Category: News (Page 1 of 5)

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.

For our April session we learnt about Japanese culture and archaeology.  The session was led for us by MAYA helper Caroline Pathy Barker.  Our sessions usually concentrate on the archaeology of the British Isles so this was something really new and interesting for most of our members.  Caroline is involved with the Online Resource for Japanese Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (ORJACH).  She started out with a PowerPoint presentation about Japanese culture and history, followed by a short quiz to see if we were paying attention!  Caroline also brought along some Japanese archaeological artefacts for us to look at, including pottery, obsidian tools and replica Haniwa statues from burial mounds.

After break we made Japanese-style Jomon pots.  The Jomon period dates from 14,500 BC right up to around 300 BC so this style of pottery is really old.  We started out by coiling sausages of clay around a cardboard cup former, slowly building the coils up to around halfway up the cup.  We then smoothed the clay with water to get a nice smooth finish.  It was then time to decorate our pots, and Caroline had brought along a selection of objects that would have been used in the Jomon period – bamboo sticks, shells and woven string, which we pressed into the clay to make patterns.  Very effective!

The MAYANS took their pots home and after they have dried for a day or two they can remove the cardboard cup and end up with an authentic-looking Jomon pot.  A big thank you to Caroline for a really fun and interesting session!

Our February MAYA session was something very interesting and unusual.  It was led for us by MAYA volunteers Rob and Caroline and was about Artificial Intelligence and Archaeology.

The session began with Rob showing us a PowerPoint about the origins of AI, explained how it worked and talked about the pros and cons of using AI.  Rob had asked an AI programme to actually write the PowerPoint for him which was amazing!

After this Caroline talked about how AI was helping modern archaeology and how it might develop in the future, e.g. reconstructing archaeological sites using virtual reality while they were actually being excavated, developing 3-D models, and enhancing LiDAR and geophysical surveys.  She also showed us some fascinating on-line videos using AI to animate stone carving on the walls of Greek and Roman temples.

After a break we split up into small groups and designed plans for our own AI programmes which could help archaeologists in the future.  Ideas included on-site analysis of pottery and flint, translating Egyptian hieroglyphs, using a 3-D printer to instantly print models of aerial photos of new archaeological sites, and an automatic cat-shaped wheelbarrow which tidied up your excavation tools!

This was a fascinating session and really got our young archaeologists to use their imagination.  They are the ones who will be using AI more often in future, and this was an intriguing insight into what the future of archaeology might be.

For November session we were back in the Museum of Somerset for a really special event as the session was run by MAYA members!  We invited members to bring along items or photos they collected and give a short talk to the rest of the group.  We also asked the adult helpers to bring along items from their collections as well.

The session began with James who had prepared a PowerPoint presentation showing photos of his holiday to Egypt and all the amazing archaeological sites he had visited – a really colourful and interesting start to the day.  James was followed by Molly who gave a talk about a Roman silver coin which she had found whilst metal detecting.  Molly had also brought along some other more recent coins she had found.

The session then continued with Sophie who had brought in her fascinating collection of antique cameras.  Then Arran and his dad showed another PowerPoint about their holiday to Orkney and the fascinating prehistoric sites they visited.

Bobby was next with his collection of English Heritage Guide Books from all the sites he had been to.  He was followed by Josie and then Freyja, both of whom brought in an eclectic assortment of items they had found over the years in their gardens or whilst out walking in the countryside or on the beach.

Between the talks we had a short breaks where MAYA members could look around the room at the objects the adult helpers had brought in, including flint tools and pottery, excavation photos and assorted brass antique objects.  The session was a great success and we were very proud of all our members, both those who gave the talks and the interest and attention paid by those in the audience.  This is something we definitely hope to do again!

In October we went back to the Avalon Archaeology Park near Shapwick.  MAYA has been there several times and we always look forward to our visits.  This time we were going to be making and decorating Glastonbury-ware Iron Age pots.  The session was run for us by Dr Richard Brunning from the South West Heritage Trust, with Jack Brunning helping out.

We started off with Richard giving us a tour around the site.  Although quite a few of our MAYANS had been there before, for some it was their first visit and the Archaeology Park is always a really fascinating place to look round.

After the tour we started work on our Iron Age coil pots.  We made the bases first and then coiled the clay around to make the sides, making sure they were nice and smooth.  After a break for lunch we finished off making and decorating our pots and the MAYANS produced an amazing variety of styles and decorations.

We were able to take our pots home with us where they would dry out and harden.  We all really enjoyed the day and would like to say a big thank you to Richard and Jack from MAYA for arranging this great opportunity for us!

Our second event in September was an invitation by Context One Heritage and Archaeology to take part in their excavation of a prehistoric site at Middlezoy.

Context One had already been excavating at the site for several weeks and had uncovered a Middle Bronze Age enclosure along with other archaeological features.  The MAYANS were put to work excavating the enclosure ditch to uncover more dating evidence.

At the same time as the excavation, some of the MAYA helpers carried out a small geophysical survey in the field adjoining the site to see if we could locate the rest of the enclosure ditch plus any signs of where the people who used the enclosure had been living.

Although finds were sparse as can be the case on prehistoric sites, we discovered several small struck flints, including a lovely little scraper, plus some charcoal and tiny pottery fragments.

While the geophysical survey results were being processed, the MAYANS carried out a small fieldwalk and recovered a variety of artefacts from a wide range of time periods.  After this we all gathered around the laptop to see what the geophysics had discovered.  The rest of the enclosure ditch showed up really clearly, along with a very obvious circular anomaly which could only be the round house we’d been hoping to discover!

A big thank you to Context One for inviting us along for this exciting day of discovery!

September was a busy month for MAYA as we were lucky enough to be invited along to two amazing archaeological events.

On 7^th September we attended an archaeological Craeft Fayre organised by Marc Cox from the Avalon Archaeology Park.  The field where the fayre was held was divided into three separate time zone, the Mesolithic, the Bronze and and the Anglo Saxons.  Our members visited each of these areas to witness demonstrations and then try out a variety of hands-on crafts.

We started out with the Mesolithic where we tried weaving with different types of plant fibres and preparing animal skins for tanning.  We also watched flint knapping and fire starting demonstrations.

After this we moved on to the Bronze Age to watch metalworkers casting a bronze axe head which was absolutely amazing!  We also tried making hurdles, used quern stones to grind flour, plus made beads out of shells.

We finished the day with the Anglo Saxons where we made coil pots and tried on chain mail armour with sword and shield.  There were also cookery and woodworking demonstrations.

All in all it was an absolutely amazing day!  A huge thank you to Marc and all the other volunteers for inviting MAYA along for the day.