Beginner’s Guide to Archaeology: Metal Detecting, Nighthawking and the Portable Antiquities Scheme

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archaeology, Beginners Guide, Britain, education, England, Leicestershire, Loughborough, Scotland, Wales, WEA

In our last session we looked at the Treasure Act 1996,  Treasure Trove in Scotland, metal detecting, nighthawking and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

This video is of a lecture entitled “The Treasure Act and Portable Antiquities Scheme: experience from South of the Border” that was given by Roger Bland, Keeper of the Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory at the British Museum joint with the National Museums Scotland, to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 2014 on the application of the Treasure Act and the development of the Portable Antiquities Scheme to record discovered artefacts.

What’s the meaning of Stonehenge?

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archaeology, Britain, Bronze Age, education, Places to Visit, prehistory, stone age, Stonehenge, WEA, Wiltshire

In this episode of Curator’s Corner by the British Museum, Neil Wilkin is joined by Susan Greaney, Senior Properties Historian for English Heritage to discuss the history and importance of Stonehenge. Going into the heart of the monument and looking at some related Bronze Age objects, Neil and Susan explore the connections between Stonehenge, the rest of Britain and the continent.

The Human Journey: Australopithecines and Bipedalism

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archaeology, Britain, education, England, Human Journey, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, WEA

In our last session of ‘The Human Journey’ we looked at the Australopithecines and how bipedalism can be identified in the fossil record.

This short video by the California Academy of Sciences compares the distinctive gaits of a chimpanzee, Australopithecus afarensis, and modern human, highlighting the trait of upright walking that the latter two share.

Further reading can be found at:

• Hominin Species (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History)
• Australopithecus (Encyclopedia Britannica)
• Australopithecus and Kin (Nature)
• Human Evolution (Australian Museum)

The Jewry Wall Walking Tour & App

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archaeology, Britain, England, Leicester, Leicestershire, Places to Visit, Roman, Roman Britain, technology

Those of you who are interested in the archaeology of Roman Britain may wish to take a look at the walking trail around Roman Leicester, which is free to download from The Jewry Wall website. There is also a free app (available for both iOS and Android) called ‘Jewry Wall – An Adventure in Time’ which aims to bring Leicester’s Roman bath site to life in a way never seen before. Join Jenny and Javid for a mission to discover the past using fun, interactive games and activities for the whole family.

The Human Journey – Reading List

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archaeology, Britain, education, England, evolution, Human Journey, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, WEA

Whilst it is not essential to do any background reading before the course begins, you may find it useful to do so. The reading list below contains books and articles that you can read to gain a preliminary understanding of topics, as well as to study in more depth those parts of the course you are particularly interested in. You don’t have to read all of these and there are none that you must read. You may also want to take a look at magazines such as British Archaeology, World Archaeology and Current Archaeology.

 Further suggestions about ways you can extend your understanding of topics through books, television etc may also be posted as appropriate on this blog.

Ayala, FJ and Cela-Conde, CJ. 2017. Processes in Human Evolution: The Journey From Early Hominins To Neanderthals And Modern Humans. 2^nd edition.

Berger, L et al. 2015. Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa: https://elifesciences.org/articles/09560

Berger, L et al. 2017. Homo naledi and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial Africa: https://elifesciences.org/articles/24234

Berger, L. 2017. Almost Human.

Diamond, J. 2006. ‘The Third Chimpanzee’.

Dirks, et al. 2017. The age of Homo naledi and associated sediments in the Rising Star Cave, South Africa: https://elifesciences.org/articles/24231

Finlayson, C. 2009. ‘The Humans Who Went Extinct’.

Gibbons, A. 2007. ‘The First Human’.

Hawks et al. 2017. New fossil remains of Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa: https://elifesciences.org/articles/24232

Humphrey, L and Stringer, C. 2018. Our Human Story.

Johanson, D, Edgar, B & Brill, D. 2006. ‘From Lucy to Language: Revised’.

Johanson, D & Wong, K. 2009. ‘Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins’.

Lewin, R. 2004. ‘Human Evolution: An Illustrated Introduction’. 5^th edition.

Mithen, S. 2004. ‘After the Ice: A Global Human History 20,000 – 5,000 BC’.

Oppenheimer, S. 2004. ‘Out of Eden: The Peopling of the World’.

Reich, D. 2018. Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the new science of the human past.

Roberts, A. 2009. ‘The Incredible Human Journey’. (DVD also available).

Scarre, C. 2018. ‘The Human Past’. 4^th edition.

Stringer, C. 2006. ‘Homo Britannicus: The Incredible Story of Human Life in Britain’.

Stringer, C & Andrews, P. 2012. ‘The Complete World of Human Evolution’. 2^nd edition.

Sykes. B. 2004. ‘The Seven Daughters of Eve’.

Tattersall, I. 2007. ‘The Last Human’.

Wood, B. 2017. ‘Human Evolution: A Very Short Introduction’. 2^nd edition.

Beginner’s Guide to Archaeology: Context and Stratigraphy

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archaeology, Beginners Guide, Britain, education, England, Leicestershire, Loughborough, WEA

In the second session of this course we looked at the practicalities of archaeological excavation, as well as important concepts which underpin our understanding of archaeological sites. Key amongst these was the concepts of ‘context’ and ‘stratigraphy’.

Context, to quote from the Society for American Archaeology, “refers to the relationship that artifacts have to each other and the situation in which they are found… Context is what allows archaeologists to understand the relationship between artifacts on the same site, as well as how different archaeological sites are related to each other.”

Each individual archaeological context is given an unique number to identify it and is generally recorded on a context sheet. This process is explained in this video by Archaeosoup:

Stratigraphy is “the study of layered sedimentary rocks (called strata) but may also include layered igneous rocks,” and is important to both archaeology and geology. This science follows several fundamental principles (explained in more detail in the linked webpage).

In this short video clip, UNC archaeologist Theresa McReynolds explains how studying stratigraphy helps archaeologists determine the relative ages of artifacts.

A common method of plotting archaeological contexts and their relationships to one another is using the Harris Matrix.

2019 Season – Bookings now open! — Roman Southwell Community Project

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archaeology, Britain, community, England, excavation, news, Nottinghamshire

After having the pottery from Seasons 1-3 analysed earlier this year, we have now decided to undertake a fourth and final season of excavations, planned for the summer of 2019. Analysis of the pottery from Farthingate revealed that all the pot dates to the 1st & 2nd centuries, thus predating the later phase […]

via 2019 Season – Bookings now open! — Roman Southwell Community Project

Archaeology of Food – Reading List

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archaeology, Beeston, Britain, education, England, food and drink, Nottinghamshire, WEA

Whilst it is not essential to do any background reading before the course begins, you may find it useful to do so. The reading list below contains books that you can read. You don’t have to read all of these and we don’t specify any that you must read. Instead, these are readings you can use to gain a preliminary understanding of topics, as well as to study in more depth those parts of the course you are particularly interested in. You may also want to take a look at magazines such as British Archaeology, World Archaeology and Current Archaeology.

Further suggestions about ways you can extend your understanding of topics through books, television etc may also be posted as appropriate on this blog.
Barker, G. 2009, The Agricultural Revolution in Prehistory: Why did Foragers become Farmers? Oxford University Press

Black, M. 2012. The Medieval Cookbook. British Museum Press.

Coe, S.D and Coe, M.D. 2013. The True History of Chocolate. Thames and Hudson.

Collingham, L. 2006. Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors. Vintage.

Collingham, L. 2017. The Hungry Empire: How Britain’s Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World. Bodley Head.

Diamond, J. 1999, Guns, Germs and Steel. Vintage Press

Faas, P. 2009. Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome. Chicago University Press.

Fagan, B.M. 2006. Fish on Friday: Feasting, Fasting, and Discovery of the New World. Basic Books.

Flandrin, J-L, Montanari, M and Sonnenfeld, A. 2013. Food: A Culinary History. Columbia University Press.

Hammond, P. 1995. Food and Feast in Medieval England. Sutton Publishing.

Jones, M. 2007. Feast: Why Humans Share Food. Oxford University Press.

Milton, G. 2015. Nathaniel’s Nutmeg: Or, the True and Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History. Picador.

Rimas, A and Fraser, E.D.G. 2008. Beef: How Milk, Meat and Muscle Shaped the World. Mainstream Publishing.

Standage, T. 2006. A History of the World in 6 Glasses. Walker and Company.

Standage, T. 2010. An Edible History of Humanity. Atlantic Books.

Toussaint-Samat, M. 2008. A History of Food. Second Edition. Wiley-Blackwell.

Turner, J. 2011. Spice: The History of a Temptation. Harper Perennial.

Reading List: A Beginner’s Guide to Archaeology

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archaeology, Beginners Guide, Britain, education, England, Leicester, Leicestershire, Loughborough, WEA

Whilst it is not essential to do any background reading before the course begins, you may find it useful to do so. The reading list below contains books that you can read. You don’t have to read all of these and we don’t specify any that you must read. Instead, these are readings you can use to gain a preliminary understanding of topics, as well as to study in more depth those parts of the course you are particularly interested in. You may also want to take a look at magazines such as British Archaeology, World Archaeology and Current Archaeology.

Further suggestions about ways you can extend your understanding of topics through books, television etc may also be posted as appropriate on this blog.

Aitken, M. 1990. Science-based Dating in Archaeology. Longman. (Introduces several different science-based dating techniques used by archaeologists)

Bahn, P. 2012. Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. (Latest edition of popular, concise introduction to archaeology)

Carver, M. 2009. Archaeological Investigation. Routledge. (General introduction to the process of fieldwork from discovery to publication).

Drewett, P. 2011. Field Archaeology: An Introduction. (2^nd edition). Routledge. (Leading text introducing principles of field archaeology)

Gamble, C. 2015. Archaeology: the basics (revised 3nd edition).Routledge. (A good general introduction to a lot of concepts)

Gater, J & Gaffney, C. 2003. Revealing the Buried Past: Geophysics for Archaeologists. The History Press Ltd. (A good introduction to archaeological geophysics by the Time Team ‘geofizz’ guys)

Greene, K. & Moore, T. 2010. Archaeology: An Introduction (5th edn). London: Routledge. (A good general introduction. You may also wish to check out the associated online resources: http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/greene/).

O’Connor, T. 2005. Environmental Archaeology: Principles and Methods (2^nd edn.) The History Press. (General introduction to environmental archaeology)

Mays, S. 2010. The Archaeology of Human Bones (2^nd edn). Routledge. (General introduction to the archaeological analysis of human remains)

Renfrew, C & Bahn, P (eds). 2004. Archaeology: The Key Concepts. Routledge Key Guides. (Collection of different chapters written by experts in their field)

Renfrew, C. & Bahn, P. 2016. Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice (7th edn). Thames and Hudson.  (Aimed at 1^st year undergraduates, but still very accessible to read and covers a lot of topics)

Opportunity to dig at Northstowe alongside the Cambridge Archaeological Unit — Access Cambridge Archaeology

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archaeology, Britain, community, England, excavation

From next week there is a free community excavation starting that will be taking place alongside archaeologists from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) at the new town of Northstowe. The community excavations at Northstowe will start on Monday 18th June 2018 at 9am and will run for five weeks until Friday 20th of July 2018. The dig is […]

via Opportunity to dig at Northstowe alongside the Cambridge Archaeological Unit — Access Cambridge Archaeology