Category: News (Page 3 of 5)

For our September session we were back in the Museum of Somerset after our visits and fieldwork over the summer.  The session was planned and run for us by Chris Webster and Chris Jessop and was all about how archaeologists record everything while they are excavating.

At the start of the session Chris W gave a short PowerPoint talk about why it was so important that archaeologists recorded everything while they are digging, including plans, photographs and context sheets.  This is because when you dig up archaeology you are in effect destroying it!

The MAYANS then split up into four groups around four specially prepared indoor test pits.  These were layers of 1m square cardboard sheets representing different contexts.  In between the sheets were artefacts for the MAYANS to find and plan using a 1m x 1m planning frame like the ones used on real excavations.  For each layer they had to fill in a context sheet describing everything they saw.

During the session the MAYANS also had chance to look at different types of surveying equipment used to record the height or “level” of their test pits.  This type of equipment had changed a lot over the decades and we were able to show them an old fashioned dumpy level and staff where everything looks upside down and back to front, right up to a modern day GPS which connects to satellites to show very precise location and height.

At the end of the session each group told everyone the story of their test pit, describing what they thought had occurred there in the past using the evidence they had found… good fun as well as being a great learning experience!  A big thank you to Chris W and Chris J for all their preparation and for running such a great session for us!

For our September session MAYA members were invited by Richard, Cheryl and Tara from Context One Heritage and Archaeology to take part in their excavations at Broomfield on the Quantock Hills.  They were trying to find out the nature and date of a large, circular ditch almost 100m across, identified on aerial photos and geophysical surveying.  This was a great opportunity for our members as we don’t often ge

t a chance to do some actual digging, especially as our August test pitting was cancelled due to bad weather.

We were given a tour of the site and then

we split up into groups to do some digging.  There were three trenches, one on the big ditch and two on other anomalies located by the geophysical survey.  The MAYANS carefully scraped back the soil looking for artefacts and any changes in the colour of the soil which could be postholes.  Those working in the big ditch were also trying to define the edges of the ditch.

This was quite near the start of the dig and no artefacts were found apart from two very tiny pieces of pottery.  The fact that there were so little finds, plus the size of the ditch suggests the circular enclosure could be Neolithic or Bronze Age.  The archaeologist who were running the dig were very impressed by how careful and dedicated the MAYANS were whilst they were working.

This was a really great day for our members and we would like to thank Richard McConnell, Cheryl Green and Tara Fairclough for giving MAYA this exciting opportunity, plus Dan Broadbent from the Quantock Hills Landscape Partnership for organising transport to enable us to get to the site.

For our July session we returned to the Somerset Brick and Tile Museum in Bridgwater.  We were last there five years ago so nearly all our members had not been there before.  The session was run for us by Marie from the South West Heritage Trust.

After an introductory talk, Marie took us on a short walk to look at different types of brickwork in some of the houses near the museum.  We also saw the remains of the Bridgwater glass kiln which must had looked amazing when it used to tower over the surrounding buildings.

When we got back to the museum we split up into three different groups for different activities.  One group made miniature bricks with Marie using old fashioned wooden brick moulds.  We carved our names or patterns onto our bricks so we’d know which was which.  These will be dried and fired by Marie and then returned to us at a later date.

The second group replicated the different types of brick bonds that we had seen in the buildings on our walk outside – using Lego!  Great fun!  The third group built structures out of large foam bricks and then shook the table they were on to see how they would withstand an earthquake.  We threaded broom handles down through the holes in the brick walls to reinforce them.

This was a fun session with a great variety of activities and by the end of it we knew a great deal more about the humble brick!  A big thank you to Marie for running this session for us.

For our May session we went on a coach trip to Caerleon Roman Fort in South Wales.  Upon arriving at the fort we started out by looking at the remains of the Roman barracks.  These were very well preserved and it was great to see the layout of the buildings so clearly and work out how many soldiers lived in each one.  It must have been quite crowded!  We also saw the remains of the communal toilet which caused the MAYANS much amusement!

After this we split into two groups, one to look around the general museum for the fort and the other to visit the Roman baths which has its own separate museum.  The remains of the baths were amazing and we could walk on platforms above the actual walls and see all the different types of buildings.  There were video projections of Roman people swimming in the large pool which was amazing!

The other museum had many of the artefacts discovered when the site was excavated, including pottery, glass, cremations vessels and beautiful intaglio stones which would have been set into rings.  We were all amazed at how tiny and detailed these were.

We ended the day in the huge Roman amphitheatre which was very impressive, before getting the coach back to Taunton.  A big thank you to MAYA volunteers Chris Webster and Dave Jones who organised the visit and guided us around this fascinating site!

For our March session the MAYANS returned to the Avalon Archaeology Park near Shapwick.  The session was run for us by Dr Richard Brunning from the South West Heritage Trust, and for this visit Richard had organised mosaic laying and Viking wood carving!  After an introductory talk we split into two groups, one to work in the Roman building and the other in the Saxon long hall.

The group in the Roman building were going to lay tesserae for part of the beautiful mosaic floor that Richard and the other volunteers at the Archaeology Park have been working on for over a year, and it was a real treat to be part of this special project.  The MAYANS were supervised by Richard’s friend Martin who had prepared two areas for us to work on.  It was great to think that in years to come the MAYANS could return to the building and show their friends and family what they had done.

The second group worked in the Saxon long hall where Richard showed them how to make the beautiful wood carvings that decorate the hall using chisels and wooden mallets.  This was tricky work as the designs were quite complicated but the MAYANS soon got the hang of it.  It really made you realise how much work has gone into the reconstruction of these buildings!

After a break the groups swapped over so everyone could have a go at both activities.  The Archaeology Park is such a wonderful place for our members to visit with its amazing reconstructed buildings and exciting activities.  A big thank you to Richard and Martin for inviting us back and for all their help and support for MAYA!

For our February session we returned to post-excavation work on the artefacts we discovered during test pitting at Longaller Mill.  We were fortunate enough to have David Dawson join us who is one of the country’s leading experts on pottery, especially Medieval and Post-Medieval pottery which is what we expected to find in the test pits.

David began the session with a PowerPoint presentation, getting the MAYANS to think about the fabric, form, finish and function of pottery.  After this we divided up into several group to continue the post excavation work.  This included finishing off the finds washing we had started in the November session, plus sorting, weighing and recording the finds which had already been washed and dried.  The MAYANS took the pottery sherds they found over to David for identification and recording.

We also had access to a Dino-lite magnification scanner which, when connected to a laptop, revealed amazingly detailed, magnified pictures of the pottery plus other finds such as flint and bone.

This was a great opportunity for the MAYANS to learn about the all the types of pottery sherds they had found, and appreciate how these can be used to help date when the old buildings had been occupied.  A big thank you to David for coming along and for all his help with this fascinating session!

For our first MAYA session of 2023 we carried out an archaeological excavation… indoors!  The session was run for us by Dr Julian Richards who has been kind enough to run a number of MAYA sessions for us over the years.  This time we were to uncover the remains of a medieval abbey!

Julian prepared the session by putting down layers of carpet tiles, concealing artefacts between each layer.  He then started off by talking to the MAYANS about the sorts of materials we could find when we carried out an excavation – what would rot over time and what would not rot.  He demonstrated this by a variety of objects made from wood, plastic, glass, cardboard etc, even a rotten old banana skin!

We then started to take up the individual carpet tiles to reveal what was underneath, looking at the finds and trying to work out the nature of the site.  Finally we uncovered the remains of a medieval abbey, including a grave stone which we lifted to discover the remains of a skeleton.  After a discussion about what we can learn from an examination of human bones, we realised that the skeleton was female and the abbey was probably a place for nuns not monks.

Julian then finished by showing us a short film about a community dig at Shaftesbury Abbey, which was the first abbey in the country founded for nuns in 888 by King Alfred, whose daughter was the first abbess.

This was a really exciting and interesting session and we would like to say a huge thank you to Julian and his wife Sue for running it for us!

MAYA’s Christmas Party this year was something really special and different!  It was held in the Saxon long hall at the Avalon Archaeology Park near Shapwick.  We were met by Richard and Natalie who run the site and to start off the day they had organised a picture trail hunt around the centre.  The MAYANS had photos of a variety of carvings and paintings in the different buildings which they had to track down and then mark their position using a gridded map.

After running off some energy we then all moved into the Saxon long hall for a Christmas party feast around the fire pit before our very special visitor arrived, Lizzie Bryant a professional storyteller.  As we settled down around the fire Lizzie preceded to tell the story of Beowulf.  Although this was familiar to some of the group, it was a completely new experience to hear it being told in such an amazing and appropriate setting, and Lizzie had us all spellbound!   

After Lizzie had recounted Beowulf’s victories over Grendel and Grendel’s mother, we stopped for a break where we toasted marshmallows and drank warm apple juice mead around the fire.  Lizzie then finished the afternoon by telling the tale of Beowulf’s final encounter with the dragon.  As the MAYANS left they were given Christmas presents, cards and crackers to take home.

This was a really amazing day!  A huge thank you to Lizzie and to Richard and Natalie for all their help and for inviting us to hold our party in such a wonderful location!

After a break for the summer holidays, MAYA was straight back into excavation again for our September session!  We dug four test pits at Longaller Mill to try and find out more information about the old mill cottages (demolished and completely rebuild it the late 1980’s) and old buildings next to the mill which no longer exist.  Two of the test pits were dug in the hope of retrieving artefacts to try and find out how long the old mill cottages were occupied.  Another was situated on a slight mound near the mill stream to try and find out what this was.  The fourth pit was located on the site of an old building opposite the mill shown on the 1910 OS map.

A variety of finds were uncovered, particularly in the test pit located next to one of the current mill cottages, including building rubble, pottery, glass, clinker and rusty nails.  Similar artefacts were discovered in a test pit at the bottom of the garden, suggesting a rubbish dump or midden.  The test pit on the mound was less productive, suggesting this was geological rather than archaeological.  Some of the more unusual finds included a Victorian glass stopper from an HP sauce bottle, a donkey shoe, and an unusual short chain of metal loops and a buckle, possibly from horse trappings.

The test pit opposite the mill uncovered a beautiful example of a worked chert core in the top soil, but not much else until around 0.3m down they uncovered an intense black layer of cinders, clinker and slag.  This could possibly have been the floor of some kind of metal working workshop, and the building on the 1910 map was perhaps a small smithy for repairing mill machinery.

All four test pits were meticulously recorded by the MAYANS using paperwork designed by Carenza Lewis from the “Time Team”.  The finds will be washed and sorted at one of our sessions later in the year, and a report will be written and submitted to the HER.  It was a day of great enthusiasm and discovery, and introduced the MAYANS to the importance of archaeological recording and post-excavation as well as the excitement of digging!