Castles and Coprolites

I was delighted yesterday and today to attend the excavations at Auckland Palace, a joint project between the Auckland Project , the  Department of Archaeology at Durham University  and Archaeological Services Durham University . This is actually the first time I've had the chance to meet any of the Durham undergraduate students since I started my new job at the department in April, and it was great to see everyone in action. Field schools are one of the best parts of doing an archaeology degree - the chance to go out on a real archaeological dig and learn the process of excavation and recording first hand with professional practitioners, and be involved in everything that happens afterwards with samples and artefacts that go back to the laboratory for analysis. Durham has a great set up and lots of the students will have the chance to continue working on material from the excavations for lab projects and dissertations.  I was particularly pleased to see this absolutely m...

I'm missing the Sicilian weather already. As much as I love Newcastle, I'm very much a fan of hot weather, and the 35 degrees in Sicily suited me nicely. Likewise, I don't think I can ever have ice cream in the UK again after 2 weeks of Italian gelato. And oh how I miss the coffee. I feel very invigorated after the fieldwork. Despite the depressing news we received while were away, the excavation reminded me of everything that originally got me interested in archaeology. Travelling, the excitement of discovery , and the satisfaction of successfully completing hard work. This is my first year of involvement in the project, but I hope to dedicate time to it over the next few years (not just because of the gelato and coffee, though that does help). As I am sure you have guessed, my role in the project is to conduct a series of pilot geoarchaeological studies to investigate the formation processes of some of the more unusual deposits and features on site. The first of these is...

BioArCh PhD candidate Harry Robson excavates Flixton Back out in the field, at long last, on a day trip with fellow micromorphologist, Helen Williams (PhD candidate at the University of York). This is a bit of a change for me; normally heading off on field work involves long journeys in hot foreign places, but today I had to go no further than an hour down the road to Flixton, Scarborough. Not such a long journey and fortunately the weather was great. I’m not going to say hot as the last place I went to that was ‘hot’ was 40 ° + ( in the 100 ° s), and I think if it ever got to that temperature in the UK it would literally be breaking the record.  And an added bonus to local fieldwork - a nice cup of Yorkshire tea afterwards with Helen's parents! As I mentioned a few months ago , I will be joining the Star Carr project next year as a part-time microarchaeology specialist, which will involve advising on micromorphology, geochemistry and phytoliths amongst other things....

Excavating at Kamiltepe , Azerbaijan, 2010 The laser falls on painted walls   To reconstruct their ancient glory: The corer shakes atop the lakes, Soon will the pollen tell its story. Dig, students, dig, set the clods of dirt flying, Dig, students; listen, echoes, sighing, sighing, sighing. Hark, over here! What crisp and clear, Stratigraphy, so keep on going! O sweet, some char, core with flake scar And cattle horn! Keep this trench growing. Dig, students, dig, bring to light what’s underlying, Dig, one more context, hear the ancient past replying. Excavating at Sheik e-Abad , Iran, 2008 O see, revealed, a surface sealed, Layers of time uncovered hither: The memories roll from soul to soul, As echoes from material whisper. Dig, archaeologists, set the total station scanning, And answer, echoes of the past, sighing, sighing, sighing.