13: adventures in archaeology august 2010 - past horizons

8/9/2019 13: Adventures in Archaeology August 2010 - Past Horizons

1/60

Adve ntur e s in Ar cha e ol ogy August 2010Past Hori zonsO n l i n e J o u r n a l

o f v o l u n t e e ra r c h a e o l o g y

a n d t r a i n i n g

er it age E du ca ti on Co mmu ni ty B ui ld ing

Dig Diary J u ni o r A rc h ae o lo g is t s P as s ag e G r av e

Shiel ings: Life in the High Pastures


2/60past horizons 2

20Wallingford

With only limited display and storage space the Wallingford

museum in England made plans to build a timber frame extension

to their existing medieval building. In order to fulfil that dream,

the townsfolk of Wallingford joined ranks to raise the necessaryfunds to give their museum a whole new leas e of l ife.

Issue 13

August 2010

Editors:

Felicity Donohoe

Maggie Struckmeier

Layout:

Maggie Struckmeier

GraphicsDavid Connolly

Past Horizons

Traprain House

Luggate Burn

Haddington

East Lothian

EH41 4QA

Tel: +44 (0)1620 861643

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.pasthorizons.com

Contributors:

Stuart Dewey

Judy Dewey

Eulah Matthews

Bill Neidinger

Annie Evans

Si Cleggett

Fiona Baker

George Nash

Jane Summers

Front cover:Jamie Humble, at 64, modelling

t he s le e p ing p os s ib i l i t ie s at a

c ir c u lar c e l l s t y le hu t at Al l t

F e ar na, S c ot land

Note

Past Horizons can give no endorsement

of any listed project or guarantee the

accuracy of the information supplied.

The editors accept no responsibility

for any loss, injury, or inconvenience

sustained by anyone using the resourcescontained within this magazine and/or

the websites mentioned herein. When

considering a project, be sure to contact

the director with any questions you might

have about conditions, travel, health

issues, etc. Check for references from

previous participants, seek advice where

possible and select a project that will be

of the greatest benefit to you, the project

and the team.

All content is copyright and no

reproduction of text or images is

allowed without prior permission

from the author.

Past Horizons 2010

30Delancey Park

Delancey Park on the island of Guernsey is a Neolithic gallery

grave. One of only three in the Channel Islands, i t comprises

two parallel l ines of stone that extend for around nine-and-a-half

metres from east to we st, and this year Clifford Antiquarian Club

began excavations on the site wi th some promising results .
mailto://[email protected]://www.pasthorizons.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.pasthorizons.com/mailto://[email protected]


3/60past horizons3

8 Project Archaeology

An award-winning educational team

from America expla ins why the use of

archaeology is helping young people

apprecia te the places and objects that

def ine the past .

C

ontents

38Lost?

Children and teachers from Aboyne academy

in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, adopt a variety of

archaeological techniques to discover more about the

small, abandoned settlement of Auchtavan.

Regulars

48Bylazora

Follow the Texas Foundation for Archaeological and

Historical Research in their quest to find Bylazora, the

largest city of the Paionians, who occupied territory to the

north of ancient Macedon. Find out how their third digging

season is progressing through their weekly dig diary.

DigDiary - Bylazora

42Shielings

Shielings played a significant part in the rural practices of the

Highlands of Scotland until the 19th century. Archaeologist

Fiona Baker explains where to locate them and describes

their particular functions.

5EditorialMaking way for change.

6NewsStories from around the world.

14Exhibition FocusAlexander the Great and Uneartheds

ancient clay figures from East and West.

28A Diggers LifeSi Clegget discusses children in history.

47 ProfileFiona Baker.

54Dig InCurrent excavation opportunities.

56Dig CookCulinary escapades from Annie Evans.

59 Viewpoint

David Connolly on the benefits of teachingcultural heritage.


4/60past horizons 4

[email protected]

www.aerial-cam.co.uk
mailto:[email protected]://www.aerial-cam.co.uk/http://www.aerial-cam.co.uk/mailto:[email protected]


5/60past horizons5

e

dit

oria

l

[email protected]

WELCOME to the new edition of Past Horizons. This

issue includes a couple of articles on the new and exciting

steps educators are taking towards history, heritage and

archaeology in both the United States and the United

Kingdom. Archaeology is now included at some schools

as a means to equip children with the skills to exploreheritage in a way that has never been presented to them before. The ability

to think critically is a very powerful tool and one that is extremely useful

when trying to uncover the truth about the past; after all , pseudo-archa eology is

everywhere and most of us have been fooled by it at some ti me or another.

The Indiana Jones movies and books such as The Da Vinci Code are mainly

harmless fun but they can make fools out of people when they do not apply the

basic tenets of archaeology, which are the presence of physical evidence and

critical thinking. Believing in something is one thing, but proving a theory can

be much harder and in the end is a much more satisfyi ng experience.

How many archaeologists would deny they have been influenced by Erik von

Danikens series of books, which carefully mix factual evidence with unsupported

speculation leaving the reader with the impression that there must be some truth

in what is written? It is usually with maturity of thought that the archaeologist

is able to look back and dissect the supposed evidence leaving a less fanciful

but more realistic pict ure of the past.

When we first challenge established beliefs and question what we have previously

accepted then the world appears a less certain place. However, the real evolution

of humanity is extraordinarily diverse and colourful, and the ability to observe,

investigate and use forensic analysis opens up a whole new way of viewing the

world and allows for genuine archaeological advancement leaving less need

to believe in pyramids built by aliens. Truth can be stranger than fiction, after

a l l .

Embracing change enables learning, and utilising the tools available in

archaeology provides an excellent framework to assess any situation whether a

news story or an accepted theory. The same is true when others scrutinise our

own work and as archaeologists we have t o be as open to challenge as we are to

challenging others.

Change can always be a positive step and this is exactly the direction Past

Horizons is taking. From next month, a new magazine format will be introduc ed

to better deal with the ever-changing and fast-paced world of archaeological

discovery. The quarterly flip-page magazine will make way for a rolling article

based web system that will maintain the same high quality writing and images

whilst responding instantl y to breaking news, bringing a better, more up-to-date

service to our readers.
mailto://[email protected]://[email protected]


6/60past horizons 6

new

s

EXPERTS have determined that the human remains discovered at

Ridgeway Hil l , Weymouth, las t year are most l ikely of Scandinavian

origin. Isotope analysis on the males , which included 51 decapitated

skulls , shows that that the men had grown up in countr ies where the

cl imate is colder than in Bri tain , with one individual thought to be

from north of the Arctic Circle . Studies also found that the men had a

high protein-based diet , comparable with known s i tes in Sweden.

Samples taken from the teeth of 10 of the individuals have been painstakingly

processed by Dr Jane Evans and Carolyn Chenery at the NERC Geosciences

Laboratory, part of the British Geological survey, based in Nottingham. Evans

and Chenery analysed the samples for strontium and oxygen, which reflect local

geology and climate respectively, and carbon and nitrogen, which reflect diet.

Together, these isotopes are a useful means of exploring where the indi viduals are

most l ikely to have originated.

Dr Evans said, Isotopes from

drinking water and food are fixed

in the enamel and dentine of teeth

as the teeth are formed in early lif e.

By completing a careful preparation

and chemical separation process

in the laboratory, the elements

are extracted and their isotope

composition can be measured.

The extraordinary burial site wasdiscovered in June 2009 during

Executed men were of Viking or igin


7/60past horizons7

the earthwork operation for a relief road, and

was excavated by Oxford Archaeology over

the following months. The remains of bodies

belonging to the skulls had been discarded

haphazardly in another area of the same grave,

which was a re-used quarry pit .

Many of the executed men suffered multiple

wounds to the skull and jaw as well as theupper spine, inflicted by a sharp-bladed

weapon and thought to relate to the process of

decapitation. Other wounds so far identified

include a cut to the pelvis, blows to the chest

and defensive injuries to the hands.

Oxford Archaeology project manager David

Score said, The find of the burial pit on

Ridgeway was remarkable and got everyone

working on site really excited. To find out

that the young men executed were Vikings isa thrill ing development.

Any mass grave is a relatively rare find, but

to find one on this scale, from this period of

history, is extremely unusual and presents an

incredible opportunity to learn more about

what is happening in Dorset at this t ime.

Radio carbon dating placed the remains between AD910 and AD1030, and specialists are

continuing to examine the remains to tr y to piece together the events surrounding the gruesome

discovery.

I f you are viewing this magazine on SCRIBD, then

you wi l l not be able to see the video.

You can view i t on ei ther the ful l f l ip page vers ion of

the magazine:

www.pas thor izons .com/magazine

OR

Here: http:/ /www.youtube.com/

watch?v=3UVLG7j9zLA&NR=1

Images courtesy of Oxford Archaeology
http://www.pasthorizons.com/magazinehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UVLG7j9zLA&NR=1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UVLG7j9zLA&NR=1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UVLG7j9zLA&NR=1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UVLG7j9zLA&NR=1http://www.pasthorizons.com/magazine


8/60past horizons 8

D ig d ir e c t or D . Bar r y Hob s on ( hand r ais e d in whit e s hir t ) , a r e t ir e d ge ne r al p r ac t it ione r , we lc ome s a gr ou p of v is i t or s t o t he

e x c av at ion s it e . D r . Hob s on t ook a d e gr e e in Ar c hae ol ogy at Br ad f or d U niv e r s it y af t e r hi s r e t ir e me nt .

Tip i p r oj e c t


9/60past horizons9

CONFRONT ING THE

CHALLENGE o f cultura l her i tage preservat ion

IN TODAYS world, we face many challenges

in negotiating multicultural landscapes, and

to equip the next generation for this task, i t is

necessary to provide them with an educational

foundation that is grounded in a respect for social and cultural differences. The discipline

of archaeology provides a useful tool to help

insti l l a reverence for the places and objects that

define our past , a respect for our shared cul tural

heritage, and to emphasise the importance of

protecting i t now and in t he future.

Int e r ac t iv e s he lt e r mod u le s

Images and text by the Project Archaeology Team


10/60past horizons 10

In the United States, the Archaeological

Resources Protection Act (ARPA), amended

in 1988, instructs Federal land managers to

implement educational programmes to informthe public about the significance of cultural

and archaeological resources on public

lands and the need to protect them. Project

Archaeology was founded two years later to

employ education in the protection of cultural

resources on publicly owned lands throughout

the nation.

Because the programme is designed to be

delivered primarily by classroom teachers,

all Project Archaeology educational materials provide ways for educators to teach science,

social studies, language arts and mathematics,

promoting citizenship, civic dialogue, and

cultural understanding through the examination

of heritage preservation issues.

In 1990, the Bureau of Land Management

(BLM), an agency within the United States

Department of the Interior that administers the

253 million acres of public lands, developed

a new heritage education programme that

would promote an appreciation of the nat ions

cultural legacy. That same year, the America

2000 Education Strategy called for Federal

agencies to lead the way in promoting

education objectives.

Under the heading Project Archaeology, the

BLM planned to develop a resource guide

and comprehensive heritage educational programme for teachers and other youth

educators, which would use a variety of

activities to teach pupils about the science of

archaeology and the stewardship of cultural

resources. I t would also advance the goals of

the America 2000 Education Strategy while

promoting the protection of Americas cultural

resources.

In the late 1990s Project Archaeology

sought out a partnership to help expand and

maintain the programme, and Montana State

W or k s hop p ar t ic ip ant s at a b u f f al lo j u mp s it e , Mont ana

Project Archaeology now

includes 28 state and

regional programmes


11/60past horizons11

University, a leader in conservation education

programming, was selected. Operations were

transferred to Bozeman, Montana, in 2001.

Project Archaeology now includes 28 stateand regional programmes and has published

a new curriculum, Project Archaeology:

Investigating Shelter, for teachers and

pupils in upper elementary grades. Since

then, educators in 30 states have attended

Project Archaeology in-service or pre-service

workshops, reaching an estimated 225,000

pupils each year. The curriculum guide

has been distributed throughout the USA

and several other countries, and has been

adapted by various organisations, such as the

Smithsonian Institution, for other uses.

The primary means of distributing ProjectArchaeology curricular materials is through

professional development workshops for

teachers. The workshops offer a variety of

engaging, hands-on experiences, and educators

often have the opportunity to experience local

archaeological sites and listen to special guest

speakers. In Montana, for example, workshop

participants vi sit stone circle an d buffalo jump

sites, and in 2009, educators camped in tipis

on the edge of the Little Big Horn Battlefield

during Crow Native Days. Participants woketo bugle calls and the US Cavalry in full

19th century uniform crossing the river on

horseback headed to an annual re-enactment

of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

In 2009 Project Archaeology launched its

first online course. In partnership with the

University of Utah and the Utah Museum of

Natural History, the course offers teachers

the opportunity to fit a workshop into their

busy schedules, allowing them to log inand participate in the eight-week course on

their own time. In addition, they can discuss

implementation strategies with their peers,

fulfil l ing a need for professional interaction

and mutual support. Teachers have access to

supplementary materials including regional

investigations and historic

photographs on our website,

allowing them to localise

the curricular materials,

focusing on their specificregion. The response has been

overwhelmingly positive and

three online workshops are

scheduled for 2010.

Project Archaeology activities

are hands-on, interactive, and

engaging opportunities that

both teachers and pupi ls enjoy

and the experience leads to real

learning. The new curriculum,

Project Archaeology:



Investigating Shelter, focuses on how people

lived long ago, and takes pupils through the

processes of learni ng about a group of people

from the objects and features they left behind.

Pupils learn to think like archaeologists,

using observation, inference, classification

and context to piece together the puzzle of

past l ifeways.

Once pupils understand the basic skills,

they apply them to a particular regionalinvestigation that emphasises their own local

history. In each regional investigation, pupil s

have the opportunity to meet a descendant

who guides them through the investigation.

The descendant representatives are integral

to learning and demonstrate to the pupils

that descendant communities have not

vanished. There are currently eight regional

investigations and we plan to add more in the

future to ensure pupils have the opportunity

to study their local history and environment.The final lesson exposes learners to the

four different perspectives of developers,

archaeologists, new home owners and

descendant community members, and

allows pupils to consider the implications

of land use decisions. We hope that pupils

develop understanding of social and cultural

differences, and carry this experience with

them into the future.

The journey continues as Project Archaeology

enters i ts 21st year. The organisation continuesto grow, and in 2010 and 2011 we will expand

the online courses, explore new opportunities

with informal science education, and continue

to develop our network of educators and

archaeologists.

Many countries face the problem of looting

and site destruction. These issues are vast and

complex, but education has enormous value in

confronting them, and instil l ing respect and

understanding of the past in young peoplecan assist in protecting our cultural heritage.

A programme like Project Archaeology that

engages pupils in the past can foster the

necessary sense of stewardship to help protect

our cultural resources, now and in the future.

P r o j e c t A r c h a e o l o g y r e c e n t l y w o n t h e A w a r d

f o r Ex c e l l e n c e i n P ubl i c Educ a t i o n f r o m t h e

S o c i e t y f o r A m e r i c a n A r c h a e o l o g y .

S hawne e s it e s c ie nc e

Pupi ls learn to think l ike

archaeologists , us ing

observat ion, inference,

c lass i f icat ion and context to

piece together the puzzle of past l i feways

For more information on Project Archaeology:http://www.projectarchaeology.org

Facebook: http ://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/

group.php?gid=325400120483&ref=ts
http://www.projectarchaeology.org/http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=325400120483&ref=tshttp://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=325400120483&ref=tshttp://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=325400120483&ref=tshttp://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=325400120483&ref=tshttp://www.projectarchaeology.org/



WHSWORK HARD OR STARVE

Find i t Here
http://www.pasthorizons.com/shophttp://www.pasthorizons.com/shophttp://tinyurl.com/yz9fa2ehttp://www.pasthorizons.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=35&product_id=49



Alexander the Great wi l l be

brought to l i fe next month atthe Hermitage Amsterdam,

the f i rst t ime a Dutch museum

has devoted an exhibit ion

to the Macedonian King. The

Immortal Alexander the Great

charts the k ings journey to

the East and explores the

inf luence of Hel lenism through

the last 2500 years , with over350 masterpieces inc luding the

famous Gonzaga cameo f rom

the State Hermitage Museum

in St Petersburg.

The exhibition presents several themes exploring the myths, reality and heritage

of Alexander (356-323 BC) using art , terracotta figurines, papyrus, tapestry and

various multimedia. Born in 356 BC as the son of King Philip II of Macedonia,

Alexander was taught by Aristotle who

had a lasting influence. At just 20-years-

old he succeeded his father and two years

later embarked on the great expedition

that would assure his fame, taking him to

Syria, Egypt, Persia, Bactria and India.

His presence in these regions had a lasting

impact on architecture, art , language and

culture, and over time they displayed Greek

influences in a process that became knownas Hellenism.

Exploring the myths of Alexander, this

part of the exhibition use s images from the

seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries and

decorative arts display his heroic deeds

and conquests, with paintings by Pietro

Antonio Rotari and Sebastiano Ricci, and

a tapestry depicting The Family of Darius

before Alexander the Great.

exhibition

foc

us

The Im mort al Alexander the Great

Ar c hit e c t u r al e le me nt wit h l ion s he ad ( me t op e )Par t hia. 2nd c e nt u r y BC-1s t c e nt u r y AD

Te r r ac ot t a, 25. 3 x 14. 4 c mAl l image s S t at e He r mit age Mu s e u m, S t Pe t e r s b u r g

Re l ie f f r agme nt : Pe r s ian s old ie r f r om D ar iu s or Xe r x e s r oy al

gu ar d . I r an. C. 500 BC. L ime s t one , 22. 3 x 20. 2 c m



Alexanders legacy is then explored

through artefacts such as fourth-

century reliefs from Palmyra

demonstrating the endurance of

Greek traditions outside Greece,

along with papyruses bearing texts

in Greek, which were stil l being produced in the ninth century.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth

centuries, he played a prominent

role in Persian li terature in which

he is known as Iskander. He is also

recognisable in finely-executed

miniatures. Bringing Alexander

into the present day, photographer

Erwin Olaf presents the king

through a photographic series and

short fi lm, skilfully conveying his

character traits and features.

Spanning 2500 years, the exhi bition

reflects the international, t imeless

appeal of Alexander the Great,

depicting his l ife, legacy and

relevance even in modern times,

and runs from 18 September, 2010

- 18 March, 2011 at the Hermitage

Amsterdam.

He ad of Mit hr id at e s

VI E u p at or

Pe r gamon. 90-80 BC

F ine -gr aine d mar b lewit h y e l low t int

h 38 c m

An exploration of his l ife in Macedonia then examines

his teachers, heroes and ideals, and also includes

his Great Expedition to the East, his campaign of

conquest lasting over 10 years, s upported by a 50,000-

strong army. Objects from Egypt and Persia, fr om the

nomads and the Babylonians, show the rich cultures

he encountered on his travels, and can be traced by

visitors using interactive maps and computers.

Here, the exhibition also highlights the Greek influence

on those cultures. Terracotta figurines depicting men

and women, gods and satyrs, musicians and Eros, and

stone fragments of architecture, testify to the artistic

wealth that characterised the Hellenistic territories

from the fourth century BC to the first few centuries

AD. While many of these works reflect the Greek

spirit of cheerfulness and playfulness, the Greeks also

took an interest in the atypical, such as disabilit ies

and deformities.

Por t r ait s t u d y of a Pt ole maic k ing

E gy p t . 3r d -1s t c e nt u r y BC

Lime s t one , h 10. 5 c m

HERMITAGE AMSTERDAM

W: http://www.hermitage.nl

E : [email protected]: Amstel 51, Amsterdam

T: +31 (0)20 530 74 88
http://www.hermitage.nl/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.hermitage.nl/



Unearthed, The latest

exhibit ion f rom theSainsbury Centre for V isual

Arts in Norwich, England,

promises to impress

vis i tors with i ts col lect ion

of remarkable ancient c lay

f igures, some 5000-years-old

and drawn f rom two regions:

Japan and the Balkans.

The col lect ion at the

Universi ty of East Angl ia has

captured the imaginat ions

of archaeologists and art ists

al ike , explor ing the shape of

the human form in miniature.

Af fect ionately known as

the Toy Department , the

exhibit ion hopes to push the

l imits of our understandingof ancient f igurines and

encourages v iewers to

think about their personal

responses to the human

form in miniature.

The oldest expressions of human form are very small, and the making and keeping

of small figurines is widely shared by certain human societies. In prehistoric Japan

and the Balkans people had begun to explore new ways of identifying themselves,

and figurines played an important role in showing how these pioneering villagers

may have experienced the world and expressed thei r place within it . However, after

a century of painstaking archaeological investigation, recording and interpretation,

the figurines remain mysterious; some appear distinctly male or female whereas

others are less identifiable , and do not look human at all . However, several theories

for their purpose have been proposed. Some archaeologists focus on ritual and

spiritual l ife as an explanation for the figurines, other interpretations suggest

functions such as magical i tems, afterlife accessories, fertil i ty images, votive

objects and initiation objects.

ex

hibition

foc

us

Unearthed

F igu r ine J ap an, F inal J mon Pe r iod - h. 19c m

Rob e r t and Lis a S ains b u r y Col le c t ion

U E A 1091, Phot o: J ame s Au s t in



J mon f igu r ine s and f r agme nt s

f r om S annai Mar u y ama, J ap an

Mid d le J mon Pe r iod Aomor i Pr e f e c t u r al Boar d

of E d u c at ion

Through sight and touch, these figurines provoke a number

of responses in the viewer such as vulnerability, protection,

excitement, fear, confusion and intimacy, and continue to

make an impact in the present. The exhibition sits alongside

contemporary artworks that invite visitors to understand and

appreciate the objects in new ways, providing inspiration

for contemporary artists working in a variety of media,

from prints and drawings to animation and performance.

The creators of these objects thousands of years ago

attempted to convey some meaning through their figurines,

and the contemporary works remind us of the spectrum of

possibili t i es they embody.

Unearthed is curated by Professor Douglass Bailey, San

Francisco State Universit y; Dr Andrew Cochrane, University

of East Anglia; Dr Simon Kaner, Sainsbury Institut e for the

Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, University of East

Anglia, and developed by the Sainsbury Centre for Visual

Arts. The research project is led by the Sainsbury Institutefor the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, University

of East Anglia, and is funded by the Arts and Humanities

Research Council.

Japan: Over 18,000 clay figures, or dog (li terally spirit and clay) have nowbeen recorded from across Japan. Those featured in unearthed are from central and

eastern Japan, from Sannai Maruyama, and the important historical coll ections from

University Museum at the Uni versity of Tokyo.

Sannai Maruyama, occupied from 4000-2500 BC, revealed over 1850 dog fr agments,

and with their distinct ive cross-shaped bodies they are calle d slab-shape dog and

cruciform dog. The features of their faces are depicted, incl uding eyes, eyebrows,

noses (and even nostrils) mouths, and hair. Some are shown wearing ornaments,

and all have breasts indicating that they represent women. The largest proportion

of dog were found in a fragmentary state in the piled-earthen features which were

important places for ritual practices, but other examples are complete.

F igu r ine N ak amic hi , J ap an

Mid d le J mon Pe r iod

11. 5 x 6c m, N agaok a Mu nic ip al S c ie nc e

Mu s e u m, J ap an



The University Museum, the University of Tokyo, holds approximately 450 pieces of dog

dating to the Jmon period. A large part of this collection, kept by the museums Department

of Anthropology and Prehistory, was made from the 1890s to the earl y 20th century, a period

when anthropology and archaeology were being developed as scientific disciplines in Japan,

and its historical value is significant. Among the dog displayed in unearthed, three are

perhaps of particular interest. The shape of one (from Ikarigaseki, Aomori Prefecture, Final

Jmon) attests to a stylistic transition from the famous goggle-eyed dog, while another

(Tokoshinai, Aomori Prefecture, Middle-Final Jmon) shows a miniaturised representa tion of

the typical fe atures of the goggl e-eyed dog. A third example ( Tozurasawa, Aomori Prefecture,Late Jmon) has a very rare shape that reminds us of a monkey.

This is the first t ime that the University Museum, University of Tokyo has allowed any of

these important objects to be displayed overseas.

B alkan s: Farming, accompanied by pottery-making, first entered Europe from its region oforigin, the co-call ed Fertile Crescent of the Near East through Aantolia, modern-day Turkey,

and across the Eastern Mediterranean. These early European farmers lived in villages and

made small clay figures.

The majority of the figures from this region

in unearthed come from Romania, occupied

early by farming groups who spread along t he

Danube and its tr ibutaries. However, there

are additional figurines from the Republic of

Macedonia and Albania.

The Republic of Macedonia was, until the

1990s part of the former Yugoslavia, and

some of the most remarkable clay figures

from the entire Balkans come from this small,

landlocked country. Most of the Macedonian

figures appear to depict women and are often

discovered near the hearth, and perhaps the

most outstanding form is t hat of the body of a

woman, wearing jewellery and with a splendid

coiffure, fused on to the roof of the model o f

a house. Over 20 examples of these Great

Mother or Magna Mater figures are known.

The exhibition includes the newly-discovered

Portrait of an Eneolithi c Ancestor, excavated

at the Shrine of St Atanesie. Unusually, thisfigurine was modelled on an the face of an

adult male, his ears pierced for earrings made

of some organic material.

The Albanian figurines have not been shown

outside of Albania until now. Under the

aegis of the Universi ty of East Anglia, a new

generation of archaeologists and cultural

heritage specialist s have been trained and are

bringing the treasures of Albanian cultural

heritage into the 21st cent ury.

Re p l ic a Anzab e gov o-Vr nik l l l , Mac e d onia

5300 - 4200 BC-LN h. 39c mMu s e u m of Mac e d onia



Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

University of East Angl ia

Nor wich

NR4 7TJ

United Kingdom

W: http://www.scva.org.uk

T: 01603 593199

E: [email protected]

F igu r ine s and F r agme nt s f r om Cu c u t e ni , Romania, 4000 - 3500 BC, N at ional His t or y Mu s e u m of Romania

With thanks to:

Okada Yasuyuki, Sannai Maruyama site director, Sannai Maruyama

Dr Matsuda Akira, The University Museum, the University of Tokyo

Irena Kolistrkoska Nasteva, curator, Museum of Macedonia, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia

Nada Andonovska, translator, Museum of Macedonia, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.

The exhibition will run from 22 June - 29 August 2010
http://www.scva.org.uk/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.scva.org.uk/



Framing t h e Future w i t h

Wall in gford MuseumW all ingf or d Mu s e u m ( F l int Hou s e )



FORMERLY IN Berkshire but now

within the boundaries of Oxfordshire,

the his tor ic town of Wall ingford

originated in the 9th century as one of

the two largest of Alfred the Greats

planne d towns orburhs . The extensive

Saxon ramparts and much of the Saxon

street pat tern s t i l l survive, and par t

of these banks surround a green openspace in the hear t of the town cal led

the Kinecroft , providing the backdrop

for Wall ingford Museum. The ful ly-

accredited and independent local

his tory museum is housed in a Grade

II l is ted medieval t imber-framed

building covered by a f l int faade,

and is appropriately known as Flint

House.

By Judy and St uart De we y

3D imp r e s s ion of F l int Hou s e wit h ne w a nne x e



Ae r ial v ie w of t he e ar t hwor k r e mains of W all ingf or d Cas t le ( f or e g r ou nd )

Bu r h t o Bor ou gh c as t le e x c av at ions

The idea for a local history museum was born

out of the success of The Wallingford Histori cal

& Archaeological Societ y (TWHAS) formed in1974. There was a need to display the results

of excavations and to explain the rich story of

the towns history from its Saxon origins to

the Mediaeval period when Wallingford was

the leading town of Berkshire, dominated by

its huge royal castle. I t played an active part in

the war between Stephen and Matilda, whichresulted in Matildas son, Henry II , granting

its first Charter of Liberties in 1155.

Wallingf ord is one of only four towns mentioned

in Magna Carta in 1215. Among the castles

many royal inhabitants were King John;

Richard Earl of Cornwall, brother of Henry

III; Edward the Black Prince and his wife;

Henry Vs widow and her young son H enry VI

with his guardian Owen Tudor, grandfather

of Henry VII. During the 17th century CivilWar, Wallingford Castle was a major Royali st

stronghold, and almost the last in the country

to surrender after i t had held out successfull y

against a 12-week siege by Parliamentary

troops. It was eventually destroyed in 1652

but the impressive earthworks stil l survive

and are publicly accessible.

The museum opened in 1981. Initially the

galleries were only on the first floor with

an attic store above and a ground floorentrance lobby from a side door. In 2005 we



were offered the lease on the ground floor as

well, so in the next year we reunited the two

parts of the building and moved the entrance

to the much more visible front door on the

High Street. At the same time we became a

charitable com pany.

Despite its long and significant history,

Wallingford has rarely been more than a

footnote in most academic texts but with

the Wallingford Burh to Borough Project,

funded by the AHRC, things were to change.

This three-year project is the result of

collaboration between the Universities of

Leicester, Exeter and Oxford, with practical

excavation input and documentary research

from TWHAS, and hosted locally by the

museum. After the first season of geophysics

and digging in 2008, TWHAS organised ahighly-successful conference and the papers

given, with additional material, have been

published as The Origins of the Borough of

Wallingford Archaeological and Historical

Perspectives. A second successful conference

on Medieval Wallingford was organised

last year on behalf of the Burh to Borough

Project by Wallingford Museum and a third,

Wallingford Castle in Context, is planned for

October 9, 2010.

Originally launched as part of the Burh

to Borough Project but now with a life of

i ts own is a garden archaeology project

under the aegis of TWHAS. The intention

is to dig test pits 1.5m by 1m and up to 1.2

metres deep in 100 gardens scattered around

the town. Each pit is fully excavated and

recorded, finds removed and analysed, and

provides a comprehensive picture of strata

and occupation levels in different parts of the

town. Whilst this technique has been used ina village situation, this is the first t ime it has

been tried in an urban context. To date 30 pits

have been excavated and reported.

The museum has a vital role to play in

the developing picture of the history of

Wallingford, but there are future concerns to

be addressed. Storage s pace for the collec tions

has become a critical issue and we have been

actively seeking a solution to this growingproblem for several years. The answer lies in

the util isation of the open yard immediately

behind Flint House, which is part of our

lease. After a couple of false starts, we had

a breakthrough in September last year when

it was suggested that we build a traditional

timber framed structure as a public spectacle

on the Kinecroft a Festival of Traditional

Skills and then crane the completed frames

into position behind the nearby Flint House.

It was an exciting idea.

G ar d e n Ar c hae ology 2010

Despite i ts long and

signi f icant history ,

Wal l ingford has rarely been

more than a footnote in most

academic texts



The building could be entirely independent

of the listed building but would providetwo storeys of important display space

and somewhere to address groups, adults

and children, as well as providing a much-

needed collections management area and

archaeological workshop. A disabled WC

and a second, ambulant WC, plus a covered

activity area for outdoor events such as

Family Archaeology Day, would complete the

facili t ies. (See plan below.)

Apart from the attraction of buil ding in green

oak and its environmental attributes, there isa unique benefit to the proposed timber frame.

Each frame will be constructed in a different

style so that from west to east, the timber

work (visible to visitors within the building)

will tell the story of developing techniques

from Mediaeval to Victorian, a kind of 12 to

the foot scale model.

It was proposed that we should work with The

Carpenters Fellowship, the not-for-profit

trade body that represents and sets standardsfor the structural t imber framing industry

in the UK. They were also responsible for

the construction of the Abingdon School

Boathouse and the award-winning Northmoor

Trust building at Little Wittenham.

The Carpenters Fellowship had an available

window in August which gave us a very tight

schedule to design the building, get planning

permission, cost i t and raise the funds.

Preliminary plans were drawn up by Novemberand presented to our landlords, Wallingford



Town Council, who enthusiast ically embraced

the idea and gave it the go-ahead. We held a

private launch in our local hotel and prese nted

the guests with an information pack sponsored

by a l ocal print er.

Detailed plans were completed and the

planning application submitted in early

January 2010. Nearly 300 people wrote to the

District Council in support of the scheme,

urging the planners to give it their permission,

which was granted in mid-March. Meanwhile

at a public launch in the Town Hall nearly 100

people signed up in support of t he scheme and

80 took away forms to sponsor beams in the

proposed bui lding.

Fund-raising for the target figure of 400,000

has taken various forms. A series of lectureson the history of Wallingford raised over

3000 and we received generous donations

from private individuals. We have sold many

of the 1500 10 (250mm) oak pegs which will

hold the timber frame together structurally,

and purchasers may have the opportunity to

knock their pegs in while the frames are stil l

on the ground. For children, we are hol ding acompetition for the best decorated peg.

Individual t imber beams have been priced for

sponsorship, ranging from a common rafter for

25 to 2500 for the main west window, with

lots of beams at around 250-500. Sponsors

will have their names carved into the beamsby a local woodcarver. With items donated by

local individuals and businesses, in April we

held a grand auction which raised 7000 with

5000 matched funding promis ed. At the same

time, local woodland owners were contacted

to ask them to donate oak trees to the project.

The response was remarkable. We now have

all the oak we need, around 70 trees in total,

all sourced within a radius of 10 miles of the

museum.

The tree operation has also been a key

educational tool. One of the museums

education officers has been working with three

local schools, each of which has adopted a

wood nearby. Children have visited the sites

and watched the felling in progress, and will

follow through with a replanting scheme we

are organising to replace the timber t aken out

(much of which has been removed for thinning

or because of dying trees).

We have to date submitted nearly 200

applications to grant-giving bodies but this

is where our tight t imetable proved to be

our temporary undoing. We discovered that

many of the Trustees meet only once a year

and decisions were being made too late for

an August build. In the case of two major

applications for which we had high hopes (a

total of 150,000) we were unable to complete

the applications in time because we couldnt

get the required number of quotations for eachbudget i tem before the deadline.

local woodland owners

were contacted to ask them

to donate oak trees to the

project . The response was

remark able. We now have

al l the oak we nee d, around

70 trees in total

Pu b lic lau nc h in W all ingf or d t own hal l



In the end, we decided that the build eventwould have to be postponed for a year, so we

are now looking at a September 2011 build.

This does at least buy us time to raise more

funds and complete the grant applications.

The availability of The Carpenters Fellowship

for next year is currently under review. If

we are unable to use them, we will have to

seek a timber-frame contractor, but one who

is prepared to build the frame in public view

and maintain the community involvement.Meanwhile, raising the funds is the key issue.

Public support continues and we are stil l

selling pegs and encouraging sponsorship of

beams as well as pursui ng grant applications .

Our next big fund-raising event will be on

21 August, 2010, a Mediaeval fair on the

Kinecroft. Attractions include a living history

display, craft demonstrations and have-a-go

opportunities, a pig roast, and much more.

Further events are planned for the future.

Despite the delay we are stil l fully committed

to the project, which is crucial for a number

of reasons. The volunteer-led scheme has

fired imaginations and seems to have become

something of a flagship for the community,

recognising its key role in the economic

viability of i ts future. The museum stil l

desperately needs to expand for practical

reasons (collections, better mobility access,space for larger groups etc.) but we also wish

to seize the opportunity to enhance tourism for

the good of the town as a whole, expanding our

displays to put more emphasi s on Wallingford

& the World featuring internationally famous

locals l ike Agatha Christie, Jethro Tull and

Judge Blackstone. The annexe will allow us

to encompass all these things and continue

honour the towns heritage, and with more

support and funding we can make it happen in

the coming yea r.

How You Can He lp

Sponsor a beam (and get your name carved on it ) :

co nt act St uart De we y at [email protected]

Mak e a do nat io n: http://www.justgiving.com/wal l ingfordmuseum

Vis it our website http://www.wal l ingfordmuseum.org.uk for the latest news

Vie w of t he K ine c r of t f r om t he mu s e u m

F ind s was hing at t he mu s e u m
mailto:[email protected]://www.justgiving.com/wallingfordmuseumhttp://www.wallingfordmuseum.org.uk/http://www.wallingfordmuseum.org.uk/http://www.justgiving.com/wallingfordmuseummailto:[email protected]



he archaeologists equipment store

PAST HORIZONS TOOLSTORE

Drafting film roll High-res contour gauge 4 WHS trowel

tanley 30m Powerwinder WHS softhandled trowel Multiple scale ruler

Igaging digital calipers Photoboard set

hartwell Watershed book Digital vernier gauge www.pasthorizons.com/shop

PAST HORIZONSoffers a large selection of quality tools and

equipment for your archaeological needs

# WHS Archaeology trowels

# Leaf and Square / Trowel and Square

# Rotring pens and pencils

# Stanley measuring tapes : 5m - 8m - 30m - 60m

# Plumb bobs and Line levels

# Scale rulers and Folding rulers

# Digital calipers (inside and outside)

# Pottery combs

# Drafting film in both roll and A3 cut sheet

# Graph paper rolls and A3 pads

View our website for more equipment and ideas.

5% discounts are available for bona fide

archaeology societies - using code ASOC when

placing an order.

Student offer: Buy a genuine WHS Archaeology

Trowel for only 10 (plus P&P)

Past Horizons ships across the world to

individuals, companies, universities and museums

View our

ull range of

equipment

on our website
http://www.pasthorizons.com/shophttp://www.pasthorizons.com/shop



A DIGGERS L IFE Surfing for barrow ditches on waves of wet

clay, fishing for Rome in urban puddles,

chewing the metaphysical in the monumental,

crawling deep below ground in search of

l ight, negotiating with the dead or juggling

with af ter l ives .. . Si Cleggett (a.k.a Troll) is

a field archaeologist and loves it .

IN MY LAST offer ing, I discussed the a lmost

universal thirs t for shiny things and the bizarre

hunger to re-establish the pr imacy of s ta tus .

Perhaps this is a ref lec t ion of modern capita l ism and

the loss of individual identi ty i n a l i fe dominated

with the re lentless pursuit of socia l advancement.

Paradoxical ly, physical manifesta t ions of perceived social dominance today may reflect a

need to c l imb out of an individual identi ty and

gain access to a socia l grouping we aspire to but

interpre t in dif ferent ways.

Modern archaeologists are consistently guil ty of

making the assumption that the acquisi t ion of

mater ia l goods in the distant past was an accepted

vehic le to asser t ing individual posi t ion. By

extension, this sa ted envy and signalled to peers

that some transformation had taken place , thereby

granting access to a niche where some wereseemingly promoted to a super ior s ta tus.

Of course , mater ia l goods can equally be seen as

tools , conta iners and necessary accoutrements for

the perceived journeys into af ter l ives determined

by social and cultural values, but a grave should

not exclusively been seen as an opportunity for

aggrandisement. Reading archaeology in this way

is extraordinar i ly nave and archaeologists can

often be guil ty of judging a book by i ts cover

when others have the foresight to read the book

f irs t .

With this in mind, i t is possible to argue that

children in prehistory a t least could be viewed

as prest ige goods in the sense that they convey a

far more profound manifesta t ion of socia l posi t ion

than functional and a t trac t ive i tems placed

within a bur ia l context . The stresses of weaning,

childhood morta l i ty and bir th i tse lf would surely

have presented something of a lot tery to socie t ies ,

communit ies and cultures who would had re l iedupon reproduction for their very survival a lmost

as much as food sources.

Phil ippe Aris in his bookCenturies of Childhood

cla imed that before the invention of childhood

in the Victor ian per iod, chi ldren were simply

percieved as small adults. This was expanded

upon in The Making of the Modern Family by

Edward Shorter who c la imed that in cer ta in

socie t ies mothers viewed the development and

happiness of infants with indifference on the

basis of high mortality rates. In her bookA Distant MirrorBarbara Tuchman demonstrated

that dur ing the Mediaeval per iod, an absence of

interest in children and their perceived sta tus as

unrewarding products prevailed.*

As these histor ians have shown, i t is l ikely that

for many cultures young children were of ten

viewed in a pract ica l sense . However , his tor ical

evidence a lso points to a deep emtional a t tachment

of people to their chi ldren. For example , the

diar is t John Evelyn and his wife lost s ix of e ight

children in childhood and, af ter the death of hisoldest chi ld who died three days af ter his f i f th

birthday in 1658, he wrote, Here ends the joy of

my l ife . The wri ter Will iam Brownlow lost one

child every year for seven years admitt ing that the

tragedy hast broken me asunder and shaken me

to pieces .

The loss of a child in the ear ly modern era would

be traumatic and emotional but in prehistory i t

may have had other dimensions. The transi t ion

in funerary pract ises f rom the Neoli thic to the

Bronze Age in Cyprus could arguably be seenas the polar opposite of those recorded in the

K af k al la Plat e au



Neo/Bronze transi t ion here in the Bri t ish Is les .

In general terms, the Cypriot Neoli thic ( f rom

7000 B.C) sees individual bur ia l within domestic

contexts (under house f loors/hear ths e tc) and a

move towards collec t ive bur ia l within chambered

tombs dur ing the Bronze Age ( f rom 2500B.C).

The communal and often chambered tombs of the

Brit ish Neoli thic ( f rom 4000 B.C) give way to

largely individual bur ia l in the Bronze Age ( f rom

2500 B.C) .

In 2004, I took par t in the excavation of an extensive

Bronze Age cemetery complex in Deneia, Cyprus.

These cemeter ies l ie to the south of the Ovgos

valley and occupy around six hectares of the

l imestone Kafkalla pla teaux. With over a thousand

tomb shaf ts visible across the area , Deneia is the

largest known Bronze Age bur ia l ground on the

island. Throughout the twentie th century and

even today, archaeologists working in Cyprus

have paid l i t t le or no a t tention a t a l l to humanremains. Mater ia l goods and ceramic typologies

have character ised the is lands prehistory and as

a result i t was accepted that chi ldren were not

a l located the same bur ia l space as adults dur ing

the Bronze Age.

I carr ied out a f ie ld assessment of the human

remains f rom a single tomb (789) and established

that i t conta ined a t least 46 individuals . This f igure

vast ly outnumbered previously acknowledged

Bronze Age tomb populat ions on the is land and

it quickly became apparent that a s ignif icant proportion of the remains were actually sub-

adult . After examination by an osteoarchaeologist

i t turned out that 31 of the 46 individuals (67%)

were sub-adult . Of these , 19 were foeta l to one

year of age , e ight were young children (1-6 years) ,

two were older children (7-12 years) and two were

adolescents (13-18 years) . This small sample

represents a mere 10% of the tomb chamber.

Contrary to popular bel ief , i t seems that the infant

and sub-adult skele tons do survive as well as

those of adults , and unless excavators recognise

human remains for what they are , another centuryof erroneous and wildly inaccurate publicat ions

are inevitable .

So what does a l l this mean? I t means that chi ldren

were interred within the same bur ia l spaces as

adults dur ing the Cypriot Bronze Age from at least

2500 B.C to around 1125 B.C (Late Cypriot e IIIa)

and that more adults occupied tombs than was

previously understood. The abil i ty to produce

viable offspr ing must have been fundamental to

the very survival of prehistor ic communit ies . The

proport ion of sub-adults within one small sampleof a s ingle tomb that was in use for perhaps over

500 years suggests that the number of sub-adults

who survived to adulthood must have been very

much higher than bel ieved. Archaeologists rea l ly

have l i t t le notion of the place of sub-adults within

the dai ly l ives of prehistor ic communit ies and yet

here a t least , in death, there is no major dist inct ion

between them and adults.

I f archaeologists accept the idea that Bronze

Age communit ies in Cyprus had a developed and

structured concept of af ter l ives, i t would fol low

that sub-adults a lso had a place or a perceived

role to play a lso, hence bur ia l in the same tomb

spaces. Arguably, the abil i ty to produce children

amongst the female members of socie ty may

have resulted in an e levated sta tus within the

community and children may have been viewed

as prest ige achievements of these women: new

members of the community to farm, hunt , produce

goods and enr ich the fabr ic of socie ty for the

future . Children were potentia l assets; pots werefor s tor ing and eat ing.

A community that sees a place and a role for

children in an af ter l i fe is hardly l ikely to devalue

them dur ing l i fe , and on an is land subject to f lux,

change and cultura l inf luence, the survival and

viabil i ty of new members would have been vi ta l .

For over a century, Bronze Age children have been

playing hide and seek with archaeologists who

have fa i led to grasp the concept that an essentia l

part of the game is to search for them. It reallywas a once in a l i fe t ime exper ience to take par t in

such an important excavation. With any luck the

discovery of these remains wil l a l ter the way we

view Bronze Age Cyprus and force a change in

excavation stra tegies that wil l give a voice back

to these invisible children.

* Aris, Phil ippe, Centuries of Childhood: A

Social History of Family Li fe (New York, 19 62)

Shorter, Edward, The Making of the Modern

Family (New York, 19 75)

Tuchman, Barbara W., A Distant Mirror, 1978(New York, 1 978)

Mu s e u m analy s is



Dela ncey Park

SINCE the advent of a fully integrated planning process in the early 1990s,

archaeology societies in the UK have found it increasingly difficult to

organise and run excavation programmes. The view post PPG 16 (and

now PPS 5*) has been to preserve, where possible in situ archaeological

remains, in particular sites such as prehistoric burial-ritual monuments.

Bearing this in mind, and the limited opportunities to excavate sites of this

age and quality in Britai n, members of the Clifton Antiquarian Club, were

delighted to excavate one of Guernseys premier prehistoric monuments,

Delancey Park. Prior to this the last excavation on Guernsey of a Neolithic

burial-rit ual monument was undertaken in 1979 at Les Fouill ages.

by George Nash

Excavating a Neol i thic Gal lery Grave on Guernsey



Ae r ial v ie w of D e lanc e y Par k s howing t he ongoing e x c av at ion

Cli f t on Ant iq u ar ian Clu b



For the club, interest in Delancey Park

began in 2008 when negotiations to survey

and excavate were finalised with Guernsey

Museum. The following year a small team

came over to search the museum archive and

conduct the first ever detailed survey of the

monument since its discovery in 1919. This

initial phase of work led to an archaeological

evaluation that included the excavation of six

trenches in July this year.

Delancey Park, one of 18 or so free-standing

stone late prehistoric burial-ritual monuments,

comprises two parallel l ines of stone that

extend for some nine-and-a-half metres east-

west. This monument is one of three gallery

graves in the Channel Islands; a further twostand in neighbouring Jersey and a further

24 are located in northern France and two in

Wales.

D e lanc e y Par k d u r ing t he 1932 e x c av at ion wit h ar c hae ologis t Mis s Ve r a C. C. Col lu m

D e lanc e y Par k in a s or r y s t at e in lat e 2009



Based on the architecture and artefacts

recovered from two previous excavations, the

Delancey Park monument appears to date to

the Late Neolithic period and therefore later

than the passage grave tradition, a group of

monuments that more or less dominate the

Neolithic burial-ritual landscape of Jersey

and Guernsey, such as Le Varde and Le Dehus

in the north of Guernsey.

In the past Delancey Park has undergone

several landscaping and planting regimes.

However, during the Neolithic the site would

have probably had uninterrupted views of

the coastline to the north and west. Prior to

the 18th century, the monument stood on a

prominent headland t hat overlooked a channel

that separated the main island from a small

is land.

Following the initial discovery in 1919,the Guernsey States architect instructed the

workforce to treat the site with great care,

believing the stones formed part of a dolmen.

According to newspaper accounts at the time,

further stones were uncovered, nearly all

oblong in shape and in a perfectly natural

condition. I t is not clear if an official

excavation took place as no records survive.

However, a small number of artefacts,

many probably contemporary with the use

of monument, were recovered following

its discovery including fragments of bone

belonging to an ox, a few limpet shells, stone

tools and pottery.

The stone tools included a fragment of a

greenstone axe (or rubber) that had been

cracked by fire, a small collection of flint

chips, four gun flints (probably 18th century)

and coarse, gritty potter y.

G IS v ie w of D e lanc e y Par k and ne ighb ou r ing monu me nt s and f ind s p ot s - c ou r t e s y of G u e r ns e y Mu s e u ms



Later in 1932 a two-day excavation was

undertaken by Miss Vera C. C. Collum who,

based on several site photographs, conducted

a prodding and recording exercise between

the stones. The excavation yielded further

prehistoric finds and possible structures

relating to the construction of the monument

including a number of possible uprights

located along the northern line of stones (andtheir associate stone packing). Investigations

were also conducted around the western end

of the monument. Following the excavation

Ms Collum referred to Delancey Park as

an alle couverte . This type of monument,

constructed similarly to the gallery grave

tradition, is usually found in central and

northern France and generally comprises a

rectangular chamber delineated by a series

of large uprights (there are some inst ances of

smaller antechambers leading off around the

main chamber entrance). Based on the 1932site photographs it appears that none of the

larger stones were removed off site for this

excavation; theirin s i tu position are supported

by digital images that were taken pri or to the

2010 excavation and show that only one stone

has been removed, i ts whereabouts unknown.

Although its archaeological discovery is

attributed to 1919 Ms Collum does suggest

that a number of the capstones were removed

and broken up around 1878 for foundationmaterial to support the nearby Admiral de

Saumarez monument, but i t is not clear which

ones were removed.

The 2010 season concentrated on the northern

part of the site where, based on archive

photographic evidence, l i t t le disturbance had

occurred. Four of the six trenches ran roughl y

parallel with the northern line of fallen stone

uprights. I t is within several of these trenches

that the previous spoil heap of the 1932

excavation was recorded. Underlying this wereseveral accumulative deposits comprising

Plan of t he D e lanc e y Monu me nt and t r e nc hing J u ly 2010 b y D onov an Hawle y



wind-blown sand. It was considered by the

Clifton team that the southern side of the

monument had been severely disturbed and

that l i t t le of the prehistoric archaeology had

probably survived, t he result of several recent

landscaping regimes. However, a small slot

was excavated within the west part of site that

revealed potential in s i tu cultural deposits,

a few centimetres below the present ground

level.

Located in one trench within the north-western

section of the site were several clear structures ,

their function unknown. Associated with

these were a small but significant collection

of locally worked flint and prehist ory pottery.A similar artefact assemblage was recovered

from the other five trenches suggesting that

the site was busy, either during or after the

monument was in use.

Two trenches, were solely dedicated to

recording the soil deposition that had

occurred over the past four to five millennia.

These trenches were deliberately located

away from recent archaeological activity but

both yielded significant quantities of later prehistoric flint and pottery. Interpretati on

E x c av at ion of Tr e nc h 1, whic h was or ginal ly c ov e r e d b y one of t he f al le n u p r ight s

In s itu p ac k ing f or a r e mov e d u p r ight



of soil profile suggests that wind-blown silty-sand deposits covered the site shortly after

the Middle to Late Bronze Age.

In another trench, close to the western end of

the site, small fragments of burnt, possibly

cremated (human?) bone were found. Based

partly on the burial deposition from other

gallery grave sites and bone recovered from

the 1932 excavation, the western end of the

monument may have been the area where the

ancestors were finally laid to rest.

The final and most exhausting achievement

of this seasons work was to remove one of

the fallen uprights, centrally located along

the northern line of stones. Due in part to

recent fire hearth activity, this stone and

others nearby were fractured. However,

based on the 1932 photographic archive, i t

appears that this and other fallen uprights had

remained in s i tu . If this was the case then in

situ Neolithic/Earl y Bronze Age deposits mayexist underneath.

The stone was carefully moved on July 20 anda trench laid out which extended northwards

into Collums spoil heap. Revealed was the

accumulated detritus broken bottles, l i t ter,

leaf mould and several coins that managed

to creep within exposed niches between the

ground surface and the stone. Underneath

this recent cultural deposit was evidence of

the 1932 excavation, including a probable

trench edge, and beneath this was a tantalizi ng

glimpse into the early history of the monument

including possible in s i tu stone packing from both the northern and southern line of stones

and a small but significant assemblage of

worked flint and pottery.

This seasons work has proved a great succ ess

and has identified those areas of the site that

potentially have significant archaeology.

As part of the post-excavation process, the

Clifton team employed a number of specialists

who will analyse the pottery, fl int and soil

chemistry. In addition, a number of organicsamples taken from clear prehistoric horizons

Ar t is t imp r e s s ion of D e l anc e y Par k b y E l l ie Mc Q u e e n



will hopefully provide radiocarbon dates for

particular sequences, the first from a gallery

grave site in the Channel Islands. Several

members of the team also researched those

unstratified artefacts, in particular faunal

remains obtained from the 1919 and 1932

excavation.

This research will hopefully paint a clearer picture of what was happening at this

monument between c. 2500 and 3000 BC.

As for next year, we hope to target an open

area trench along the northern line of fallen

uprights, based on the results from this

season. If the results of this year are anything

to go by, the Delancey Park monument sh ould

pose a very interesting prospect. However,

as with all projects l ike this, there are more

questions than answers, reminding us that

even during the Neolithic, l ife and death wasa complicated matter.

Project director and club member Dr George

Nash lectures part-time at the University

of Bristol. He is also senior researcher at

the Museum of Prehistoric Art (Quaternary

and Prehistory Geosciences Centre), Maao,

Portugal, and associate professor within

the Department of Architecture, Spiru Haret

University in Bucharest, Romania.

* PPS 5 is a planning policy document that

sets out the UK governments policies on the

conservation of the historic environment.

Further Reading

Johnston, D. E. , The Channel Islands: An

Archaeological Guide (Chichester, Phillimore,

1981)

Kendrick, T.D.,The Archaeology of the

Channel Islands Volume 1: The Bailiwick of

Guernsey (London: Methuen, 1928)

Kinnes, I . A. & Grant, J . , Les Fouaillages

and the Megalithic Monuments of Guernsey

(Guernsey: Ampersand Press, 1983)

Kinnes, I . A., Les Fouaillages and Megalithic

Origins, Antiquity (56:216, 24-30, 1982)

Lukis, F. C., Observations on the Celtic

Megaliths, Archaeologia (35, 232-288,

1851)

Sebire, H., The Archaeology and Early Historyof the Channel Islands (Tempus, 2005)

G e t I n v o l v e d

CLIFTON ANTIQUARIAN CLUB

Originally formed in 1884, The Clifton

Antiquarian Club, based in Clifton,

Bristol, lasted 28 years before operations

resumed in 2006. We seek to promote abetter understanding of our archaeological

heritage and meet on several occasions

during the year for lectures, tours and

research projects. Please feel free to

contact us if you have any queries or are

interested in getting involved.

W: http://www.cliftonantiquarian.co.uk

E: [email protected]
http://www.cliftonantiquarian.co.uk/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.cliftonantiquarian.co.uk/



The Lost? project, thought to be the largest

of i ts kind in Scotland, began when Jane

submitted a proposal for Archaeology in the

secondary school curr iculum to Michael Foy,

principal teacher of humanities at Aboyne

Academy in Scotland. The main ambition

of the project was to raise awareness of the

clearance communities and to get young

people directly involved in supporting and

developing a community enterprise. Working

with local and national archaeology groups,

the project began in June this year with the

help of Archaeology Scotland who ran skills

workshops for primary seven pupils of all 10

academy feeder schools, preparing them to

take the lead role in their project.

These sessions were run by Meg Faragher and

Ruth Bortoli , supported by Jane and Michael.

Pupils developed map and aerial photograph

interpretation skills and artefact recognition,

handling and reconstruction skills. The pupils

also learned the benefits of excavation and

worked on a simulated excavation, learning

to piece facts together to tell a bigger story,

with the opportunity to handle 4000-year-old

artefacts from the National Museum.

With this experience in place, the pupils are

now working over an eight-month period to

research, survey and record the clearance

areas of Auchtavan and Loin at Invercauld

Estate in Glen Feardar, around 15 miles from

the school in the Cairngorms National Park.

Bringing Lost?

Communit ies

Back to L i fe

WHEN modern s tudies teacher Jane Summers got involved with Scotlands

Rural Past , a project organised by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and

Histor ical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), two years ago, she had no idea

jus t how much of an impact her volunteer work was to have. A year later she was

st i l l involved with the RCAHMS project , had completed two weeks excavation

on a Scott ish hi l l for t and s igned up for a par t- t ime degree in archaeology at

the Univers i ty of Aberdeen. Her enthusiasm culminated in the groundbreaking

Lost? project involving 130 pupils of Upper Deeside in br inging the his tory of

local clearances back to l i fe .

r ight : r e s t or e d c ot t age at Au c ht av an



Working with Braemar Castle run by Braem ar

Community Ltd, the youngsters will plan and

design a permanent display to be hosted in thecastle, which will tell the story of the ordinary

communities of the estate and showcase the

work of the project. I t is hoped t hat Auchtavan

and the castle will be available as permanent

learning resources for the community schools

and beyond.

Working with the support of Scotl ands Rural

Past and Archaeology Scotland the pupils will

undertake a full site survey, field sketches and

site descriptions for each of the propertiesto form the basis of a series of in-school

research projects. Ultimately, the site survey

will contribute to records on the Canmore

Database. It is hoped that the pupils will not

only be able to record the substantial township

in the glen but also build up a wider pi cture of

what l ife might have been like for the people

of these seemingly remote communities.

Brian Wilkinson, education officer for

Scotlands Rural Past, said, It is very excitingto be involved in this innovative school project,

which looks set to be engaging, enjoyable

and rewarding for the pupils and the wider

community. Archaeology involves studying people in the past by examining the objects,

buildings and landscapes they left behind.

By investigating the abandoned settlement

at Auchtavan the pupils will find out what

the ruined buildings can tell us about a now-

vanished rural way of life, and help visitors

to the area understand the stories behind the

many deserted settlements found throughout

Deeside and across Scotland.

The Lost? project will also teach themarchaeological survey skills to create a

valuable detailed record of Auchtavan. Their

drawings and descriptions of the township

will be submitted to the Royal Commission

on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of

Scotland, and make a real contribution to our

understanding of rural l ife in the past.

Although the work presents quite a challenge

to the budding archaeologists, Jane and

Michael are confident the pupils will r iseto the occasion, and are now planning an

S u r v e y ing wit h t he u s e of a p lane t ab le , look ing at old map s and p lanning u s ing a gr id

Map s howing t he d e s e r t e d

s e t t le me nt of Au c ht av an. The

p r oj e c t wi l l als o b e s e ar c hing

f or an old c hap e l whic h is

t hou ght t o hav e e x is t e d at

Balnoe .



SCOTLANDS RURAL PAST is a f ive-year in it iat ive run by RCAHMS with partnership funding. The project ,

launched in October 2006, is working with local communit ies to research, record and promote Scotlands

vanishing histor ic rural sett lements and landscapes. Scotlands Rural Past was awarded Highly Commended

in the Best Archaeological Projects category i n the prest igious Br it ish Archaeological Awards from the Br it ish

Academy. This was in recognit ion of the valuable work being achieved by volunteer part ic ipants acrossScotland. http://www.scotlandsruralpast .org.uk

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND brings together those for whom archaeology is an interest , an act ive past ime

or a career , support ing local archaeological act ion and campaigns for the best possible conservation and

management of her itage. http://www.scott isharchaeology.org.uk

Int e r ior of r e s t or e d c ot t age wit h hinging lu m at Au c ht av an p hot o: N ige l Cor b y

For more information on Lost? contact:

Jane Summers

modernmrss@googlemail .com

Michael Foy

[email protected]

T: 013398 85201 M: 07971 062994

Academy Archaeology club to support the

project and open the experience to all year

groups. Having done some work previously

with pupils on site surveys, Jane recognised

that archaeology could appeal to children of

a l l abi l i t ies and in terests .

She said, We hope that pupils will learn

about distil lation and the use of l ime inscience, creating 3D images from their plane

table drawings, recreating the homes and the

atmosphere of the community using artistic

skills, researching the lives and culture of the

people at different per iods, as well as looking

at the wider history of Scotland.

These histories should be brought alive by

the creation of l iving history dramas about

the communities and the events linked to

them. There are massive opportunities to dosome experimental archaeology, too. In fact

there are so many creative ideas comi ng from

the archaeology it is diffi cult to keep a lid on

them all .

The project will end with a ceilidh and

exhibition of the interpretation and research

produced. The ceilidh will also showcase the

dramas created to reflect the life and culture

of the settlements at various points in its

history. Until then, the pupils continue to

enjoy the challenge of bringing their Lost?

community back to life.

Auchtavan and Loin in Glen Feardar make

up a large township at 430m above sea level.

The buildings range from ankle-high turf

constructions to an intact late Victorian

cottage. A previous project rescued one of thecottages which retained an original hanging

chimney (hingin lum) and the remains of i ts

cruck framed, l ichen that ched roof. Auchtavan

has 17 unroofed buildings alone and th e whole

site has at least two corn kilns and a huge lime

kiln, the highest building on the site. From

estate records Jane has already put tenants and

subtenants names to the ruins, and one of the

projects will be to res earch the names and the

families that l ived there, aided by Scotlands

People which has provided access to censusmaterial and parish records.

The project will also attempt to locate the lost

chapel at Balnoe below Auchtavan. Although

there are a number of references to the chapel,

which is recorded on RCAHMS, it has never

been found, and Jane has enlist ed the support

of local archaeology group OFARS to help

solve the myster y.
http://www.scotlandsruralpast.org.uk/http://www.scottisharchaeology.org.uk/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.scottisharchaeology.org.uk/http://www.scotlandsruralpast.org.uk/



Shiel ingsLi fe in the H igh Pastures

F iona Bak e r of F ir at Ar c hae ologic al S e r v ic e s Lt d . monit or ing mac hine c le ar anc e of ov e r b u r d e n at a s hie l ing hu t .



The rural landscape of Scotland is dotted with thousands of huts where, for hundr eds of years,

people spent their summer months grazing cattle on high pastures. These simple structures,

called shielings, wer e such a common and normal part of Scottish country life that l i t t le was

written about them during their period of use, and they are often not even marked on estate

maps and plans. Due to their location they are not usually threatened by major development:

forestry, wind farms, hydroelectricity pipelines and power lines usually manage to avoid

them altogether, but despite their endurance they are rarely excavated for archaeologicalpurposes.

By Fiona Baker



Shielings normally range in size from groups

of five to 15 huts, and on the few occasionswhere they have been excavated, earlier

settlement has sometimes been found beneath

the obvious hut. Not only were the shieling

huts themselves rebuilt several t imes during

their years of use, but the hut builders seem

to have have deliberately selected existing

mounds for better drainage. The existing

mound on which the shieling hut would have

been built may represent a natural landscape

feature or perhaps an earlier archaeological

s i te .

The shielings can be found in the high

pastures and were often located on the upper

reaches of streams that flowed down to the

main settlement, usually on estate boundaries,

which were often delineated by water courses.

Although some were perhaps only two or three

miles from the main township, others were up

to 10 or 12 miles away, taking several days

to move the stock and equipment up to the

higher ground from the lower lying areas. I t

is possible that the families moved between

different shieling huts over the course of a

summer or used different sites in different

years, but each year the inhabitants would

return to the towns at the end of the summer

for the beginning of the harvest.

In 2008, in advance of an NPower hydro-

electricity scheme, Fiona Baker of Firat

Archaeological Services Ltd. carried out adesk-based assessment and excavation of

old shielings around Douglas Water and its

tributaries in Argyllshire, Scotland, usingordnance survey maps from 1874 onwards.

The three main settlement areas included

Achnagoul, Auchindrain and Kilean/Kilian,

the largest townships in the area, and probably

the main homes for the seasonal occupants of

the shielings at Allt Fearna, Allt nam Muc and

Lagantour.

The shieling excavated at Allt Fearna, a

settlement made up of around five buildings

and most l ikely associated with the settlement

of Kilian, was found to overlie a prehistoric

burnt mound. The burnt mound site would have

left a noticeable small mound, and following

total excavation of the site i t appear s the burnt

mound inhabitants also selected a natural

small mound for their activities.

The lower lying or main fermtoun settlement

of Kilian included a burial ground to the

north east where a cist is also marked. An

entry from the National Monuments Record

of Scotland notes that the covering stone of

the cist was removed for building the farm

house at Kilian but the owner did not want

to use a gravestone and the lost cist

13: adventures in archaeology august 2010 - past horizons

Documents