Events
Prehistoric Ceramic Research Group
Wessex Archaeology will host the Prehistoric Ceramic Research Group's Spring meeting at its Salisbury office on Saturday 11th May 2013 (10.30-4.00). The theme is pottery from Wessex and the South-West with an opportunity to hear about new research and recently excavated sites (Lyde Road, Somerset, Salisbury Plain and Amesbury), view and handle material of Neolithic to Iron Age date.
Speakers will include George Kirke (University of Bristol), Grace Jones (University Bournemouth) and Matt Leivers, Rachael Seager Smith and Alistair Barclay from Wessex Archaeology.
Kingsmead Exhibition Proves Popular with the Public
On Saturday 27th April 2013 we held an open day for the public and local residents to learn more about the exciting discoveries made at the CEMEX UK run Kingsmead Quarry, Horton near Wraysbury.
The exhibition contained a selection of the most fascinating finds with experts on hand to answer questions and explain the significance of the artefacts. This was an opportunity for local people to see some of the brilliant discoveries that have been made over the 10 years of excavation at Horton.
Of course Phil Harding’s demonstration of flint knapping and Jackie McKinley’s skeleton stand proved extremely popular.
Children had the chance to have a go at several different activities including making their own ‘prehistoric’ pots. These were inspired by the amazing Beaker burial that was discovered at the site.
We are delighted that over 500 people took the opportunity to visit the event on Saturday and we received extremely positive feedback.
‘One of the most interesting things I have seen in my 50 years in Wraysbury’
‘Fascinating exhibition. Well worth the trip’
The exhibition was formally opened on the Friday morning by Jesus Gonzalez, President CEMEX UK, who gave a welcome address, followed by Cllr Colin Rayner, the Worshipful Mayor of Royal Windsor and Maidenhead and Fiona Macdonald, Principal Archaeologists, Berkshire Archaeology.
Classes from three local schools: The Hythe School, Staines, Datchet St Mary’s and Wraysbury Primary took the opportunity to learn about the discoveries, do the activity trail, make a pot and watch Phil knap flint. Later in the afternoon the exhibition was opened to the staff from CEMEX UK and in the evening over 50 people attended a public lecture by Gareth Chaffey and Alistair Barclay.
Further talks to community groups will be taking place over the coming months, and school visits and workshops are planned.
For more information about our work at Kingsmead Horton click here
Extracting the Past
Have you been reading about rare Neolithic houses and a Beaker burial containing a ‘prehistoric princess’ recently? These discoveries were made during our excavations at Kingsmead Quarry, Horton.
Saturday 27th April 2013, we are holding a FREE open day to showcase some of the amazing finds from these excavations. The event will be held in Wraysbury Village Hall, Berkshire (TW19 5NA) 10.30 am to 3.30 pm.
The exhibition is open to all and explores the discoveries from the site as we present the hidden past beneath Horton’s landscape and uncover the imprints left by farming and ritual activity.
• Learn about the interesting and unique evidence
• Meet the archaeologists
• View the artefacts
• Examine a skeleton
There will also be a number of activities for children including pot making and example excavations.
Practical demonstrations will be given by two of Time Team’s regular presenters – Phil Harding will be flint knapping and Jackie McKinley will be examining the human skeleton.
To explore the Kingsmead Quarry excavations further click here.
Exploring Buckler's Hard
In the summer the New Forest National Park Authority and Wessex Archaeology teamed up for a week-long excavation at Buckler’s Hard. This happened during the Council of British Archaeology's Festival of British Archaeology.
The dig was part of a wider Heritage Lottery Funded project called "New Forest Remembers: untold stories of World War II". Check out our Events blog for stories of the excavation and how it went.
We also gave Naomi Brennan, Wessex Archaeology staff heading up the excavations, a camera to record what volunteers and visitors thought about the excavation. You can watch the final result below.
Young Archaeologists Club reporting
Today we had the South Wiltshire Young Archaeologist’s Club onsite, as one of our Project Florence events. They were meant to come out before this to help with the excavations, but it was cancelled due to bad weather.
As a consolation, we invited them in their school holidays for a site visit, getting one last look at the site before it closes for this season. This meant they could not get their hands dirty, we have a lot of recording to do before Saturday and new discoveries are no longer welcome.
Instead, we got them filming, using our head camera, Ipad and working with the film-maker, Simon Davison. Simon was on site to film the lifting of one of the most significant burials we have found yet. This skeleton belongs to a female, who had a considerable number of finds buried with her including a cosmetic brush, ring and beads.
The club members quizzed our CBA Community Archaeology Trainee, Angus Forshaw about what he was doing, as he lifted the skeleton. They also reported on events around the site and explained on camera about some of the discoveries.
We will be showing of the results of their hard work soon. Today, read about what Rebecca thought of the site, and view Harry talking about one of the discoveries made in the burial.
I’m Becca and I am 14. I came to the site with YAC. We’ve been learning about the history of the site, which I think is really interesting. I like the skeleton, which we filmed them lifting. It is particularly great because of the finds we saw with the burial. It is sites like this that make me want to get into archaeology as a career.
To return to the main Project Florence blog, www.florence.opnightingale.co.uk/blog, click here.
Explore Archaeology Family Fun Day
On Saturday 21st July, Project Florence gave local residents the chance to explore archaeology at an open day on the Barrow Clump site.
Visitors were given tours of the trenches by the Op Nightingale soldiers and volunteers, and got to witness the excavation of an interesting Saxon burial containing a range of grave goods. Young guests crafted their own Saxon pottery, chatted to a Saxon warrior and dove enthusiastically into the sandpit digs!
There was also a display by Devizes Museum of replica Saxon artefacts to compare to our finds from the excavation, and flint knapping demonstrations by Phil Harding.
The day was a huge success with over 200 visitors to the site, who gave some excellent feedback:
Brilliant. The amount of times we have walked here and never known what’s below us until now!
Excellent! Such an interesting day, well organised and informative. Well done!
It was good to hear from the soldiers how effective and beneficial this project has been.
To find out how you can get involved in Project Florence visit www.florence.opnightingale.co.uk/volunteer
To return to the main Project Florence blog, www.florence.opnightingale.co.uk/blog, click here.
Buckler's Hard - Day 12
Today was the final day on site at Buckler's Hard. Matt and I had an early start so we could get the last bits of recording done before Rob the machine driver arrived to backfill. The tide was extremely low when we arrived and we could see the slipway running almost into the centre of the river.
Once we were happy that we had all the information we needed Rob started backfilling the main trenches. This not only stops anyone hurting themselves by falling into any of excavations it will also help protect what we have found.
However we have left the areas we cleared around the slipway open. It is hoped that more of the slipway can be cleared back. This will stop the grass and vegetation from damaging the concrete and also allow it to be part of the visitor's experience to Buckler's Hard. A vivid reminder of the history of the site in WWII and the 1950's.
At Wessex Archaeology we would like to say a big thank you to the staff at Buckler's Hard, all the volunteers and to James Brown from the New Forest Remembers project who made this an enjoyable and exciting dig.
Buckler's Hard - Day 11
Today was the last day of digging on site and the last day with the volunteers. It was all hands to the pump (so to speak) to measure, record and interpret what we have carefully revealed over the last seven days.
However once this work was done it was time to celebrate a job well done with all the volunteers who have been on site over the last week. Buckler's Hard cafe prepared a fabulous cream tea which was a great way to end the dig.
In many ways the the most crucial part of the process is the records we leave behind us when the excavation is finished. While this is the end of the project for the all the volunteers; for me and Matt this is the beginning of the what is called the post-excavation stage. There is still lots of work to be done, strating with carefully cataloguing all the finds. All the information gathered from the excavation will be brought together into a report.
Tomorrow we are back on site to tie up all the loose ends and supervise the backfilling of the trenches.
Buckler's Hard - Day 10
Today was an exceptionally beautiful day at Beaulieu with plenty of traffic in the river as well as lots of visitors keen to see what we had found.
More 'celebrity' guests over the course of the dig have included Lord Montagu and Dan Snow. While Mary Montagu has herself been a keen and enthusiastic digger.
We started the careful process of hand planning the detail of what we have found in Trench 1. This low-tech but time consuming process will be teamed up with more hi-tech GPS surveying in order to build up a location plan of what we found on site. Meanwhile others were busy in Trench 2, hurrying to finish digging the last few centimetres and making sure it was all ready to photograph.
With tomorrow the last day on site with the volunteers the focus will very much be making sure the detail of what we have uncovered over the days is documented through photographs, drawings and record sheets.
This is a Festival of British Archaeology Event funded by the New Forest Park Authority as part of their World War II Remembers Project. To find out how you can visit the dig, read our event webpages http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/beaulieu-estate/new-forest-national-park.
Keep checking this events blog to find out what we discover over the Festival of British Archaeology (July 14th to July 22nd).
Buckler's Hard - Day 9
Another beautiful day at Buckler's Hard and an ideal spot to dig right by the busy river. Today we were visited by the former harbourmaster Bill Grindley who can remember many of the WWII buildings on the site and also what happened to the site in the post-war years. We even realised that we had found his initials in the concrete where they had extended the top of the slipway after the war.
Excavations in Trench 1 are now drawing to a close in preparation for recording it tomorrow.
However there is still plenty of digging to be done in Trench 2 and around the slipway before the dig comes to an end.
We are also starting to record and catalogue all the finds we have discovered - no small task!
This is a Festival of British Archaeology Event funded by the New Forest Park Authority as part of their World War II Remembers Project. To find out how you can visit the dig, read our event webpages http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/beaulieu-estate/new-forest-national-park.
Keep checking this events blog to find out what we discover over the Festival of British Archaeology (July 14th to July 22nd).
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