Tag Archives: excavation

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.

Find of the month: September

October’s find of the month was found just this week; during works around the forthcoming Chadwick Centre, at the International Bomber Command Memorial Site. Several large pieces of waster pots were found in a pit near to where three kilns had already been excavated back in 2014. Hopefully we could find another one!

Find of the month: large pieces of waster pots

We started work at the site in 2014. During an excavation in 2014, the three kilns were uncovered and have all been dated to the Romano-British period: probably towards mid to late 3rd Century. They are all fairly small, indicating that they were more likely to have been small subsistence kiln’s filling the needs of the local area, rather than a business. Earlier work has shown that the area has generally been in agricultural use; with multiple corn dryers, which would link into the local use of the kilns in a rural area.

One of the kilns excavated this week

A pottery kiln normally consists of a dome shaped superstructure which keeps the heat in, and around, the pottery being fired. A long triangular or oval shaped stokehole pit lies in front of the circular oven , which was where the fire was originally started and also where the ashes would be pulled out of the kiln into. Stokeholes are often very distinguishable due to their black, charcoaly appearance.

Base of a pot which didn’t make the grade because of the small depression that weakens the pot

Throughout the kiln structure you can find wasters. Wasters are piece of pottery that have not made the grade for whatever reason; be it a deformity such as a crack, a poor firing reducing the integrity of the structure, or an air bubble within the clay. You are less likely to find a complete rim of a vessel, which is why the one seen here is particularly exciting You can see on the picture of the little base, a small depression which would have been an air bubble that was trapped in the clay but burst during the firing. This not only creates a poor finish but it weakens the pottery.

One kiln found during the excavation had very little pottery wasters near, or in it, which suggests that it might have been used for something other than pottery. It could have been a bread oven, or as the more imaginative of us like to think; a pizza oven!

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.

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)

Find of the month: July

This post is the first of a new series of blogs detailing an exciting find that the Archives department have uncovered over the course of each month.

A Roman hygiene implement found during excavations in Navenby

The first artefact to feature is a copper alloy Roman nail-cleaner found on a community archaeological excavation in 2013. The archive team chose this artefact as it will be leaving Allen Archaeology to be archived at The Collection Museum in Lincoln. This is the final part of the community excavation undertaken in Navenby (which is 13km south of central Lincoln). The excavation was set up and excavated with the help of Volunteers from The Navenby Archaeological Group to investigate an area of the Roman town of Navenby. The artefact was found during these investigations.

The artefact (which can be seen in the picture below) is a Roman hygiene implement, specifically a nail cleaner. This is a toiletry set, in this case sitting on a metal ring; similar to a modern day key ring, with a square sectioned, well preserved decorated shaft and bifurcated terminal. This is a significant find due to the preservation of the decorations on the rectangular shaft and the bifurcated end. Similar nail-cleaners have been found in Colchester (Crummy 1983) but not including decorations extending down the length of the object, the decorations are usually limited to the upper portion of the object.

This nail cleaner would have been in use in Roman Navenby in the 3rd Century occupation of the town. For another example click here. Finds like these give us a personal insight into the everyday lives of the people of Roman Britain and are wonderful to find in such good condition.

Crummy, N, 1983, Colchester Archaeological Report 2: The Roman small finds from excavations in Colchester 1971-9 Colchester Archaeological Trust Ltd

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