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Images and Archaeology: Introduction

Archaeologists use images in many different ways. Throughout the course of the excavation we will produce a huge variety of images including hand drawn plans, artefact photographs and pictures of our friends taken with camera phones. These images all tell us something different about the site and the people who are working there. They all perform a different purpose and will contribute to our understanding of the site in different ways. Continue reading →

Which Side Are You On?

Hal’s Laughing Cavalier: He had an amazing outfit. Cavalier or Roundhead? Royalist or Parliamentarian? A question which has been on everybody’s lips throughout the Basing House project. This is a question which many of us will have thought about before while running around the school playground or sitting in a history lesson but how easy is it to choose? For some the question comes down to looks. We are all familiar with the image of the laughing Cavalier and the po-faced Roundhead. Continue reading →

The Archaeology of Archaeology

Thanks to all of the students and volunteers we are making amazing progress here at Basing House. Despite the best efforts of nettles and roots the turf has now been removed. It is fantastic to see the previous of the excavation be uncovered and to get a better sense of how the excavators worked on the site in the 1960s. Archaeological techniques have changed a lot in the intervening period and we hope to be able to add to the discoveries which were made then. Continue reading →

Photographing Portus

Photography has been extremely important to the Portus Project. The photographic record which has been created as we have been working on the site allows us to re-visit and interpret the excavations at many levels. As well as a vast archive of photographs depicting excavated contexts, sections and objects we also have a substantial collection of images which depict the day to day life of an archaeological excavation. Continue reading →

Photographing Portus

Working underground presents a unique photographic challenge: Here we can see myself and James Miles laser scanning a subterranean corridor in the Imperial Palace. The long exposures required to capture a dimly lit scene mean that light and movement take on the form of blurs and shadows. Photography has been extremely important to the Portus Project. Continue reading →

Portus Project Lecture

Last night Professor Simon Keay delivered a lecture outlining the recent research he has been leading as director of the Portus Project, which explores the site of Imperial Rome’s maritime port. Entitled “Roman Emperors, Ships and Commerce: inter-disciplinary research at Portus 2011-2012?, the lecture was chaired by Professor Don Nutbeam, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton, and introduced by Professor Anne Curry, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. Continue reading →