Tag Archives: archaeology

Weekly Round-up

Following on from yesterday’s ‘Ask and Archaeologist’ day we thought we’d do a little office round up to give you an insight into what our staff have been working on this week!

Our Finds and Archive Department have been busy this week preparing finds for archive deposition and preparing material to go off to the relevant specialists. We have also had a number of volunteers come to work with us from the University of Lincoln over the past month and this week we welcomed Roksana and Louise who have been washing various finds from some of our recent sites and marking the pottery ready for archive deposition.

Roksana and Louise marking some pottery from a recent site

The head of our geophysics team, Rob, has been doing some digitisation for a large linear infrastructure site in Lincolnshire as well as doing a watching brief in a small village just outside Lincoln. Mia, one of our Project Supervisors, has been busy working on some building recording reports for a range of sites in Lancashire and Cambridgeshire.

Rob of our Geophysics team looking very studious!

The Heritage Research Team (affectionately known as Heritage HQ) have been working on a variety of desk-based assessments for sites in Nottinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, and Lancashire. Heritage team member Harvey has been out visiting sites in Cambridgeshire and Nottinghamshire and has discovered some interesting cropmarks just outside of the Cambridgeshire Archives at Shire Hall which relate to the site of the old county prison. He thought it might have been a Roman building associated with a known Roman settlement to the north. Better luck with your interpretation next time Harvey, it happens to the best of us! Thanks to the effect of the hot weather on the ground, a lot of cropmarks have now become clearly visible across the UK.

Possible cropmarks visible outside of the Cambridgeshire Archives

And of course, our field teams have been busy across the country! With sites in Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire (amongst others!) our field archaeologists have been working hard to excavate and record an array of archaeological features. We’ve also had some great finds from our sites this week, including some complete Roman vessels from a site in Lincolnshire!

Our field team having fun on site in Leicestershire

So it has been a busy week for us all here at Allen Archaeology and with the food festival coming to Lincoln this weekend I’m sure a few of our staff will be visiting!

Best Site Hut Biscuit with Hazel

Introducing Hazel Taylor, Trainee Project Archaeologist

What is your job role?

Trainee Project Archaeologist

How long have you worked for Allen Archaeology?

6 weeks

How would describe your excavation technique?

I try to find an edge and work from there… although my sections definitely need work!

How long have you been working in archaeology?

6 weeks but I did two training excavations with my university whilst studying for my degree in History and Archaeology

How did you get into archaeology?

By watching a lot of TimeTeam and visiting Pompeii and Herculaneum as part of a Latin trip when I was at school

What is the best thing about your job?

Learning lots of different skills like using GIS

Specialist skills?

Being able to get mud all over my face and arms without even knowing how it got there…

Best site hut biscuit?

It’s hard to choose between a chocolate bourbon or a fruit shortcake!

Mental Health Awareness

By Craig Huddart, Senior Project Officer

The taboos surrounding mental health finally seem to be lifting but it is still a sensitive and deeply personal issue that people aren’t always comfortable about airing or even ‘admitting’ to. People can struggle with mental health issues on a daily basis or it can pop up out of nowhere and take you by surprise, manifesting in many different ways. With one in four people in the UK suffering from a mental health disorder, having an understanding employer and a network of sympathetic colleagues and friends can literally be lifesaving. Although big steps have been taken in the last few years, further measures can and should be taken to help people suffering with mental health disorders.

Mental health disorders appear to be particularly prevalent within archaeology and, as a large proportion of archaeologists are on fixed term and short-term contracts, they often slip through the cracks and don’t get the help that they need. There needs to be a major attitude shift within the industry and employers need to start recognising employees (temporary or not) as just that, employees. Having suffered with depression myself, I’m writing as someone who has had rather mixed experiences within archaeology, but on the whole I was lucky enough for my symptoms to be recognised for what they were and I was given help, understanding and time to be in a more ‘comfortable’ frame of mind.

I feel that staff with any type of supervisory responsibility, who manage people in the office, in the field or remotely, should be given some basic form of training to enable them to recognise certain signs, to be able to have a conversation with someone suffering from mental health issues and to know how obtain the relevant help. This kind of help can be genuinely lifesaving, so let’s try and make a change in someone’s life and be seen as a considerate profession. You never know, one day that person needing help could be you.

Here at Allen Archaeology we are trying to ‘buck the trend’ and make a tangible and positive difference in the lives of our staff. We have started the process of sending supervisors on Mental Health Awareness First Aid courses and arranging bespoke in-house training of all staff, hopefully within the next twelve months. Additionally, all staff (and in particular supervisors) are made aware of existing mental health guidance and are actively encouraged to be on the alert for any tell-tale signs amongst friends and colleagues. We understand that a happy and healthy team is the key to successfully moving forwards.

Find of the Month, June – Roman graffiti and stamped pottery

Written by Cova Escandon (Project Supervisor, Archives)

This month has brought us some very lovely finds including some stamped pottery and roman graffiti from a site in Staffordshire!

Graffiti was common in Roman times and was probably considered a type of self-expression. In Pompeii, more than eleven thousand examples have been unearthed. The graffiti covered all sorts of subjects, from mockery, poems, love declarations, puns, political propaganda, advertising for rent, and prostitutes… even announcements like a reward for returning a copper pot stolen from a shop! There are also numerous examples of what seems to be people practising alphabet letters or sentences in order to learn to write or improve their skills, a sensible idea considering paper was very expensive, and walls were free!

As well as graffiti, pottery was sometimes marked with a stamp. This was sometimes done as the pottery was loaded into the kiln, often as they were of communal use. Since the work was standardized and stylistically homogeneous, a record was kept of the number of ceramics loaded into the kiln. This could also be recorded on a plate baked with the rest of pottery. It is also possible that the ceramicist wanted to sign their work. Here are a few examples of stamped mortaria and stamped samian ware, recently excavated from a site in Staffordshire. The stamp on the mortarium sherd is an example of the work of the potter Brucius or Bruccius who is believed to have been based at Brockley Hill during the period AD 80-100 (Fiske 2018). It can be closely paralleled with an example from Gorse Stacks in Chester (Cuttler et al 2012, Fig. 2.22.61; M2).

The samian ware stamp is believed to read ‘AVSTRIM’.

Stamped mortaria from a site in Staffordshire

Stamped samain ware an excavation in Staffordshire

Stamped samian ware from a site in Staffordshire

In graffiti, the inscription was made by scratching into the wet clay with a pointed tool. It is written in Roman Cursive Script, the everyday form of handwriting. It would be used by merchants keeping business records, children learning to write, and quick informal text. It was most commonly used between the 1^st Century BC and the 3^rd Century AD and was often used to provide a description of the contents of the pot!

We think it possibly reads as ‘ulvia’ – what are you interpretations?

Roman amphora with grafito inscription from a site in Staffordshire

Many thanks to H. G. Fiske for providing a written interpretation of the stamped mortarium sherd (Fiske 2018).

Cuttler, R., Hepburn, S., Hewitson, C. and Krawiec, K., 2012, Gorse Stacks – 2000 Years of Quarrying and Waste Disposal in Chester, BAR British Series 563, Birmingham Archaeology Series No. 13

An introduction to finds processing and conservation

By Lucie (Volunteer from the University of Lincoln)

I’m currently studying for a degree in Conservation of Cultural Heritage at the University of Lincoln and have just finished my second year. As part of the course I have to do a six week work placement to gain some experience of working in the world of conservation, and as I hope to specialise in archaeological conservation when I graduate, I chose to come to Allen Archaeology. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to not only see how a commercial archaeology company works but also to get some hands-on experience.

I’ve been working in the finds department, processing the finds which involves cleaning bags and bags of objects that have come from the various sites that the company are excavating. So far this has mostly comprised sherds of pottery and animal bones along with a few iron nails and pieces of ceramic building material (CBM). Once the finds are clean and dry they are marked and repackaged in labelled bags ready to be archived.

However, it’s not all been bits of broken pottery. I was lucky enough to be given a large Iron Age bowl to work on that had been excavated from one of the sites and was still encased in the clay soil from which it had come from. I carefully removed the soil layer by layer using various tools from my conservation tool kit to ensure there was nothing else within the soil and also to ensure that I didn’t cause any damage.

Conservation of the Iron Age pot in progress

Details of the ‘slash-ware’ start to emerge!

Once as much of the soil as possible had been removed and the pot had had a chance to dry out a little I washed the remaining soil off it using a toothbrush and left it to dry thoroughly. After it had been cleaned there was a pattern visible on the outer surface which is apparently called slash-ware because it looks like it has been slashed. To be one of the first people to see it since it went into the ground is a real thrill and for me, part of the excitement of working with archaeological finds.

Pottery sherds after conservation

I’m really enjoying my time here, getting to be hands on with the finds is great and to be given objects that are thousands of years old to clean is a dream come true for me as this is a job I have wanted to do since I was young.

Best site hut biscuit with Ben

Introducing Ben Lang, Trainee Project Archaeologist

What is your job role?

Trainee Archaeologist

How long have you worked for Allen Archaeology?

2 ½ weeks

How would describe your excavation technique?

Methodical clearing of half the feature in question, followed by measuring and recording the feature.

How long have you been working in archaeology?

One-year commercial work plus I have volunteered on university lead excavations as early as 2011 when I was still doing my BSc (Hons) Archaeology degree.

How did you get into archaeology?

I first started Archaeology as one of my A levels in 2008 before doing a BSc (Hons) Archaeology degree while also volunteering with university lead project abroad. I also had prior experience doing volunteer work with an archaeologist friend in Switzerland helping to reconstruct metal smelting kilns and techniques from his excavation in Cyprus.

What is the best thing about your job?

All the experience I’m learning

Specialist skills?

3D laser scanning, good with computers

Best site hut biscuit?

Chocolate digestives

Why do we examine pottery?

By Alice Beasley, Project Archaeologist

Pottery is one of the most frequently found artefacts and it is used to determine the date, status and use of a site. Today I have chosen to write about 3 ceramic vessels found within graves from a site to the south of Lincoln to illustrate how artefacts both clarify and confuse the process of determining date. The excavated part of the cemetery consisted of 23 individuals buried in a variety of directions and positions but in rough rows expected of a cemetery. Other features uncovered included pits, ditches and pottery kilns dating from the 2^nd century AD and a large quarry pit with 4^th century AD finds. These vessels were the only ceramic grave goods and will be used to date the burials more accurately than the stratigraphy would allow because most of the graves are discrete features – they do not cut into nor are they disturbed by other features on site.

Pottery vessels found in graves from a site to the south of Lincoln

The first vessel has been painted with a cream slip in a double zig zag over a dark brown colour coat. It is a pear-shaped beaker very similar to vessels produced in the Nene Valley in the 4th century. Interestingly this pot has no rim. “Ritual killing” of vessels is when a pot is broken or pierced in such a way that its original function is removed. Beakers are presumed to be drinking vessels so by removing the rim it’s function has been taken away. The break is very jagged and fresh suggesting that it occurred around the time of burial.

The second vessel is also a colour coated beaker, again produced in the 4^th century. It is known as a slit folded beaker, about half of this vessel is missing and there are no signs of the purposeful damage seen on the first vessel as the breaks show signs of wear. Another example of this type of pot was found in Lincoln in a rubbish dump at The Park (Darling 1988, fig 39, 437).

These two vessels would lead us to believe the burials are of a 4^th century date, which stratigraphically makes sense assuming that all the bodies were buried within a short period of time as a small number of them cut into earlier ditches.

The third vessel is a complete carinated bowl in a local greyware fabric. This type of vessel is fairly common in Lincoln during the mid to late 2^nd century. Affectionately named the B334 this vessel is known to have been produced in Roxby, Newton-on-Trent and Market Rasen and presumably other locations that are yet to be identified (Darling et al. 2014, 136). The beakers suggest the graves are much later than the rest of the activity on site but the bowl suggests a contemporary date. Was the pot buried soon after it had been used? Has it been kept for over 100 years to later be buried with someone? Is this an earlier grave associated with the other features on site? The pot has been used, there is some damage to the rim that has been worn smooth over time so it is possible it was an heirloom, especially as the grave cut aligns with the rest in the row which would suggest it was of a similar date to the other two graves.

The production dates of these pots will be used in conjunction with the archaeological and osteological (skeleton) information, so the final interpretation is not reliant on these three vessels alone, but understanding them it goes a long way to help us tell their story.

References:

Darling, M J, 1988, The pottery in Darling, M J and Jones M J (ed), 9-37; 46-50

Darling M J and Precious B, 2014, A corpus of roman pottery from Lincoln, Lincoln archaeological studies 6, Oxford: Oxbow

Jones, M J (ed.), 1999, The defences of the lower city, excavations at the Park and West Parade 1970-2 and a discussion of other sites excavated up to 1994, The Archaeology of Lincoln, 7-2, York: CBA res rep, 114

Earthworks – deserted medieval villages (DMV)

By Isobel Curwen, Trainee Heritage Research Supervisor

Here in the Heritage Research team we’ve had a few sites recently which we’ve been getting very excited about, because they are located in areas with extensive earthworks and cropmarks. Earthwork remains usually means there are earthen banks, ditches, low walls and perhaps building platforms. These can either be upstanding archaeological remains or show up as features beneath the surface often visible because of variations in crop growth – commonly referred to as cropmarks.

Remains of a deserted medieval village in rural Lincolnshire

Remains of deserted medieval villages in rural Lincolnshire

Some of the earliest cropmarks we see date to the prehistoric period (think hill forts, barrows and henges) but some are much later and tell us about the medieval landscape in the form of ridge and furrow, mottes and deserted medieval villages (DMV). In previous blog posts we have looked at ridge and furrow and we’re now going to explore their counterpart, the deserted medieval village.

Many medieval settlements in midland Britain were first established in the 9^th and 10^th centuries. They often contained burgage plots, set back from the main road with a back lane linking them and a church and a manor house contained within larger plots at the end of the village (Stamper 2011). In the Middle Ages some settlements were abandoned because of the Black Death (1348-49), warfare and famine but also due to clearance to provide space to graze more profitable sheep. Some were abandoned due to the deliberate actions of their lords (White 2012), and the natural progression of the settlements saw that they contracted, expanded and gradually shifted, following regional and local trends of change and continuity (Stamper 2011).

Today, the remains of these medieval settlements can be recognised from the patterns of roughly rectangular tofts, sometimes with building platforms which are raised and enclose banks and ditches, and by holloways – worn down tracks that pass between the house platforms.

So with the summer fast approaching keep your eyes peeled for any unusual looking lumps and bumps in the landscape and you may find yourself walking within what used to be a medieval village!

Stamper. P, 2011, Medieval Settlements, Historic England Introduction to Heritage Assets

White. G. J, 2011, The landscape of rural settlement, In The Medieval English Landscape (1000-1540, London: Bloomsbury, 55-99

Our digital era

By Isobel Curwen (Heritage Research Team)

For centuries we have been leaving a written record of our daily lives and when we find evidence of this it is very exciting. Recent excavations in London uncovered a significant collection of Roman waxed writing tablets, some of the earliest hand-written documents found in Britain (for more information visit the MOLA website), and we have even earlier records such as prehistoric cave art and runic writing systems.

Our Finds team are currently analysing some stamped Roman pottery found in Lincolnshire. Mortaria and Samian ware are the most common pottery types to be stamped, although other types of Roman pottery were occasionally stamped too. The stamp could be a name or a word, or sometimes a symbol, possibly suggesting that the potter was illiterate (Read our blog post by Alice for some examples of stamped pottery found in Lincoln). In order to create the impression on the pot, the stamp had to be created in relief and in reverse which requires considerable skill (see how quickly you can spell your own name backwards!).

Stamped mortaria found from Lincoln - see the range of potters marks from symbols to words

Stamped Mortaria found from Lincoln – see the range of potters markings including both symbols and words

Roman grey ware pot base with a pot firing ‘X’ graffito that has been trimmed to form a disc or counter (Photo Credit Hugh Fiske/Ian Rowlandson)

These lovely sherds of stamped pottery have survived for thousands of years and this got us thinking. In today’s digital world what record will we leave of our own lives? Handwritten letters have been replaced by emails and text messages. Digital mapping and GPS render paper maps obsolete, used only when technology fails us or when there is a lack of signal. In our on-site recording of archaeological sites we use a combination of physical and digital recording techniques. With recent advances in archaeological practice suggesting and implementing systems for entirely paperless recording systems (Roosevelt et al. 2015) we are heading in the direction of an almost entirely digital historic record.

It looks like the record we leave about our lives will be less tangible and physical than that of our predecessors. Read the following article for more information on our digital footprints.

Christopher H. Roosevelt, Peter Cobb, Emanuel Moss, Brandon R. Olson &
Sinan Ünlüsoy (2015) Excavation is Destruction Digitization: Advances in Archaeological Practice,
Journal of Field Archaeology, 40:3, 325-346