Cate Davies – Page 4 – Pre Construct Archaeology

Oct 31

Milton Keynes Archaeology Day

By Cate Davies News No Comments

On Saturday 4th November Mark Hinman and Conor Roycroft will be presenting some of the fantastic archaeology revealed by our Milton Keynes excavations. The event, MK Archaeology Day, is free and open to all. There will also be a display of finds.

Oct 25

Open Day at Jubilee House, Stratford

By Cate Davies News, Outreach No Comments

Join us for an Archaeological Open Day this Saturday, from 10am-3pm, at Jubilee House, Stratford, to discover both intense riverside and industrial activity dating from the medieval to post-medieval periods. Our excavations here have revealed a series of timber revetments lining the riverbanks and two docks cut through them for landing boats. The rubbish used to build up the riverbanks behind the revetments includes the evidence for a long history of demolished buildings. Contemporary and later industrial activity was seen in the form of tanning pits and lime mixing pits, some of which contained organic remains, such as fragments of decorated leather, evoking a vivid connection to the past. The large numbers of animal bones point to animals being butchered on site and skins and horns used for manufacturing a wide range of goods. Mark your calendars and get ready to step back in time with us; it’s a journey through history you won’t want to miss! See you there!

Oct 24

CWR Archaeology Update

By Cate Davies Central Winchester Regeneration, News No Comments

In Trench 1, beneath two phases of medieval buildings which once stood along Lower Brook Street, excavation was terminated at 2m below ground where we encountered the water table. The deepest deposit in this trench was a black, organically rich layer containing medieval finds. We’ve taken both bulk and column samples from this layer, expecting to uncover a range of organic remains. What lies beneath this deposit? Could it be a long-forgotten river channel, an ancient ‘Brook’?

Meanwhile, in Trench 3, we have floor surfaces at 2m below ground level! These are cut by pits containing medieval finds, including pottery that could potentially be late Saxon. The surfaces are also associated with substantial wooden piles driven into the river silts, that may have supported walls. So are we looking at a Roman building or perhaps a Saxon building? With its rudimentary flooring, what was this building and what was it used for? We’ll keep you posted!

Oct 20

30 Years, 30 Sites: Narrow Street

By Cate Davies News No Comments

The next in our portfolio of fantastic sites to celebrate PCA’s 30 year anniversary features Pirates’ booty! Excavations on Narrow Street in 1999 revealed the former 17th-century houses of people deeply immersed in piracy, with exotic pottery and glass from all over the world. Many of the examples recovered have otherwise rarely, if ever, been found in Britain.

Read more about when Limehouse was the stomping ground of pirates here

Oct 20

Lower-Middle Palaeolithic Handaxe

By Cate Davies News, Recent Finds No Comments

This battered but fascinating find is a heavily rolled and mineral-stained biface, probably a handaxe, dating back to the Lower-Middle Palaeolithic period. It measures 87mm long, 82mm wide, and 44mm thick, and is of lenticular/cordiform shape. One side displays centripetal working with opposed removals on the other. Its well-worn condition indicates long periods spent within active burial environments, such as glacial tills or river terrace deposits. The natural deposits beneath the site are Lowestoft Formation glacial till, dated to the Anglian glaciation, around 400,00–500,00 years ago. Though its exact origin isn’t certain, if it’s from these glacial tills its rolled state indicates that it pre-dates them, making it an exceptionally old and rare discovery. However, as it was found close to the surface, such an attribution is far from certain. No other Palaeolithic artefacts have been recorded in the vicinity.

Oct 04

30 Years, 30 Sites: Harper Road

By Cate Davies News No Comments

The next site in our curated portfolio celebrating PCA’s 30 year anniversary caused a flurry of excitement in 2017! Excavations on Harper Road in Southwark revealed a rare late Roman sarcophagus alongside a substantial section of road. Our work here redefined the course of the Roman Stane Street and the sarcophagus was the inspiration of an exhibition at the Museum of London called ‘Roman Dead’.

Sep 29

30 Years, 30 Sites: The Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar Bypass

By Cate Davies News No Comments

Next in our celebration of PCA’s 30-year history of fantastic sites, we have not one, but two sites excavated ahead of the construction of a new road to bypass the towns of Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar in North Yorkshire. A pre-Roman enclosure, identified by aerial survey, was anticipated along the line of the road. However, the project also unexpectedly revealed the existence of a previously unknown Roman villa near Aiskew. Both the enclosure and the villa were situated alongside an ancient routeway, following a slightly elevated path above the local floodplains – the very same route chosen by modern engineers for the road.

Read more about this groundbreaking site here

Sep 29

30 Years, 30 Sites: The Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar Bypass

By Cate Davies Uncategorized No Comments

Read more about this groundbreaking site here

Sep 21

30 Years, 30 Sites: Bermondsey Abbey

By Cate Davies News No Comments

Continuing our celebration of PCA’s illustrious 30-year history, we’re excited to reveal the next in our series of favourite sites. PCA undertook several phases of archaeological investigation in and around Bermondsey Square, the historic core of the medieval Bermondsey Abbey, between 1998 and 2011. Despite being registered as a Scheduled Ancient Monument within a Conservation Area, it was possible to reveal, record and protect the solid archaeology and build new structures to enhance the area. Amongst our findings was evidence for the elusive Saxon ‘minster’, and the Norman and later medieval Cluniac priory (later Benedictine Abbey) church and cloisters, including the southwest flanking tower of the western entrance to the great abbey church.

Click here to read more

Sep 20

CWR Archaeology Update

By Cate Davies Central Winchester Regeneration, News No Comments

We’re back in action at Trench 1 and on a mission to extend the area, so we can safely excavate to a depth of 2m to reach the horizon of Roman archaeology. As the picture shows, the weather has decided to play tricks on us, and the team are working hard in very challenging conditions.

At the bottom of the picture is the continuation of a medieval wall, with evidence of some masonry being stolen. We suspect they used it in the construction of other buildings nearby, like a good old-fashioned medieval recycling programme!