Tag Archives: commercial archaeology

Best site hut biscuit with Rachel

Rachel with her beautifully excavated kiln

What is your job role?
Project Archaeologist

How long have you worked for Allen Archaeology?
One year and four months

How would describe your excavation technique?
I used to be very meticulous and it would take me ages to find the edges, now I’m much better with a shovel. So I’d go with fast and furious!

How long have you been working in archaeology?
I had one commercial job before this so it’s coming up to just over two years now

How did you get into archaeology?
One of my teachers at school used to be an archaeologist and I was inspired by the practical side of archaeology, rather than just the bookish nature of history. Having said that I enjoy the multidisciplinary nature of archaeology- there’s a lot to be said for the helpful nature of oral history, as I found out on a site a few weeks ago, when I found house foundations which were missing from the map I had but one of the construction workers had handily lived there a few decades before!

What is the best thing about your job?
It’s hard to pick just one thing, I suppose the initial attraction of the job was the chance of finding something spectacular. I’ve already had some amazing finds, including a Mesolithic flint axe on my first ever commercial site. But I’ve come to realise that I really enjoy learning more about the ordinary people who lived in the settlements that we tend to excavate fully. Seeing how the ditches and pits were a part of living landscape makes me feel like our job is worthwhile.

I also enjoy training people and seeing how even after a couple of days the progress they make; that’s another part of the job I really enjoy.

Specialist skills?
Speedy shovelling and I’m quite good at excavating kilns. I developed these skills working on a site in Norfolk, when I excavated a large percentage of the examples we found!

Best site hut biscuit?
Chocolate hobnobs – you can dunk them in tea/coffee but they’re still satisfying as a speedy snack before heading back out on site!

Find of the month: August

It’s been a busy month at AAL with people off working all over the place. However, find of the month comes from a site worked on in 2015 and came to Cat and Yvonne’s attention while they were packing it up for sending to the museum.

I was working on a site in the center of Lincoln; near the river. It was a bright but cold day in February and half of our trench was partially filled with water. To avoid missing anything significant I was metal detecting the base of a partially excavated trench; as we knew we wouldn’t be able to excavate any further under these conditions.

The metal detector went BEEEEEEEEEEEEP; this was a full signal, implying that it was a strong signal; usually associated with a metal alloy. I used a little ruff neck spade to excavate the hole, and because of the water had to scoop out handfuls of sand; running them under the detector. The metal detector went off and I realised I was holding something round and metallic; a lead token.

One side of the token

The other side of the token

I gave it a further rinse, and recognised immediately what it was. I’ve found quite a few of these in the past, but this one was a bit more special; it is very good condition with markings on both sides. Tokens like this were used between the 16th and early 19th century. This one has likely been cast in a mold, rather than clipped. The specialist (Mike) believes it
might be a Powell Type 3 which would be of 18th century date (Powell 2012).

It was probably either a gaming piece, or it was token used instead of currency when money was scarce.

It’s a nice find because it indicates the use of the area during that period, further it was recovered from a medieval context suggesting that it was intrusive. The preservation of the piece and having markings both side makes it particularly special; and one of my favorites!

Powell, D. 2012 ‘The 18th century Sophistication of the Stock Design‘ Lead Token Telegraph Issue 86.

Best site hut biscuit with Tae

Recording onsite at Market Harborough

What is your job role?
Trainee Project Archaeologist

How long have you worked for Allen Archaeology?
On and off over the last six months. I started my formal traineeship in June 2016.

How would describe your excavation technique?
Detailed and meticulous

How long have you been working in archaeology?
About six months

How did you get into archaeology?
Chris Casswell is a family friend (and told me the biscuits were good). I then applied for a traineeship.

What is the best thing about your job?
Solving ancient puzzles.

Specialist skills?
I make a pretty good cuppa.

Best site hut biscuit?
The gingernut

Calke Abbey Live Archaeology 2016

Over the last weekend a few members of the Allen Archaeology Team (including the eponymous Mr. Allen himself) volunteered their services to excavate at the nearby National Trust Property of Calke Abbey in Derbyshire, as part of Calke Abbey Live Archaeology weekend 2016. The dig was organised by the National Trust and headed up by their archaeologist, Rachael Hall (check her out on Twitter she’s great!), along with a host of eager volunteers from the property and from the Calke Abbey Family Archaeologist group.

Saturday began with “the professionals” setting out and de-turfing the areas for investigation, Trench 1 which was located to the front of the house in the lawn, and Trench 2 which was located to the northeast of the house and was targeted on some fragments of masonry that had been revealed during earlier groundworks in the area. It became obvious fairly quickly that it was not going to be easy digging in Trench 1; but Trench 2 looked promising, with more fragments of brick already popping up and a small gaggle of Young Archaeologists (and Big archaeologists!) excited to see what was going to happen.

The sun was shining and there was archaeology to uncover!

A slow start in Trench 1; There was no escaping the sunshine and the ground was so concreted that even the most enthusiastic and energetic volunteers were struggling to break ground!

It became clear almost immediately that Trench 2 contained some interesting archaeological remains, and very quickly the fragments of bricks that had prompted our investigations turned into a wall with a very awkward angle.

Promising beginnings in Trench 2!

By the end of the first day the trench was beginning to take shape, with hints of a possible octagonal building beginning to emerge, although quite what it was that we were revealing was still a bit of a mystery and everyone seemed to have different ideas as to what this structure was. We had suggestions ranging from a folly to a possible gravity fed water tank for the ornamental fountains in the garden below and even suggestions of aliens! But it was safe to say that all of the volunteers left site excited to see what tomorrow would bring.

The volunteers busily exposing the building on day 2.

The second day began in a similar way to the first, the sun was shining, Trench 1 had been abandoned due to unforgiving digging conditions (apparently there was still another meter to dig through before they reached the archaeology!) and all our efforts were concentrated on the exciting remains which were appearing in Trench 2.

By the end of the day the foundations of most of a large octagonal building had emerged (the full extent of it was of course hidden underneath our spoil heap!) and the Young archaeologists had revealed not only an outer wall, which appeared to be the remains of a garden wall with fancy stone plinths, but also the remains of a slightly more substantial inner wall which looked suspiciously like the foundations for a building.

Armed with this new information and looking specifically for an octagonal structure in the area to the northeast of the house, a quick scan of early Ordnance Survey (OS) maps of the area (check out www.old-maps.co.uk) revealed an indication of this building, as well as the extent of pathways leading up to and around the structure. One of the volunteers, Colin, also managed to locate a sketch from the 1840’s showing a summer house!

The top of the wall and a possible plinth.

After two days hard work, and a lot of exciting revelations the site has been put to bed again. But never fear, and Calke Abbey Live will be returning and planning has already begun for next year’s investigations.

Left-handedness in the archaeological world

Being left-handed in everyday life can sometimes seem a bit of a chore. While in archaeology, where trowel wear and tear is almost as important as whether there’s enough milk at break for everyone’s tea; it can be infuriating. At this company I know of at least 4 left-handed individuals or southpaws as we are known in the USA. We are the rebels not conforming to the right-handed world view (or so I like to think).

The red-handled trowel is a righty and the wooden-handled trowel is ambidextrous

While being left-handed can be a lovely way to show your individuality (we account for only 10% of the population don’t you know) it can also be a sure fire way to make you feel like an utter failure as a human being. Case and point: tin openers and scissors. Specifically in archaeology being left-handed only affects you when you want to write anything in a notebook as all the best ones are ring-binders (a conspiracy I’m sure). The only way that I can describe this to non-lefties is like trying to write when the tip of your pen is a positive magnet and the paper is also positive. No matter how hard you push that pen it will walk on air for some time before it writes on the paper. Forcing your hand into a strange contortion that makes your already stereotypically bad hand-writing even more illegible.

You may be thinking that we do not HAVE to be buying ring-binder notebooks. This is absolutely correct, however, it solves nothing as all site folders (these contain all the recording paperwork) are ALL ring-binders. As a result I dread that moment when the context list reaches those monstrous metal rings.

As mentioned in the beginning of the blog trowel wear can prove your prowess as an archaeologist on site. Wearing down that first trowel to a pinpoint of useless metal in some circles is a rite of passage. As the trowel wears usually on the side opposite to the handedness of the individual, forgetting your trowel can be a test in patience and tidy trowelling. Thankfully most archaeologists I know are reasonably ambidextrous with their trowels. These are the days that we can masquerade as the 90%.

But don’t despair as left-handers we are considered the more creative of the bunch and have the advantage in any bat/racket-based sports. Being left-handed may have given Neanderthals and humans throughout prehistory an advantage in hand to hand combat. A study looking at tooth marks in Neanderthals conducted by the University of Kansas in 2012 indicate that the majority may have also been right handed, with a small percentage also showing signs of left-handedness (Lozano et al. 2012). We also apparently thrive in violent societies (Faurie et al. 2005). Before the advent of high-powered long range weapons, left-handers had the advantage of the element of surprise in hand to hand combat as most opponents would not be used to facing a left-handed opponent

Another advantage in being left handed is a better ability to multitask and we have a better visual-brain than a language-brain. Making us ideal for drawing (although I wouldn’t check my artefact drawings). It also appears that we are a constant in human history, left-handers will be around for as long as there are right-handers. So please don’t by the right-handed scissors when you know you might have to share, and no more ring binder if you can avoid it. On this final note a Happy International Left Handed Day! I hope this has helped those that do not know us of the 10% understand why being left-handed is rather wonderful (most of the time).

Frayer, D.W, Lozano, M, Bermúdez de Castro, J. M, Carbonell, E. Arsuaga, J. L, Radovčić, J, Fiore, I. & Bondioli, L. 2012. More than 500,000 years of right-handedness in Europeans. Laterality Vol 17 (1) 51-69
Faurie, C. & Raymond, M. 2005. Handedness, homicide and negative frequency-dependant selection. Proceedings of the Royal Society Vol 272 (1558)

Best site hut biscuit with Chris (Casswell)

What is your job role?
Senior Project Officer.

Chris on site at NKAM

How long have you worked for Allen Archaeology?
Almost 3 years now, but it feels like yesterday.

How would describe your excavation technique?
Rusty.

How long have you been working in archaeology?
My first paid job was a bit over 10 years ago. I spent a few years up in Yorkshire before finding my way back to the flatlands in the east.

How did you get into archaeology?
I like mud. I remember spending most of my holidays as a child were spent running around outdoors and exploring castles, so I always wanted something more than just a 9 to 5 office job (notice the not-so-subtle hint to my bosses to let me go and play in the mud again). Farming didn’t quite provide the excitement that I craved so I honed my skills studying dead people’s rubbish at university in the hope of getting a real job – as an archaeologist.

What is the best thing about your job?
Stratigraphy! Spending weeks in the site hut scribbling notes on anything to hand to create a masterpiece telling the story of the whole site must be one of my favourite jobs. Later on finding out in post-ex. that the finds dating fits perfectly within it is also incredibly satisfying.

Both at work and during hobby-time (extended work hours) I love playing around with new tech: photography, GIS, 3D modelling, I think it’s all great. I’m not entirely sure the bosses really understand what it is I do (and neither do I half the time), but so long as I create something that looks pretty and moves us one step further into the 21st century no one seems to mind.

Specialist skills?
Cat whisperer. I also make a pretty good pancake.

Best site hut biscuit?
Custard creams, the biscuit of champions. Closely followed by chocolate hob nobs.

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

Excavating cremations

Warning: Images of human remains feature in this post

Several of Allen Archaeology’s recent site excavations have revealed a particularly interesting aspect of ancient mortuary practice: human cremation burial urns.

Some of the pots we have retrieved date from the Bronze Age, Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon periods, and are known to have been used as early as the Mesolithic in Britain (c.5500 BC), although this method began to fall out of favour following the widespread adoption of Christianity in Western Europe.

Early Anglo-Saxon (5th–6th Century AD) stamped cremation urn found near Fakenham, Norfolk

Unlike modern cremations practices that produce ‘ash’, archaeological cremation burials consist of pieces of bone of varying size, often being quite large and identifiable. The reason for this difference is down to the processing method. Whilst modern crematoriums use industrial furnaces (that burn at temperatures of 870-980 °C) and a machine to pulverize the dry bone fragments into a fine powder, cremations in the past would have been performed much differently. The deceased would have been placed on a wooden pyre and required constant attention to keep the fire burning, particularly when the weather would not cooperate (surely not?!). The result is a lot of small chunks of cracked and discoloured bone which are then placed (in part or altogether) into a pre-made urn, and buried.

Due to the fragility of the urns and their importance as a burial, they are carefully removed on site and sent back to the office to be excavated – this happens exactly the same way as on site, but at a much smaller scale! The contents of the urn are removed in levels or ‘spits’, and records including photographs and drawings are taken before and after the removal of each cross-section and full layer. Due to having to work in a pot with a diameter of roughly 13cm compared to a pit or ditch of 1 to 2m, a completely different set of tools is needed. Lay down the shovel and trowel, and pick up your clay art tools and tweezers! Once the bone is removed it is passed through several sieves (10mm, 5mm & 2mm), with the remains of varying sizes weighed rather than counted. These are then bagged according to their size, with any recognisable elements bagged separately.

Excavating a cremation burial

So now the bones have been excavated, what can we tell from them? More than you think. The colouring of the remains, the amount the bones have warped from their original shape and their completeness can reveal information about the temperature of the fire, if there were any problems during burning (such as weather or incomplete incineration), how the body might have been placed on the pyre and whether the body was clothed or burned as dry bone. Duplicate elements of bone will also alert you as to whether more than one individual is present within the urn, as can the cumulative weight of the fragments.

Also, other remains such as macrobotanical or charcoal fragments can aid in the interpretation of the pyre construction, whilst ‘grave goods’ given to the cremated individual might also survive.

Fragments from a Romano-British cremation urn burial found at North Killingholme, Lincolnshire

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.