Details to follow, but this will be at the Museum of Somerset from 1030-1230.
Category: Uncategorized (Page 3 of 8)
Our next session will be on Saturday 4th November 10.30am – 12.30pm in
the Learning Room at the Museum of Somerset.
The topic will be Prehistoric Henges! What are these mysterious ancient
earthworks? The most famous is Stonehenge but there are many more
scattered across the UK and Ireland. Who built them and how? What were
they used for? They are not found anywhere else in the world so come
along to our next session to unravel the mystery of these huge circular
monuments!
Please email to book your place for this session.
The session will run from 1030-1230 at the Learning Rooms at the Museum of Somerset.
Our next session will be on Saturday 2nd September where we have been invited by Context One Archaeology to take part in their excavation of a prehistoric site near Broomfield on the Quantock Hills!
The site was discovered by aerial photography where changes in the growth of crops planted in the field reveal a circular enclosure nearly 100m across. The size and shape of the enclosure suggest it could be Neolithic or Bronze Age. The purpose of the excavation is to find out exactly what and how old the enclosure is.
There is hardly any parking at the site and so the Quantock Hills Landscape Partnership have arranged for minibuses to take us up there. The minibuses will pick us up at 10am from Castle Green outside the Museum of Somerset. I will confirm the time we’ll get back to Taunton nearer the time but this will probably be around 3.30 -4pm.
Please bring:
Warm and waterproof clothing and footwear
Sunhat and sun cream
Lunch, drinks and snacks
Gardening kneeler and gloves if you have them.
Please email to book your place on this exciting opportunity!
The first of our Summer digs will be on Saturday 5th August at the village of East Lambrook near South Petherton. We will meet at East Lambrook Manor Gardens at 9.30am (postcode TA13 5HH). Meet at 3.30pm in the car park for pick up. Please bring:
- Lunch, drinks and snacks
- Waterproof coat
- Sturdy footwear
- Sun hat and sun cream
- Garden kneeler if you have one
- Gardening gloves
We will be digging a number of test pits near the village centre to try and find out information about the date of the origin of the village. Some of the buildings date back to 15th and 16th centuries, or possibly earlier.
We have been invited to East Lambrook by the Kingsbury Time Travellers and MAYA’s visit will be the launch of a major new archaeological project in the village.
Please email to book your place for this exciting opportunity!
Our June session took place out in the fields near Martock to carry out a geophysical survey to locate a Roman building! After an introductory talk about the equipment we would be using, we headed over to the field where the buried building was. We knew it was there because of previous archaeological work at the site and the purpose of our survey was to check its state of preservation after being partly excavated.
We split into two groups, one of which would carry out a resistivity survey over the building and the other group would learn about gradiometry surveying. Both groups were given an explanation of how the different types of machines worked and then MAYANS themselves carried out the resistivity survey, taking it in turns to use the resistivity meter. For practical reasons we couldn’t actually survey with the gradiometer but the MAYANS could hold the machine and were shown how it worked.
After lunch the groups swapped over so everyone had the opportunity to take part in the survey. We ended the day with a guided walk around the area to learn about the archaeological work that had been carried out in the past on this rural Roman site. Once the results of the survey have been processed they will be sent out to the MAYANS so everybody can see what they discovered!
A big thank you Neil for organising and supervising the resistivity survey, and to James, Margaret and Richard for allowing us into their field. This was a great opportunity for the MAYANS to be out in the field doing practical archaeology!
Our next session will be on Saturday 1st July and will be at the
Bridgewater Brick and Tile Museum. During the session we will be making
copies of an archaeological artefact out of clay. These will then be
fired and returned to you at the following session. The cost for the
session will be £5 per person to pay for materials and firing.
The session will run from 10.30am – 12.30pm. Parking at the Brick and
Tile Museum is extremely limited so please park in the Bridgwater Retail
Park TA6 4AB around the corner from the museum.
Due to limited work spaces at the Museum, the staff have asked if we can
limit the number to 18 members for this session. Places will be on a
first come first served basis. If we are over-subscribed we will
arrange a return visit next year.
Finally although aprons are supplied, please wear clothing you don’t
mind getting a bit muddy!
We will be carrying out a
resistivity survey over the site of a Roman barn which was partly
excavated in the past to check its state of preservation.
The session will run from 10.30am to 2.30pm. We will meet in the farm
yard at Stapleton Mead Farm, Stapleton near Martock. The post code for
the site is TA12 6AP.
Please bring:
A packed lunch
Drinks and snacks
Sturdy footwear
Sun hat and sun cream – the weather forecast is for sunshine and the sun
can be very strong this time of year
Rain coat – just in case! Also the site is quite exposed and the wind
can be quite strong and cold
Depending on the amount of interest we may have to limit numbers for
this session so please let me know as soon as possible if you would like
to attend.
Out next MAYA session will be at the Avalon Archaeology Park at Shapwick
near Glastonbury. Many of you will have been here before and know what
a fantastic place this is for us to visit! The postcode for the site is
BA6 9TT.
The session will run from 10.30am – around 1pm. Please bring a drink
and snack. If you would like to stay on for lunch there is a cafe on
site or you could bring a packed lunch, but there will be no organised
activities in the afternoon.
In this session we will be laying mosaic tiles in the Roman building,
plus doing Viking wood carvings. Please wear warm clothing that you
don’t mind getting dirty!
At the request of the organisers, we will have to limit our numbers to
20 members for this session as there is limited space in the Roman
building. Places will be booked on a first come, first served basis.
If you don’t manage to get a place you will be given priority for the
next session we hold at the Archaeology Park.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU EMAIL TO BOOK YOUR PLACE!
During this session MAYAN’s will have a tour around the Heritage Centre, including behind the scenes access to the stores in the Museum of Somerset. This session will run from 1030-1230 meeting at Somerset Heritage Centre.
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