Monthly Archives: February 2015

VM_365 Day 234 Bronze Age Collared Urn, the final reconstruction

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Bronze Age, From the Archives, Prehistoric pottery, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 234

Today’s image for Day 234 of the VM_365 project shows the final publication illustration of the Bronze Age Collared urn, which was placed as an accessory vessel in the burial next to the Barrow at Bradstow School Broadstairs which was featured on VM_365 Day 231 and VM_365 Day 232.

Although the vessel was complete when it was placed beside the head of the body at time of burial , by the time it was excavated it had been flattened and broken into many sherds, which were in poor condition. The image for VM_365 Day 233 showed the vessel fragments as they were laid out prior to their reconstruction. Once the pieces were assembled as far as possible, they were analysed by our Prehistoric  Ceramic specialist who was able to make the following analysis:

The pot was made from a fairly fine sandy clay paste, moderate quantities of clear and cloudy quartz grains visible under a magnifying lens. The sherd breaks show no obvious junction lines to indicate whether the coil or slab method was used. The clay paste was ‘leavened’ by the addition of fairly profuse fragments of crushed  burnt clay (grog ) made by crushing broken fragments of daub or pottery. The grog grains are generally fairly small but occasionally up to 5mms in size;  pale buff and  occasionally red-brown or grey in colour and mostly rounded, although some angular pieces are present.

The small pot has a basically biconica forml, with an angular shoulder set  from the rim down at approximately one-third its full depth. The lower body profile would have tapered down to a base with a smaller diameter than the rim. The rim is uneven, fairly narrow and may be slightly bevelled internally. The process of smoothing to level it has given the inner lip with a rather irregular bead.

The vessel is undecorated but does have a fairly small roundish lump of clay attached to the exterior, just below the rim on one side. The surface of this lump is irregular and scarred from either losing just the skin of its original finished surface, or of a larger element. The lump could be no more than an applied knob or lug, under which an encircling string could be tied just below the rim to hold down a thin skin or cloth cover to the pot.  It could be the stump where a broken handle was fitted, although it looks too small and lightweight to have served as the root of a handle.

After shaping the pot was minimally finished. The interior was roughly smoothed and the exterior rather superficially smoothed, with the more visually prominent  upper rim and shoulder portion lightly but more noticeably smoothed than the lower body. The fairly hard fabric with predominantly dirty dark grey colours  and patchy,  partially-oxidised drab pale buff-brown all indicate the pot was fired in a fairly low-temperature pit or bonfire.

The lack of any diagnostic forms and styles of decoration means that any dating applied has to be based on only burial type, the pot’s fabric and form and also the applied knob or lug. Although crouched inhumation burials can occur during the Neolithic period, single burials accompanied by grave goods are more of a feature of the Early Bronze Age.

The use of purely, or predominantly, grog-tempered clays was first employed for the production of Grooved Ware pottery during the Late Neolithic, from about 2800 BC. The form and small diameter of this vessel is quite unlike the highly decorated Grooved Ware, so a date for this vessel before c.2000 BC, when the currency of Grooved Ware ceased is most unlikely.

The use of grog to temper potting clays was separately introduced into Britain with the arrival of Beaker-style pottery from the continent, initially around c.2400 BC, at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age/ Beakers, lasting well into the second millennium BC until they disappeared around c.1700. The Beaker tradition is also characterised by highly and skilfully decorated pottery. Toward the end of the currency of the Beaker tradition quality tended to decline markedly and it is just possible that the pot could be an undecorated late-phase Beaker, dated around c.1900-1700 BC. It is worth noting that handled and decorated Beakers were also produced during this late phase, although they are mostly larger and sturdier than the slim handle that might have been attached to the present vessel.

Grog-tempered clay was also the principal fabric type in the south-east of England for three other ceramic traditions; Food Vessels; Collared Urns and to a lesser degree Biconical Urns. Biconical Urns appeared at the end of the Beakers currency, around c.1700 BC, outliving Food Vessels and Collared Urns and merging and overlapping with the flint-tempered Middle Bronze Age Deverel-Rimbury tradition by c.1500 BC.

Assuming that the lump of clay beneath the lip of the Bradstow jar is a handle stump, then handles have occasionally also been recorded on Food Vessels and Biconical Urns, but as mid-body suspension or lid attachment loops not as mug or cup handles set high on body as it may have been here here. Food Vessels are characterised by exuberant impressed decoration, but do not occur in the south-east as frequently as elsewhere so this category is  unlikely to apply here. Collared Urns are typified by the presence of deep, markedly undercut and frequently highly decorated collars, possibly a development from the need to tie down leather or cloth pot-covers firmly with a securing string passed under the collar overhang. In some examples the collar undercut is much slighter, little more than an exaggerated protruding lip which ultimately devolved into the angular shoulder seen on Biconical Urns, at much the same height position as on the present vessel.

If the lug is purely functional, the closest parallels are pierced or plain knob-type lugs on the fine and coarseware jars of Middle Bronze Age Deverel-Rimbury type. Most examples have two to four lugs spaced around the body, attached at shoulder height; a later variant of the function of the overhanging and undercut collars on Collared Urns. Pierced or plain lugs applied just below the rim are rarer so it is quite possible that this single knob had the same function as the more obvious examples on Middle Bronze Age jars.

The rim appears to have been given a slight internal bevel, but its irregularity makes this uncertain. Bevelled rims are a distinctive aspect of Collared and Biconical Urns but not a regular feature of Middle Bronze Age vessel types. The apparent bevelling of the narrow rim, and its irregular inner-lip beading seem to be simply the bi-products of smoothing down and finishing the rim. As a finished product the simple rim type is much closer to the appearance of some examples of globular urns. The shoulder is a simple type that could almost occur at any time,  but it is exaggerated enough to suggest an influence from Collared Urns or the slightly off-set (on the upper side) shoulders of some Middle Bronze Age globular urns.

Despite the relative lack of obviously diagnostic aspects and its plainness and simplicity,  this pot can be variably linked to a number of Early-Mid Bronze Age pottery traditions: Early Bronze Age Beaker; Collared and Biconical Urns and Middle Bronze Age Globular Urns. This means that at the widest range, based purely on the ceramic analysis, this pot could have been made between c.1700-1500 BC since its various formal aspects appear to reflect traits of Collared, Biconical, and perhaps emerging Globular Urns, although a narrower dating to between c.1600-1500 BC  could be appropriate.

VM_365 Day 233 Reconstruction of Collared Urn in stages

Archaeology, Bronze Age, Prehistoric pottery, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 233

Today’s image for Day 233 of the VM_365 project shows the various stages of the reconstruction of a Bronze Age Collared Urn excavated from a child’s grave at Bradstow School, Broadstairs in 2009. The grave was located on the periphery of a round barrow which was partly excavated in advance of a construction project.

The vessel had been crushed flat by the pressure of the soil above and a significant portion had to be reconstructed so that the vessel could be properly identified and drawn.

After excavation the washed fragments of pottery from the flattened urn were allowed to dry. Joining sections of the rim and body  were laid out on a table in order  (image left) and  were then painstakingly glued and left to dry in a sand tray (top right).

Not all the sherds could be glued together and in the end it was generally  only the thicker parts of the rim that could be joined (bottom right). However enough was reconstructed to provide a profile of the vessel and allow our prehistoric ceramics specialist to understand the vessel and produce an illustration reconstructing the full profile.

VM_365 Day 232 Crouched burial at Bradstow School, Broadstairs

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Bronze Age, From the Archives, Prehistoric pottery, Thanet archaeology, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 232

Following on from yesterday’s image of the Bronze Age barrow at Bradstow School, Broadstairs, today’s picture for Day 232 of the VM_365 project shows the crouched burial of a child which was inserted on the periphery of the Barrow.

The grave, which is cut into the chalk geology, contained the remains of a child lying crouched on its left hand side facing south. Only the child’s skull, shown on the left side of the image and some of the long bones of the legs survived.

A collared urn was placed as an accessory vessel on the southern side of the skull. Sherds from the urn can be seen as grey fragments showing up against the white bones of the skull and the brownish discolouration of the chalk at the base of the grave.

The grave was  inserted on the periphery of the barrow , presumably  some time after the barrow had been constructed for a central primary burial which may lie outside the area of excavation.

VM_365 Day 231 Round barrow at Bradstow School, Broadstairs

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Bronze Age, From the Archives, Thanet archaeology, Thanet's Heritage Pioneers, Uncategorised, Uncategorized, VM_365 Project
Excavated round barrow at Bradstow school, Broadstairs
Round barrow excavated at Bradstow school, Broadstairs in 2009

The image for Day 231 of the VM_365 project is of the portion of the ring ditch of a round barrow which was excavated at Bradstow School, Broadstairs  in 2009. The image shows the regular series of segments taken out of the fill of the ring ditch to reveal sections at intervals around the circuit.

The ring ditch is one of a group of four similar ring ditches which are distributed around the terminal of a dry valley where it meets the east facing aspect of a rounded chalk-downland hill,  now occupied by the extensive grounds of the Bradstow school, formerly a private House called Valletta House.

The Bronze Age landscape of the hilltop has been revealed in a remarkably extended series of investigations that began with an excavation carried out in 1910 by Howard Hurd, who featured in the post for Day 40. Hurd revealed a double ring ditch, probably representing a barrow that had been extended or refurbished at some time during its period of use as a funerary monument. Two further ring ditches were recorded in excavations carried out by the Broadstairs and St.Peters Archaeological Society (BSPAS) with the assistance of the British Museum (BM), to the  west and south west of Hurd’s excavation.

The construction of a new facility for Bradstow School within part of the playing field in 2006, resulted in the discovery and excavation of a very large causewayed ring ditch, which may have been a ceremonial enclosure rather than a funerary monument like those that had been discovered by the earlier work. Nearby an unusually small ring ditch contained four graves, an unusual feature that does not fit into the conventional classifications of prehistoric burials in Thanet.

When a former garden site standing  immediately adjacent to the western most of the ring ditches recorded in the BSPAS and BM excavations was chosen as the location of a new swimming pool for the School, there was a further opportunity to explore the Bronze Age landscape of this Broadstairs hill top. Evaluation trenches revealed the circuit of another ring ditch, which was partly excavated before the pool was built. This excavation was carried out nearly a century after Howard Hurd’s discovery of the barrow under the lawns of Valleta House.

The centre of the barrow where a primary burial might be expected was not exposed in the excavation. Two rectangular graves were associated with the ring ditch,  one within the circuit which was severely truncated and contained no human remains. The other grave was perhaps inserted on the periphery of the barrow at a later date, it  contained the remains of a child, lying crouched on its left hand side facing south, with a collared urn placed as an accessory vessel on the southern side of the skull.

The ring ditch excavated in 2009, which had a diameter of approximately 24m continued the linear series of barrows that line the edge of the arc that is formed by the intersection of the dry valley with the hill top.  Each point around the arc commanded a vista across the lower lying land and the sea, which may have been an important factor in the choice of location for these burial mounds in the Bronze Age and of the large causewayed ring ditch which stood very near to them.

VM_365 Day 230 Roman cremation burial from Minster, Thanet

Archaeology, From the Archives, In the Store, Minster, Roman, Roman pottery, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 230

Today’s image for Day 230 of VM_365 shows a Roman vessel which was found during grave digging at the modern cemetery at Tothill Street, Minster in the 1920’s.

This greyware  biconical urn with a carinated rim was found in association with three other vessels, presumably all from the same cremation group.  The group also included a carinated beaker in grey ware with black spots measuring approximatley 10 cm high, a grey ware bowl or platter about 18cm in diameter and a flagon in red fabric measuring approximatley 17.5 cm high. This cremation group dates to the late first to early second century AD.

The biconical urn contained fragments of burnt human bone representing the cremated remains of the individual buried in the pit.  The other vessels are likely to be ancillary vessels deposited in the grave pit alongside the urn, possibly containing food and other offerings for the afterlife.

These vessels were reported in the Antiquaries Journal in 1924 by Mr W. Whiting, an early Roman ceramics specialist who also later worked on the pottery from the early excavations at Richborough Roman Fort in the 1930’s.

VM_365 Day 229 Anglo Saxon Sunken Featured Building from Sarre

Anglo Saxon, Archaeology, Sarre, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 229

Today’s image for Day 229 of the VM_365 project shows an Anglo Saxon sunken featured building, which was excavated during a Watching Brief on a pipeline at Sarre in 1991.

Sarre is perhaps better known for its extensive Anglo Saxon cemetery which has featured in many of our posts (Day 19, 33, 34, 35, 116, 117, 119, 120, 142, 147, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153 and 227) but to the east of the cemetery near the abandoned Perkins Chalk pit, this contemporary settlement evidence was discovered.

The Sarre structure was rectangular in plan measuring 3 metres by 4 metres and  0.4 metres deep and was cut into the chalk geology.  Two opposing postholes were located at either end of the central axis of the cut.  A shallow ledge is visible along one long edge, suggesting the possibility that a planked floor was supported by it.

A discussion of the function of Sunken Feaured  Buildings has previously featured in VM_365 along with a description of a similar building found at Margate on Day 83.

Although only one structure was observed during this work, other evidence of Anglo Saxon settlement  is likely to survive in the surrounding fields waiting to be discovered.

 

 

 

VM_365 Day 228 Teaching Beaker era with tabletop excavation

Archaeology, Beaker, Broadstairs, Education, Thanet archaeology, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project, What's going on?

VM 228The image for Day 228 of the VM_365 project is of a resource the Trust has created for teaching some of the themes of prehistory in primary school workshops, a table top Beaker burial  given its first trial recently at a primary school in Broadstairs.  The tabletop layout includes a skeleton in a crouched position, accompanied by a replica Beaker vessel and a contemporary barbed-and-tanged arrowhead.

One element of the workshop is a discussion of pre-history as an idea, drawing out the sense that it describes periods in the development of human societies where no stories told directly by the people themselves exist. Studying prehistoric periods requires a process of investigation, based on the observation of objects and the circumstances of discovery. To generate narratives from the evidence requires imagination to draw out associations and analogies with contemporary life experiences.

The burial and accompanying objects create a detailed scenario to provoke discussion and demonstrate how archaeologists have used the detailed investigation of the pottery, flintwork and the human remains separately to provide data. Revealing the burial from under its covering of grassy topsoil (top images) adds a sense of the theatre of discovery which is such a part of the archaeological investigation process.

The combination of the artefacts and the burial into a recognisable archaeological scenario gives the children an insight into the practical circumstances of investigation where archaeologists generate their data. They can take part themselves in creating and debating their own versions of the narrative of the burial.

For an archaeologist well versed in the complexities of theoretical approaches to prehistory and the interpretative models and debates that are generated from them, it is fascinating to see these same arguments arise among such young minds based on the first principles of observation and imagination provoked by a Beaker burial presented in their own classroom.

Beyond the educational aspects of the activity, there is the opportunity to create a great deal of fun, with much ooing and aahing as the bones are revealed followed by a flood of questions and a great deal of humour. Previous VM_365 posts on prehistoric pottery and human bone themed education activities were made way back on Day 11 and Day 12

VM_365 Day 227 Anglo Saxon pottery from Sarre

Anglo Saxon, Archaeology, From the Archives, Sarre, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 227

The image for Day 227 of the VM_365 project is taken from the illustrations of pottery vessels excavated at the Anglo Saxon cemetery at Sarre in the mid 19th century which were published in Archaeologia Cantiana by John Brent in 1868. The Sarre cemetery was not investigated again until over 100 years later in 1990 when a number of graves were excavated before a pipeline was laid across the site.

The  range of pottery vessels shown above, described by Brent as Anglo Saxon narrow necked pottery, include wheel turned bottle vases and a jug. One of the graves from the 1990 excavation contained a wheel thrown bottle vase similar to those above which was shown on Day 153 of the VM_365 project.

References

Brent, J. 1868. Account of the Society’s Researches in the Saxon Cemetery at Sarr. Part 3. Archaeologia Cantiana 7. 307-321

 

 

VM_365 Day 226 La Tène style pottery from Margate

Archaeology, From the Archives, Iron Age, Margate, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 226

Today’s image for Day 226 of the VM_365 project shows two different views of the upper part of a Middle Iron Age pot decorated with geometric patterns in the distinctive continental La Tène style.

La Tène was a culture with its own distinctive decorative style which developed in Europe during the Iron Age and is named after the Swiss site where evidence of it  was first discovered  in 1857. The La Tène culture flourished in the area north of the Alps around Belgium, Eastern France, Switzerland, Austria, Southern Germany, the Czech republic, Poland, Hungary and Romania. Artefacts influenced by this style are found in Britain and parts of Ireland.

The vessel was found in excavations by Dr Arthur Rowe in 1924 at Tivoli, Margate and was  probably made locally,  influenced by the continental style. Other continentally influenced vessels have been found at Margate, with the pattern picked out in red paint, found at Fort Hill on the eastern side of Margate during excavations in the 2000’s.

VM_365 Day 225 An Antiquarian Illustration of an Anglo Saxon grave

Anglo Saxon, Archaeology, From the Archives, Lord of the Manor, Ramsgate, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 225

The image for Day 225 of the VM_365 project is an illustration of one of the Anglo-Saxon graves from Ozengell, Ramsgate drawn by F. W. Fairholt in the mid 19th century.

The Anglo Saxon cemetery at Ozengell was discovered in 1846. While workmen were digging a cutting for the new South Eastern Railway line from Ashford to Margate a large number of graves were dug through in fields near an Inn on the road to Canterbury from Ramsgate called Lord of the Manor. Many of the graves within the route of the cutting were destroyed and their artefacts sold off by the workmen before any record of them could be made.

However, William Rolfe, a Sandwich Antiquarian, managed to secure a number of the artefacts from the cemetery for recording and was able to arrange for around thirteen undisturbed graves to be opened for investigation by a group of antiquarians including Charles Roach Smith, Thomas Wright and the illustrator,  F. W. Fairholt who drew many archaeological finds of the period.

Fairholt drew this image during his visit and it is an excellent representation of the layout of the one of the graves. The illustration shows the skeleton of a male, with the remains of a shield on his chest,  a spear on his left side, an iron knife at his right hip, a short sword across his pelvis and a pottery vessel at his right shoulder.

The cemetery was not investigated again until over 100 years later, during the 1960’s, 1970’s and early 1980’s and most recently in 2013.  Artefacts from graves investigated during the 1980’s have featured on Day 204, Day 206, Day 209 and Day 211 of the VM_365 project.

Fairholt’s meticulous attention to detail means that his contemporary grave plan gives a level of information comparable with those made over 100 years later.