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Archaeology of Archaeology

Last Year’s Finds and their Finders – Jude Jones

Jude Jones, our Finds Specialist, has written this fantastic post about the finds of 2013 and their finders.  Thanks Jude! Last Year’s Finds and their Finders On first viewing the Bothy,  I said to Gareth and Nicole Beale, our University of Southampton site directors, that one of the things a finds co-ordinator gets really excited about is a good finds hut. We’re supremely blessed at Basing House with the Bothy which is, in effect, a small cottage with its own back garden. Continue reading →

Archaeologists visit Basing House

New Students Trip Tomorrow I am very excited to be bringing the new intake of undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Department of Archaeology to Basing House! We’re going to be touring the site and talking about this year’s excavation. We’ve only got a couple of hours, so we won’t be able to show the students everything, but it’s an exciting lead up to next year’s plans. Winter Exhibition We’ve been planning a winter exhibition for Basing House. Continue reading →

The trench has been covered!

Some Reflections… After three weeks of deturfing and excavation it took only one day to cover back over the 18 x 17 metre trench we had made, re-covering the original 1960s Aldermaston Archaeological Society’s excavation. As an archaeologist working at a university, projects that I am involved with are generally research-based. They begin with a question that needs to be answered and sometime end with an excavation. Increasingly, excavation is the last resort. Continue reading →

Day 18 – Finishing the digging season at Basing House 2013 – by Jamie, Sophie and Sam

Sophie, Jamie and Sam have written a review of the excavation season. This is a taster of the archaeology from the previous three weeks. We had lots of great finds coming out, including four Roman coins, which we will write a post about over the next few days. In the meantime, here is Sophie, Jamie and Sam’s review of our dig. Continue reading →

Day 17 – A View from the Trench Edge – by Sophie, Jamie and Sam

On the penultimate day of the excavation Sophie took a few minutes out with a number of members of the excavation team to ask them about their views on the project and if it had met the aims set out at the start. Dave (Co-Director) “The dig has been very successful, in that we have not only uncovered the original 60’s excavation, but have been able to add information to the existing record. Continue reading →

Day 16 – 1960s vs 2013 – by Dom

The difference between what was found in the 1960s excavation and 2013 excavation A true British citizen may open with an assertion about the weather, and staying true to this, I can declare that we started the day with a cool, if some-what summery breeze, with the sun getting progressively hotter throughout the morning. A quick overview of the site divulged to me information which I processed as a sign that we were slowly but surely nearing the end of our time here at Basing House. Continue reading →

Day 7 – Quick Photo Diary

One of our excellent student reporters will be writing up an article about today’s archaeology, so I just thought I’d share some photos from my mobile phone to give you an idea of how our day went. Early morning site tour Each team explained their archaeology from the day before We all updated one another on what we’d been up to Quick progress shot during coffee break, before the troops returned. It was actually warm enough today to all have an ice-cream. Continue reading →

Day 3 – Slipware Mystery! And some other stuff – by Jake

Jake. Written by Jake, The Northern One. — Day 3 On the 24th July 2013 at the Basing House Project a slipware tankard was unveiled in the far left corner of the excavation site. At first it was believed to be a c. 17th century contemporary piece, but after careful analysis by experienced Basing House staff, Dave Allen and Alan Turton came to the conclusion that the tankard was in fact a modern replica. 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 →