Sunday, 2 September 2007
July 2007
During National Archaeology Week the weather smiled, and the gods of archaeology smiled. Consequently Building 3 in Trench 1 now has a fireplace and a spiral staircase. Lovely! But there is still more work to do to clean up these new features.
June 2007
Nice Weather for Ducks? (Apparently Not)
In July, students from SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, London) were on site here at Slaughterbridge. While they were out planning the garden mosaic down by the River Camel the skies opened. Opened more than almost anyone had seen before. It was not quite as heavy as the disastrous flood which damaged the nearby village of Boscastle, but it was looking like it may go that way. All took shelter under the gazebo right opposite the river level gauge. This then hit the national news “Slaughterbridge” was on the today programme on Radio 4. They were all rescued by the mini-bus and returned to the safety of the base camp. So we all sat in front of the TV waiting to see the report about our storm. But then it returned. Lightening struck the national electricity grid pylon and the power was lost (lucky for us the barbeque did not rely on electricity). Oh, and one of us observed a duck taking shelter from the storm in a barn, peering out with a grumpy expression. It was too wet even for ducks! (PS - It didn’t rain all week.)
Mumming Play
After the storm moral boosting was much needed. So after a huge barbeque and just a little drinkie, we performed a Mummers Play especially adapted for the occasion (traditional rough British folk drama, best performed when not entirely sober). Much hilarity was caused by this larking about. In particular having a German cast as St. George saying “I am St. George, that noble knight. I lost my blood in England’s’ fight! I know this drowned soggy rat, my head he would step on; That’s why I carry this bloody weapon… En Garde!”, and the Doctor saying “If you were to bring me an old woman, Seven years dead, eight years buried, nine years laid in her grave; If she’s got one umpum scrumpum jack-toothe left in her head, I’ll have her up and eating hot apple dumplings Before you can say Petrie’s Seriation Nagada III”(a reference to a pottery lecture earlier in the day). This now looks set to become a tradition.
In July, students from SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, London) were on site here at Slaughterbridge. While they were out planning the garden mosaic down by the River Camel the skies opened. Opened more than almost anyone had seen before. It was not quite as heavy as the disastrous flood which damaged the nearby village of Boscastle, but it was looking like it may go that way. All took shelter under the gazebo right opposite the river level gauge. This then hit the national news “Slaughterbridge” was on the today programme on Radio 4. They were all rescued by the mini-bus and returned to the safety of the base camp. So we all sat in front of the TV waiting to see the report about our storm. But then it returned. Lightening struck the national electricity grid pylon and the power was lost (lucky for us the barbeque did not rely on electricity). Oh, and one of us observed a duck taking shelter from the storm in a barn, peering out with a grumpy expression. It was too wet even for ducks! (PS - It didn’t rain all week.)
Mumming Play
After the storm moral boosting was much needed. So after a huge barbeque and just a little drinkie, we performed a Mummers Play especially adapted for the occasion (traditional rough British folk drama, best performed when not entirely sober). Much hilarity was caused by this larking about. In particular having a German cast as St. George saying “I am St. George, that noble knight. I lost my blood in England’s’ fight! I know this drowned soggy rat, my head he would step on; That’s why I carry this bloody weapon… En Garde!”, and the Doctor saying “If you were to bring me an old woman, Seven years dead, eight years buried, nine years laid in her grave; If she’s got one umpum scrumpum jack-toothe left in her head, I’ll have her up and eating hot apple dumplings Before you can say Petrie’s Seriation Nagada III”(a reference to a pottery lecture earlier in the day). This now looks set to become a tradition.
May 2007
(Middle) East Meets (South) West
In May an encampment of Bedouin could be found being trained in trenches in this quiet corner of Cornwall. So what was going on? Well they were seven students from the United Arab Emirates here to experience basic archaeological excavation as part of their wider training in Museum and Heritage matters. The tide of history has truly turned now that British archaeology is being investigated by those from the Middle-East rather than the usual way round. These students were particularly interested in the important connections between this part of Cornwall and the Middle-East in the 6th century, exemplified by the large deposits of Eastern Mediterranean pottery at Tintagel. They also commented how pleasantly sunny and warm Cornwall was! A compliment indeed. However, this good news Muslim story was completely overlooked by the media.
In May an encampment of Bedouin could be found being trained in trenches in this quiet corner of Cornwall. So what was going on? Well they were seven students from the United Arab Emirates here to experience basic archaeological excavation as part of their wider training in Museum and Heritage matters. The tide of history has truly turned now that British archaeology is being investigated by those from the Middle-East rather than the usual way round. These students were particularly interested in the important connections between this part of Cornwall and the Middle-East in the 6th century, exemplified by the large deposits of Eastern Mediterranean pottery at Tintagel. They also commented how pleasantly sunny and warm Cornwall was! A compliment indeed. However, this good news Muslim story was completely overlooked by the media.
Acknowledgements
Some of the diggers:- Yvonne Aburrow, Betty Alexander, Marie-Laure Aknin, David Ashton, Rod St. Barbe, Michael Blake, Jenny Craig, Jenny Cronin, Beth Compton, Nick Cokes, Rose Dear, Matt Fenn, Dave Grant, Lex Griffiths, Louise Griffiths, Wesley Griffiths, Bex Groves, Sarah Fisher, Soraya Hoppe, Phil Horswell, Oscar Landman, Roderick Landman, Chris Johnson, Rachael Kiddey, Jamie Lewis, Robin Mann, Vanessa Mclean, Matt Mossop, Cassandra Newland, Rachel Nicholls, Courtenay Parsons, Daniel Parsons, Joe Parsons, Millie Parsons, Sam Parsons, Stacey Perry, Martin Phelps, Mel Prett, Francesca Pontin, Mark Pontin. Stefan Rance, Tom Thear, Pete Vellet, Astrid Vonfeld, Dave Whitcombe, Jill Williams, Katy Williams, Kevin Wilson, Sophie Wood, Malcolm Wright.
Special thanks:- Nick Johnson (Cornwall County Council Historic Environment Service), Steve Hartgroves (Principal Archaeologist Heritage Information Team), Dr. Tim Mowl (University of Bristol), Prof. Charles Thomas, Dr. Geoffrey Tassie (UCL), Dr. Anthea Harris (University of Birmingham).
Special thanks:- Nick Johnson (Cornwall County Council Historic Environment Service), Steve Hartgroves (Principal Archaeologist Heritage Information Team), Dr. Tim Mowl (University of Bristol), Prof. Charles Thomas, Dr. Geoffrey Tassie (UCL), Dr. Anthea Harris (University of Birmingham).
About this blog
This is the excavation diary for the STEP and TESP projects at Slaughterbridge. It will be updated erratically as and when something happens.
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