am, 12 noon and 2pm. More information about the project can be found here.

There is no parking on site and therefore access is strictly from the footpath that runs through the site from ‘The Pastures’ on Brookfield Road.

Site access for visitors

Diving into the world of archaeological geophysics

I initially wrote to Allen Archaeology to see if I could gain experience of geophysical surveys in a commercial environment: the equipment used, data analysis and how this relates to the archaeology of the site. I am a geophysics student at University of Southampton, I don’t specifically study archaeology unless chosen as a specialism, but Allen Archaeology kindly offered me a month long volunteer placement. When I started I didn’t know much about archaeology at all; how the two fields of study were related was something I was very keen to learn!

Doing a magnetometry survey

I was immediately put onto a project with the Geophysics Project Officer, Rob Evershed. We were to use magnetometry to survey the subsurface of the Lincolnshire countryside and detect any potential archaeological sites. The survey techniques themselves were very similar to the geophysics I had completed on field trips at university: marking out the survey grids before walking a magnetometer over the ground. The only difference was the equipment had a much higher resolution and is far more expensive to run.

The data analysis on the other hand was completely new. The results were produced in a program called Terrasurveyor and were completely different from magnetometer results I had previously seen. Instead of looking for geological structures as I have done at university, we wanted to find archaeological sites. Rob was great at pointing out distinguishing features in our data and explaining their significance; such as land drains, old roads and other details which would have been inconsequential to someone untrained in archaeological geophysics. Rob taught me how background research into the area and georeferencing of old maps onto modern ones could reconcile anomalous geophysical results with archaeological evidence.

Rob showing me how to process the data

When I haven’t been out in the field I have been able to help out around the office; completing small tasks on QGIS, washing artefacts and trying to piece together a Roman tablet. I’ve had the chance to explore the archives and learnt a lot about the differences in pottery from various periods; I also had the shocking experience (for a non-archaeologist) of coming face to face with a skull!

During my time with Allen Archaeology, I have become more confident in the use of magnetometers and GPS with geophysical surveys and developed my knowledge of computer programs such as QGIS and Terrasurveyor. I have learnt how to interpret geophysical surveys and use them to find archaeological remains; and most importantly through Rob’s instruction, I have learnt how to compare the archaeological evidence (e.g. pottery) in a field with the geophysical data collected and been able to draw conclusions about the history of the area based on all the evidence. I have enjoyed my experience with AAL a lot and when I return to university in September, I am definitely going pick a couple of archaeology modules to compliment my geophysics studies.