The Long Awaited Archaeo-Pasts 2012!

The National Museum Wales Archaeo-Pasts conference took the audience from the Palaeolithic right through to Gothic Wales on a whistle stop archaeological tour…and we didn’t even have to leave our seats! I don’t usually do reviews so you may have to bear with me a little bit.

First up was Elizabeth Walker and a rather interesting talk about Neanderthals, in particular those found at Pontnewydd Cave, it thought that teeth found here represent 16 individuals: 7 adults and 9 juveniles with the youngest believed to be around 8 years old.  During the question session the subject of DNA studies was addressed, this was particularly interesting when Elizabeth indicated that there were talks of undertaking such analysis on the Pontnewydd populations.  This will allow for increased understanding of Neanderthal DNA and any genetic links between them and atomically modern humans.  I felt this was the most interesting element of her work, however, it was only hinted at during the actual lecture.  Much time was spent providing background information on previous excavations, which was of course interesting, but personally I would have preferred more details on upcoming projects.  An evaluation of the Red Lady was also undertaken, including interesting thoughts from the antiquarian discoverer who over the course of an evening changed his opinions on the human remains considerably.  He begun believing that it was a Roman merchant and ended with the theory that it was in fact a woman and the presence of ochre staining was indicative that she was a Roman prostitute.  We have since discovered that she is in fact a he and lived during the Mesolithic…a little bit before those Romans!

Next up was Dr Richard Bevins who presented his recent findings on the origins of the Stonehenge bluestones.  For those not in the know he explained that these stones are thought to have been moved from Wales to the Salisbury Plain where they formed part of the world famous Stonehenge.  Unfortunately this paper was very heavy on the geology and chemical components aspects which meant a great deal of it went over my head…after all I am only a baby archaeologist!  There were many images of geological features and detailed images of aspects needed to indentify a rock outcrop to the stones placed within Stonehenge.  Excitingly (well I think so), I did grasp that it is almost confirmed that the bluestones of Stonehenge are in fact Welsh and are thought to come from a small outcrop in the lowlands of the Preseli range.  There were of course more precise details within the lecture, however, I don’t feel it’s my place to share this…after all I would want to share such exciting discoveries on my own terms if I am ever fortunate to be involved in such a project.

For me the next talk was by far the highlight of the day…a lecture by none other than Prof. Mike Parker Pearson about the age old mysteries of Stonehenge!  Suddenly uncomfortable chairs were no longer an issue!  Firstly an interesting interpretation was provided for the whole of the Stonehenge landscape…provided in a funny sort of way by an ethnographic study that wasn’t.  By this I mean an individual connected to Parker Pearson originating from Madagascar suggested that it was all very simple and us archaeologists were making the whole thing far too complicate; wood was for the living and stone was for the ancestors.  This was met with a little caution due to the passing nature of the initial comments, however as studies progressed it made more and more sense.  At Stonehenge there are of course a large number of huge stones and surrounding them has been in the region of 57 cremations.  In nearby Durrington Walls a suspected settlement of a reasonably large size, cremations and burials are nowhere to be found, but the buildings are of timber.  The same is seen at Woodhenge, although not known to work elsewhere the concept seems to be working well within the Stonehenge landscape.  There is nothing to say that Britain was not regionalised at this time after all.  On a personal note I feel it is quite fitting that timber represents the transitional nature of human life, with stone representing the permanent memory of people we have known and those of distant relation who we just hear tales about.  

The second theory is also rather impressive and I’m looking forward to my copy of Stonehenge: Exploring the Greatest Stone Age Mystery to arrive so I can find out more.  We were treated to enough of this to make us want more.  The great debate on the movement of the stone used to construct Stonehenge is age old…was it people or was it glacial movement?  Personally I believe it was done by people and so does Parker Pearson, with glacial movement being highly unlikely due to them not quite reaching the Wessex region. Now that bit is pretty much settled here is the even bigger question and the even bigger theory…Why?

Stonehenge represents local Wessex stone and the distance Welsh stone.  These stones were brought together to form a new entity in the Salisbury Plain that we know as Stonehenge…but Why?  Well in accordance to Parker Pearson it was the coming together of two large social groupings with differing ethnic backgrounds.  He suggests that there was a group that moved into the Wessex region bringing with them farming and other social developments, probably from the region of the Low Countries.  Contemporary with this he believes that a similar social group moved into the Preseli region, probably from Western France or even the Iberian Peninsular.  The Preseli landscape has a huge amount of chambered tombs, dolmans and standing stones making the area significant to the surrounding population, which is deemed to be relatively large and powerful in order to create such monumental structures.  Add to this that the period was known to be violent, with c.6% of known skulls to have impact fractures, 50% of which were lethal.  By c.3400BC causeway enclosures such as Hambledon Hill had been fortified suggesting that violent acts were becoming organised.  This is also a point where regionalisation is known in pottery forms, suggesting self governing social groupings linked by a common material culture.  Those found in Preseli and those within Wessex are stylistically different and such appear to be very separate social groups. But you are still asking Why?

Well this was a period of social uncertainty, therefore change occurs.  Parker Pearson suggests that the two social groups were forming a bond by merging their ancestral communities on the Salisbury Plain and as a result Stonehenge was formed.  The bluestone of Preseli was used in order to represent the ancestors of those living in modern Wales and the local stone was used to represent the ancestors of modern Wessex.  This merger could arguably be the earliest instance of multiculturalism in Britain…not such a modern idea after all! This theory is very much in its’ infancy and it’s hoped that DNA studies may shed more light on the notion of ethnically variable groups being represented within the excavation cremations of Stonehenge so watch this space….

Next up was an insight into my beautiful Iron Age from the perspective of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS).  I was pleasantly surprised and disappointed by this talk all at the same time… the archaeologist in me was amazed by the work done by Mark Lodwick with the metal-detectoring community in reporting their finds, but the Prehistorian in me was disappointed with the level of detail relating to Iron Age Wales…just no pleasing some people.  Mark detailed a localised metal detector find which has lead to a full excavation and associated study on a prehistoric settlement that was previously unknown to archaeologists.  All the way through metal detectorist were involved along with the local community and school groups.  This prompted me to truly appreciate what PAS does for the archaeological community and I can’t help but feel people like Mark do not receive the recognition that they deserve!

After a lunch break proceedings got all historical and I found it harder to be captivated by the lectures, this is in no way a reflection of the speakers just my interests…but I did my very best to focus to continue my review.

Dr Stephen Harrison was first after lunch with the Vikings…this got me interested; I mean who doesn’t love a Viking?  He boldly took on the challenge of re-visiting antiquarian discoveries of Viking burials within Britain and Ireland, 6 of which are known to be in Wales.  He quickly explained the nature of burials, those with swords were naturally ‘male’ and those with beads were obviously ‘female’.  I do like a bit of gender archaeology and wasn’t the least bit shocked when we were told that the antiquarians made the graves fit a type if they didn’t do it on their own with artefacts changing between graves very easily!  This made his thesis very complicated and in the little snapshot we had it was an extremely interesting paper, modern technology has made the ‘male’ ‘female’ ideas problematic and where possible bones have been given their true gender regardless of associated artefacts.  It was unclear whether Dr Harrison had stuck with the ‘male’ ‘female’ tags…I sincerely hope that he hasn’t and a new system was utilised to avoid further issue in future studies.  Gender is always a complicated issue when considering passed society as it is virtually impossible not to inflict our own ideals upon what we study.  Gender rarely manages to achieve a happy medium and I think that’s part of the appeal in studying it…

Next up was Roman Caerleon…I have grown up visiting this site and was very excited about the lecture Dr Andrew Gardner and Evan Chapman I’m did their very best and everyone else in the room was delighted with their information…but my love for the site left me wanting more.  I thought there was too much about previous excavations by other organisations and not enough Caerleon excitement.  I loved the explanation of the warehouse discovery and the details of the armour and how it had to be block excavated, I just wanted more of that and less history of excavation.

Edward Besly was next up with more Romans, this time it was all about the money as he explored Wales’ coin hoards…well 3 of them.  I could have listened to more of this too; who knew so much social history could be documented on such a tiny piece of metal?  I was amazed to learn that some 65,000 Roman coins are known in Wales…not bad considering how much resistance we gave them during conquest.  The burial circumstances were unknown but in the Newport hoard coins minted in a 150/160 year period were presented, representing 12 Emperors.  Most of these coins were like new, there was little ware and may well have come straight from the mint.  It is thought that these coins are long-term family savings, so despite being located within close proximity to Caerleon they are likely to be civil rather than military.  Across the 3 hoards depictions of numerous Emperors were present along with some depictions of their wives and heirs.  More interestingly imagery was present from Gaul, Italy and Egypt.

Last was Dr Mark Redknap and his gothic ivories… this was a difficult one for me, my interest level was particularly low for this one and unfortunately unlike the other historical lectures nothing really captured me.  Much of the depictions were religious in nature so unsurprisingly were found in or near churches and cathedrals… if the ivories had been more representative of social depictions I would probably have been a little more inspired.  I’m sure for those interested it was really interesting but for me it was a little flat.  I was however taken by the story of the Ivory that was found in Llandaff Cathedral, only half of it was known and is kept within the Origins Gallery, National Museum Wales, Cathays.  What had become of the other half was a mystery until a visit to Liverpool, sitting snug in one of their galleries lay the other half; this was indentified through style and other means.  on confirming them as a pair a cast was carefully made of each, which reunited them briefly, then each original and its missing piece was sent to its’ respective home.  This tale made me realise that you never know when your little mystery maybe resolved or how it will reveal itself.

All in all Archaeo-Pasts 2012 was an amazing day of discovery and I’m already looking forward to Archaeo-Pasts 2013! I don’t think I could have found a better way to kick off my Festival of Archaeology!  This week I am off to Oswestry Hillfort and Wroxeter’s Roman Town so watch this space…next time I promise pictures and lots of them. I’m also hoping to continue the Thanet series this week because I’m missing my beautiful Isle and I’m sure you are all waiting to see what happens next.

Bye for now and don’t forget to leave your comments and share your thoughts, it’s always good to hear from you all!

1000 Views!

I can't quite believe it, just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to all you lovely readers for sticking with me! In my last post I promised a conference review and it is on its way I promise, hopefully tomorrow.  Nothing short of perfect will do! Once again thank you all for reading :o)

Recent Musings...

Hello Everyone, I haven't forgotten about the Blog I promise, but I have been super busy. All those application forms paid off and I am currently an Intern, based at Swansea Waterfront Museum for The Future Memory In Place Project. Between this and volunteering at Firing Line: Story of the Welsh Soldier I have been pretty busy, though I did manage to find sometime to go away and have fun in the sun.

This weekend I'm starting the British Festival of Archaeology celebrations by attending National Museum of Wales's Archaeo-Pasts Conference. I will follow this up with a review of the days events and photos if I can take them.  Then next week I will publish the Margate section of my research, complete with site plans and my edited notes. Many of you may wonder where my references are, in due course I will add a reference/further reading type section this will contain all my sources by blog entry, they are only left out because I think it makes the reading process much better and less daunting.

Hope you all doing well and I look forward to letting you all know about my up and coming adventures....Bye for now :o)

A Brief Update

Greetings from a wet and windy Wales...the imagery for the next update is taking a little longer than I expected.  Fortunately there is an increase in jobs available for me to apply for at the moment and as such they are keeping me very busy.  I'm hoping the images will be ready for a Margate update late next week :o)

Thanet Theory

Before diving straight into Isle Archaeology, it’s important to be aware of the ever growing theories…this may seem dull, but I promise it’s important.  There cannot be research without a hypothesis and there cannot be a hypothesis without consideration being given to existing theories.  During preliminary research into Iron Age Thanet I considered six: Ex Oriente Lux, Diffusion, Kula Gift Exchange, Core Periphery Theory, Central Place Theory and notions of Gateway Communities.  Brief interpretations of each can be found on the individual pages, just follow the in text link or click the tab! This leaves this section for me to share my hypothesis…then the next entry will be the more exciting stuff!


My hypothesis is largely a revision of some and amalgamation of other theories that have already been discussed.  The biggest change is probably my ideas relating to Core and Periphery...the principal has remained the same but the subjects have altered somewhat.

Starting with the 'Core' it is no longer to be seen as a settlement, or tribe or an individual location, instead it is water.  Be it sea, lake, river, stream or brook, the waterways of the world are central to accessing landmasses.  Through such waterways people, their produce, their belief, their ideas and their technologies travel, without them much of the Ancient World would have been isolated and society as we see it today would be consequently very different.  It is important to remember that all waterways act as this 'Core', if we were to just consider the sea much of the world would remain in isolation.  This makes the 'Periphery' land, not settlements, but actual land masses as shown in the image above.  The settlements themselves are a product of the 'Core' and the 'Periphery'.

This basis allows for further developments in relation to Gateway Communities.  Such an outlook of the world requires there to be numerous nodal points along the 'Core', acting similarly to the 'Inner Periphery' as described within the Central Place tab.  This research aims to test the idea of Thanet being a nodal point, consisting of Gateway Communities.  If this is to be the case, it is then to determine whose gateway it is, is it to Britain, the Near Continent or Both?

The next entry is to focus upon the archaeology of Margate...it will consider all phases of the Iron Age and pose questions and maybe answer a few!

 

Influential Reading

Birch et al. 1988 The Gateway Island: Archaeological Discoveries in the Isle of Thanet 1630-1987 Thanet District Council: Margate

 

Cunliffe, B. 2011 Europe Between the Oceans:9000BC-AD1000 Yale Press: New Haven and London

 

Fox, C. 1943 The Personality of Britain: Its Influence on Inhabitant and Invader in Prehistoric and Early Historic Times Fourth Edition. National Museum of Wales: Cardiff

 

The Isle of Thanet....Part 1

In the last entry I mentioned The Isle of Thanet and recent works on the East Kent Access Road, having recently been featured in Current Archaeology 266 its time to share my musings! This is the first of several posts relating to Thanet in the Iron Age (800BC-AD43)

For those reading in sunnier climes and those not familiar with Kent in prehistory I'll start with the basics.  In the modern world Thanet is a district within Kent, found on the North East tip of the county.  Much like the rest of Kent it enjoys close proximity to the Near Continent and has developed a road, rail and air network to connect it to the rest of the world.

During the first Millennium BC Thanet looked very different, it sat as an isle, independent of both Britain and the Near Continent.  Its' geography placed it in an ideal position for contact with both worlds, her peoples were able to reach Kent, through the Wantsum Channel, modern London and Essex were accessible through the Thames Estuary and the Near Continent was East across the North Sea, or South across the English Channel.

Imaged produced by author and featured in dissertation

The geology of Thanet lead to a distinct topography and as early as the Bronze Age woodland clearance was likely, making it almost certain in the Iron Age.  Oak and hazel trees could still be found and cereal agriculture can be considered developed, certainly by the Middle of the Iron Age.  Thanet was blessed with high cliffs along its' North-Eastern and Eastern coasts, with broad bay harbours present at Margate and Ramsgate.  This provided her communities with relative safety and sea access, allowing for long term, sustained development. 

The Eastern coast also had access to the sea through small bays, located at several valley bottoms, including, Kingsgate Bay, Joss Bay, Stone Bay and Dumpton.  This has the potential to allow for wider sea access, however, I would be more inclined to associate such bays with interactions between island societies.

Generally speaking the Northern coast enjoyed relatively low cliffs, this coupled with soft loess (well suited for cereal agriculture) and the ability to produce salt lead to a well populated area.  This stretches from modern Birchington/Minnis Bay to Margate and will be investigated as this series continues.

The West coast was adjacent to the Wantsum Channel and from here inhabitants could look across to modern Kent and the British mainland.  This land was particularly low lying and the tidal nature of the Wantsum is likely to have created mud flaps and salt marshes.  It was here in modern day Sarre that is the likely place for a ferry crossing, from the Isle to the mainland, across the Wantsum.  A brief journey, but, the possibility to be perilous.

In the centre of the Isle is a plateau of higher ground forming the top of each valley (marked on the map above in green), a ridge runs across this, from East to West, essentially dividing the Isle in a topological sense.  From Sarre to the modern North Foreland, runs a trackway, connecting West to East, undoubtedly used to transport everything from grains to pottery.  Ensuring social contact across the Isle it is also believe that a second parallel track runs from modern Monkton to Margate, this is relatively new in belief and has been suggested through the presence of crop marks in several areas.

The importance of the trackways will become clearer as this series progresses, it without doubt assists in linking each valley community to various contemporary communities within the Isle.  It also allows the communities on the East coast to reach the West with little difficulty, in turn allowing access to the mainland.  It suggests that the Isle enjoyed an expansive communication network within her own geographies.

It is said that Thanet can be seen by the Late Iron Age as a cosmopolitan place, thriving from surrounding waterways and inter-isle activity....up-coming posts relating to each region will allow us to discover more.


Influential Reading

Champion, T. 2007 Prehistoric Kent in Williams, J.H. (ed) The Archaeology of Kent to AD800 The Boydell Press/Kent County Council: Suffolk

Hearne et al. 1995 The Sandwich Bay Wastewater Treatment Scheme Archaeological Project 1992-1994 in Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 115 pp 239-354

Moody, G. 2008 The Isle of Thanet from Prehistory to the Norman Conquest The History Press: Stroud

The Beginning....

Hi Everyone...

Frustrated with unemployment and feeling left out of the archaeological world I thought it was about time to share my musings.  I read plenty of articles and reports, have my favourite books and magazine articles just like everyone else, you may or may not agree with my take on things, but, that's kinda the point.  I would love to hear what you think... What you find...What you read and What you see, archaeology is all about sharing after all! That doesn't mean I only want to hear from the Pro though...everyone is welcome.

So you can get a bit of an insight into me I'm going to share some of my favourite British Sites and why so here goes....

• First up is Strata Florida Abbey, for those that read my profile this is probably a bit of a shock, the Prehistorian that loves a very historic site! My motivations are entirely selfish though, this was my first site way back in 2007, here is where I learnt my trade, made my first mistakes and asked those first site questions.  The first day I was a nervous wreck, convinced I was going to be rubbish and miss everything important...but I survived to tell the tale.  If you ever find yourself in West Wales be sure to pop along, who knows you may even want to take part, theres plenty happening for the British Archaeology Festival

• Next is Stonehenge and Avebury...maybe a bit on the stereotypical side, but, I love Stonehenge and the whole Avebury landscape.  Such a talking point for so many archaeologists was it medicinal? was it astronomical? was it religion? was it a feasting hall? We are unlikely to ever know, but its always interesting to question.  All I know was it was the location of my 21st and it seemed pretty magical to me.

• Moving on to Ham Hill, Britain's largest hillfort and probably one of the largest excavations! An insight into an enclosure is always exciting, but this has the potential to unlock some of the Iron Age's many mysteries. I'm not a fan of elite residence theory, or tribes constantly at war, there is far more to these remarkable places than all that...maybe Ham Hill can tell us just what it is! A definate space to watch....

• The Din Lligwy Hut Group, Anglesey, is a relatively recent find for me and if you follow the link I'm sure you'll quickly see its' appeal. Its far from the only group in the area and unfortunately they are very understudied and reatively poorly understood. Hopefully in the near future I will be able to assist in a developed understanding...this is reliant upon many a thing falling the right way for me, but hopefully news will come along soon.

• Last but by no means least my attention turns to Thanet, as a whole its' Iron Age archaeology is impressive, but very secretive.  It will always have a special significance to me as the focus of my Master's research.  The Island as a whole was no doubt significant throughout the period, despite being more well known for the Roman's way into Britain.  A site that I'm particularly intrigued by is The East Kent Access Road, doesn't sound all that exciting, but, don't let that put you off. In terms of Thanet's archaeology there is something here for everyone, though obviously it's the Prehistory that is important! Unfortunately interpretations and data was too raw for me to access when researching the area...but I follow developments very closely, who knows it may have changed my whole dissertation!

This was all to give you an insight into me, but everyones favourite 5's are different, leave me a comment let me know yours, you might even change my 5!

I'm signing off for now, but happy discovering!!