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Our session in September was something really special – a coach trip to the Newt Roman villa!  The Newt is a reconstruction of a complete Roman Villa built next to the site of the original villa which was discovered in 1832.

When we arrived we had an early picnic lunch and then headed over to the museum and villa.  We looked around the museum first and before we went in we were all given Wi-Fi headphones with special built-in sensors.  Once inside the museum the sensors detected when we were close to the displays and triggered an audio commentary about each exhibit.  Most of the displays included an interactive element which was great fun!

In the centre of the museum were the excavated remains of the original bath house including a glass floor so we could walk over and look down upon the excavated remains.

After this we went over to the reconstruction of the villa which was amazing!  The headphones continued to give us an audio commentary depending on which room we were in.  These included reception rooms, a dining room, a bath house suit, bedrooms, and a kitchen amongst others.  All were beautifully decorated and furnished.  The villa was surrounded by vineyards with a garden at the back and we felt like we had been really transported through time!

Our tour of the villa ended in a special room where we could use virtual reality headsets that made it appear like the Roman occupants of the villa were walking and talking around us.  The whole experience was absolutely amazing!

This visit was made possible by the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society’s Gray Fund who very kindly paid for the coach to take us there.  We are extremely grateful to SANHS for giving our members this wonderful opportunity.

In July MAYA returned to the Avalon Archaeology Park which is always a fun and interesting place to visit.  We were met by Richard Brunning from the South West Heritage Trust who is the archaeologists for the Somerset Levels and Moors.  This time, instead of staying in the Archaeology Park, Richard took us on a walk around the nearby Shapwick Heath Nature Reserve to talk about how people in prehistory travelled across and lived in the water and reed beds.

We visited the site of the Sweet Track, a 6,000 year old wooden trackway.  Richard took us along a path which runs above where the track is actually located, and then took us to a replica of the track which we could try walking on – as long as you have good balance!

Richard guided us through this special landscape of reed beds, open water and wet woodland and talked about how people in the past have lived here.  He told us about the Glastonbury Lake Village that was constructed by Iron Age people on an artificial island and how artefacts which normally would rot away had been preserved in the oxygen-free environment.

After the walk we returned to the Archaeology Park to have lunch in the Saxon Long Hall.  Richard then showed us their almost completed Iron Age roundhouse and talked about how it was constructed.  Those who didn’t mind getting muddy could try their hand at mixing daub and pressing it into the wattle walls of a smaller version of the roundhouse… in the pouring rain!

We always enjoy visiting the Archaeology Park and this was no exception.  A big thank you to Richard for a really fascinating and fun day!

For our June session MAYA visited Cleeve Abbey near Washford. We were met at the abbey by Teresa Pratt who gave us an introductory talk before taking us on a guided tour around the site. Cleeve Abbey is a fantastic place to explore as so many of its buildings still survive. Teresa was a mine of information and gave us lots of fascinating and fun facts about the history of the abbey, including witch marks, graffiti and carvings of monsters to ward off evil. The highlight of the tour was the magnificent medieval tiled floor which had been in the old refectory.

Teresa had put out some finds for us to look at which had been excavated by the local rabbits! We could also try our hand at making up our own tiled floor patterns and printing medieval tile designs. We even got the chance to dress up as monks!

The session ended with a Mythical Creatures Trail. Pictures of different creatures had been hidden around the abbey and we split up into teams to try find them all. By this time it was raining but the MAYANS didn’t seem to mind and everyone succeeded in the quest. Before going home we all had an ice cream treat courtesy of Nigel!

A big thank you to Teresa for making us so welcome and for being such a fun and informative guide.

Our first outdoor session this year was organised for us by the County Archaeologist Bob Croft.  We met Bob at the Somerset Heritage Centre where he gave us a short introductory talk about the hillfort at Norton Fitzwarren which is not far from the Heritage Centre.

We then walked to the hillfort and Bob gave us a guided tour around the monument, explaining its history and the way it had been used as a defensive site and meeting point by people in the Bronze Age and Iron Age.

Bob had arranged permission for us to dig three test pits near the footpath to the site just outside the scheduled area.  This was a fantastic opportunity for our members to take part in a small excavation so close to a significant prehistoric monument.  Richard Brunning from the South West Heritage Trust joined us to help with the excavations.

The digging was hard going but our MAYANS were all very keen and got stuck in.  Most of the finds were post-Medieval, Victorian and modern artefacts such as pottery, building material and plastic!  However several chert flakes were also recovered which will be examined post-excavation to see if they might be worked.

We are really grateful to Bob for organising this for us.  A big thank you to Bob, Richard and everyone else to helped to make this such a great day for our members.