Post-Excavation & Specialist Services

The work undertaken by this department, while largely unseen by our clients, is absolutely vital to the successful completion of all of our projects. It is during the post-excavation process that we:

Catalogue the material generated in the field;
Wash and process the finds ready for specialist assessment;
Analyse the information produced during fieldwork; and
Produce the archaeological archive.

The archive may be a combination of artefacts such as pottery, to environmental samples. The paper records generated on site comprising descriptive text, plans, drawings and photographs of the excavated remains form the other side of the site archive.

PCA deals with large quantities of artefacts from all eras from the Prehistoric to the Modern and the types of materials include building materials, pottery, glass, flint tools, leather, coins and jewellery. These are all dealt with by in-house specialists and, where necessary, by consultant experts.

Specialist Services

James Gerrard BA MA PhD AIfA
Roman Pottery, Coins and Small Finds Specialist

Production of assessment and publication texts relating to all aspects of Roman material culture.
Identification, recording and statistical analysis of Roman coins and coin hoards to high numismatic standards.
Identification, recording and statistical analysis of Roman pottery (coarsewares, finewares and imports) to investigate a site's chronology, trade links and function / status.
Identification, recording and statistical analysis of small finds (ironwork, copper-alloy objects, worked stone and bone etc).
The late Roman period. In particular economics, trade and exhange and chronology.

PCA has an important fabric reference collection relating to Romano-British pottery from the London area.

Marit Gaimster PhD FSA, MIfA
Finds Manager & Small Finds Specialist

Anglo-Saxon, medieval and post-medieval metal and small finds identification
Early medieval decorated metalwork and iconography as a source to pre-Christian Germanic religion
Middle Saxon silver coins
Precious-metal hoards and the function of metal as economic, political and social media

Chris Jarrett BA (Hons)
Post-Roman Pottery, Clay Tobacco Pipe, Post-medieval Glass Specialist

Identification and dating of Saxon, medieval and post-medieval pottery types and their forms
Spot dating archaeological deposits
Compilation of assessment and publication reports
Teaching work experience placements
Identification and dating of clay tobacco pipe types and their makers

PCA has a large London area based medieval and post-medieval fabric collection with a very good representation of imported pottery types.

Berni Seddon BSc MA
A decorated medievel plate from Moor House, London Saxon, medieval, post-medieval, Fired Objects and Buildings Materials Specialist

Identification and dating of Saxon, medieval and post-medieval pottery types and their forms
Spot dating archaeological deposits
Identification and dating of fired clay objects e.g. loomweights
Assessing the fabric and form of ceramic building materials; tile, brick, wall plaster and daub both in-situ and ex-situ
On-site rapid specialist investigations e.g. standing walls
Compilation of assessment and publication reports

Kevin Hayward BSc (Hons) MSc PhD
Buildings Materials Specialist

Medieval worked stone from Bermondsey Abbey, London

Assessing the fabric and form of ceramic building materials; tile, brick and wall plaster both in-situ and ex-situ
On-site rapid specialist investigations: for example walls uncovered during archaeological excavations
Stone identification and sourcing of stone materials to geological source, including fine Roman freestone carvings, tombstones and architectural fragments.
Stone Consultancy
Identification of moulded stone from London's ecclesiastical buildings.
Sample analysis under microscope, geochemistry and photomicrography.

PCA has one of the largest commercial reference collections of extensive building materials, collated over 15 years. The collection, based on excavations from London and the UK as a whole, ensures quick and accurate identification of building material and enables dating of both archaeological and standing building structures to be made.

James Langthorne BSc MSc
Human Osteologist

On-site identification and disinternment of human skeletal remains of all periods.
Post-excavation assessment and analysis of articulated, disarticulated and cremated osteological assemblages. The resulting reports cover the following areas:
- Demography (Age & Sex)
- Pathology
- Occupation/Lifestyle related skeletal modifications
- Metric analysis
- Non-metric traits
- Identification of the minimum number of individuals within an assemblage

Kevin Rielly BSc
Animal Bone Specialist

Identification and recording of animal and bird bones
Assessing the potential of animal bone collections in consideration of the current knowledge of species utilisation and diversity in the capital and elsewhere in Britain
Contributing to publication reports aiming to extend our knowledge concerning animal usage, as either providers of food or craft materials, and including other aspects of man-animal interactions, as the prevalence of pests and/or scavengers.

Once the analysis is complete, a report is issued for publication. Pre-Construct Archaeology uses a broad range of outlets including:

Our own Monograph series;
Local interest magazines;
National and local academic journals.

Pre-Construct Archaeology prides itself in producing publications that stand up to academic scrutiny, as well as reports that are accessible to a broad spectrum of people. Summaries of completed projects are posted on our website, as are details of important current sites.

The final stage of the process is to deposit the archive with the relevant local museum service. Here the materials may be accessed for further research by interested parties or for display to the public.

Contact Dr Frank Meddens on
Tel (: 020 7639 9091