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Nov 15

Cambridge Archaeological Society Autumn Conference

By Conferences, News

The CAS Autumn Conference will take place on Saturday and Mark Hinman would like to invite you to his final event as conference secretary – non members are welcome!

WHEN: 18th November 2023 @ 10:30 am – 4:45 pm
WHERE: Law Faculty, Sidgwick Site, Lecture Theatre LG17, The David Williams Building, 10 West Rd,
Cambridge CB3 9DZ

Please click here to view the programme, break times and entry fees and to see a map for the venue.

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Among an array of interesting topics, Tom Woolhouse will be giving a talk on PCA’s excavations at Lucy Cavendish College in Cambridge. Our work here, on the edge of the Roman walled town, confirmed the projected alignment of Akeman Street (pictured above), which led from Cambridge (Duroliponte) to the Roman ‘small town’ at Arrington Bridge on Ermine Street.

Refreshments and displays by local archaeology and history groups and a book stall, will be in the atrium to the lecture theatres.

If you need to use a lift to access the lower ground floor please ask at reception for someone to operate the lift for you. It requires a card to be inserted and takes a little time.

 

Nov 15

30 Years, 30 Sites: Rayleigh

By News

In our ongoing celebration of PCA’s rich 30-year legacy, we’re delighted to share the latest addition to our series of remarkable sites! When our open-area excavations began in the Crouch Valley, a Roman farmstead was anticipated. However, investigations revealed a farmstead which had been occupied from the Middle Iron Age to the late Roman period (c. 300/200 BC to at least AD 400), together with a Late Iron Age mortuary enclosure with eleven graves, cremations, three animal burials, and other intriguing ‘ritual’ deposits. The site yielded exceptional artefacts, including an extremely rare Iron Age chain, one of the finest examples of an Egyptian Onyx perfume container found in Roman Britain, and a finely crafted Roman glass cup.

Read more about this fascinating site here

Nov 09

Milton Keynes Archaeology Day

By News, Outreach

Mark and Conor provided an update on the amazing archaeology revealed by PCA’s recent work at Milton Keynes to a full house of over 100 delegates at the Central Library on Saturday.

Mark and Conor received glowing praise from the organiser who said the event was:

‘a very successful day all round. An audience of 110 for the talks (the biggest crowd since we started the event in 2007) which were all well-presented and well received with plenty of questions. Many thanks Mark and Conor for attending (and helping with chairs!) and also Judy for providing an excellent script’

Clockwise from top left: Mark and Connor’s presentation; an early Bronze Age barrow monument; a late Iron Age cremation cemetery; excavation of an early Roman log ladder found in a watering hole at a Roman farmstead; aerial photo of a middle to late Iron Age settlement consisting of 80 roundhouses with evidence of continuous human occupation from c. 350BC until at least 1st or 2nd century.

Nov 09

Jubilee House Open Day

By News, Outreach

The Open Day at Jubilee House, Stratford, was a huge success. Visitors crowded in to explore the exciting, intense riverside and industrial activity revealed by our excavations here. With a series of revetments and docks, along with evidence for a long history of demolished buildings, contemporary and later industrial activity and a plethora of finds, there was plenty to discover!

Nov 03

Central Winchester Regeneration Site Open Day

By Central Winchester Regeneration, News

Save the date! 📅
Our next CWR site open day is on 11th November, from 10am-1pm. Guided tours will run every 15 minutes from the PCA gazebo in Abbey Gardens, where there will be a display of the artefacts recovered so far.

The floor surfaces pictured here, 2m below ground level, are associated with large wooden piles driven into the river silts, that may have supported walls. Is this a Roman building or perhaps a Saxon building? With its rudimentary flooring, what was this building and what was it used for?

Nov 01

Bertie’s Birthday Archaeology

By News

Today, budding archaeologist Bertie celebrated his birthday at our Winchester office! Bertie is building his own little museum at home and loves metal-detecting, mudlarking and archeological digs. His birthday wish was simple – to learn more about archaeology and see some fascinating finds. We were happy to help! Maisie and Meagan in the Winchester office showed him some finds from the Central Winchester Regeneration Site; he also did a bit of finds washing, pottery drawing and learned how we store finds. He was especially interested the waterlogged ones as they have found leather when mudlarking.

Happy birthday, Bertie, and may your love for archaeology continue to grow!

Oct 31

Milton Keynes Archaeology Day

By News

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 News, Outreach

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 Central Winchester Regeneration, News

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!