The latest edition of our archaeology podcast, Archaeocast, is now online.

Listen to Archaeocast 11 to get a sense of what it is like to dive a shipwreck, including a live interview with one of our divers direct from the seabed. This edition of Archaeocast is presented by Gemma Ingason, outreach officer for our Heritage Lottery Funded coastal and marine archaeology programme, Time Travelling by Water.

For the third time in a row, the work of Wessex Archaeology has been recognised at the prestigious industries British Archaeological Awards. Following on from awards for its internationally famous find, the Amesbury Archer, and its work on the books about the Mary Rose, the work of Wessex Archaeology was recognised in two awards at a ceremony at The British Museum.

Framework Archaeology, the joint venture between Wessex Archaeology and Oxford Archaeology won the award for Best Project for its work at Heathrow Airport. The Best Discovery Award went to a find nominated by Wessex Archaeology. The key find of Palaeolithic Hand axes from the North Sea were reported through a system that Wessex Archaeology operates on behalf of the Marine Aggregates industry.

To find out more, including the judge's comments, visit Splash, our Coastal and Marine archaeology section, and the Framework Archaeology website.

Wessex Archaeology has been developing its capacity to undertake archaeological investigations in inland, coastal and marine environments for over a decade, and is a recognised leader in these sectors. To meet continuing demand for our services by seabed developers, and to build upon a series of strategic projects for public authorities we are seeking to appoint a Marine Geophysicist, initially for a fixed-term of six months.

Applications should be sent in by 12:00 noon Friday 31st October 2008 Applications have now closed.

Find out more about this position.

We were delighted to find that some of Wessex Archaeology's work under the auspices of our Framework Archaeology joint venture with our colleagues at Oxford Archaeology has been short-listed for the British Archaeological Awards which are to be held at The British Museum on 10 November 2008.

The work is the Heathrow Terminal 5 excavation and publication, submitted in the Best Archaeological Project category, and its supporting publication data and geographic informations systems software (Framework FreeViewer) submitted in the Best Archaeological Innovation category.

Screenshot of the Framework FreeViewer, showing a Bronze Age settlement

You can find out more about the excavations at T5 from the project web site

You can try out the Framework FreeViewer for yourself by downloading it and the Perry Oaks excavations data . You can also access the supporting documentation and more detailed information on the downloads.

Screenshot of the Framework FreeViewer, showing a detailed view of a waterhole, context 135071

Since early 2008, a second set of excavations data for use in the Framework FreeViewer has been available. This covers the Framework Archaeology excavations at Stansted airport between the years 2000 to 2004.

Chamber Tomb of Pentre Ifan near Newport, PembrokeshireOn Saturday 4th October 2008, the exhibition "Making History: Antiquaries in Britain 1707-2007" opened at Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.

It explores the development of archaeology, from antiquarianism to the rise of professional archaeology, and runs until 3rd January 2009.

Making History, presented in association with the Society of Antiquaries of London, features original works of art, manuscripts, and artefacts from their collection. It also includes a video installation by Wessex Archaeology staff showcasing some of the latest 3D capture techniques used in archaeology.

Admission to the museum is £5, which includes entrance to the exhibition. Opening times can be found on the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum website.

The BBC Timewatch programme Stonehenge interprets the mysterious stone circles of Stonehenge as a temple built around 2,300 BC to which people came in search of healing. The Amesbury Archer is described as ‘one of most important archaeological discoveries in Britain.' He is called the Archer because of the stone arrowheads buried with him.

Artists interpretation of the Amebury ArcherThis man, who lived between 2470-2280 BC, died not far from Stonehenge. By then he was between 35-45, but isotope fingerprinting of his teeth showed he was born far away, probably in the Alpine area of central Europe.  Near to him lay the grave of a younger man who was a relative. This man, his ‘Companion,' had been brought up in not far from Stonehenge, but as a child he may have travelled, perhaps even to central Europe.

Years before he died the Archer suffered a traumatic injury in which he lost his left knee and this led an infection of the wound that penetrated his very bones. He lived in constant pain from this wound, and as he put his weight on his good leg it grew stronger and the damaged leg withered. A tooth abscess also ruptured his jaw, and the infection that this caused may have led to his death.

The Timewatch programme argues that the stones brought from Wales to Stonehenge - the Bluestones - had healing powers. That is why, between 2,400 and 2,200 BC, they were carried over 150 miles, across land and over sea. Did the Amesbury Archer travel from near the Alps to Stonehenge motivated to find relief, to get better?

The Archer's Cushion Stone, used in metalworkingPerhaps the Archer sought magic. But he brought magic with him. In his grave was what at first sight looks like a small, black, stone. Its significance is that it was a metalworker's tool. And it identifies him as the oldest metalworker yet found in Britain. The gold hair ornaments buried with him are also the oldest gold objects yet found in Britain. The Amesbury Archer lived at the very beginning of the metal age in Britain.

Those skills had to be brought to Britain from across the Channel, carried by people like the Archer whose cultural links were with what archaeologists call the ‘Beaker culture'. These metalworkers had the practical skills in their hands and the knowledge of how to make metal objects in their heads.

Living at the beginning of the metal age, did the simple black stone eventually buried with the Archer give him a passport to travel through Europe? Was the status with which he was buried due to him having gained some relief from his illnesses at Stonehenge? Or was it, like many of the richest burials in continental Europe of this time, because of their new and seemingly magical skills in transforming stone to metal?

Have your say in the comments below!

The Boscombe Bowmen: builders of Stonehenge?

Radiocarbon dates do not provide exact historical dates, like 1066. They are statements of the statistical probability of a date range. The date range of the burial of the Amesbury Archer overlaps with the initial interpretation of the new radiocarbon dates for the bluestone circle at Stonehenge, which are given as 2,400-2,200 BC.

Another very important ‘Beaker culture' grave, and which has a good match with the date range of 2,400-2,200 BC given in the programme for the first arrival of the bluestones at Stonehenge, is that of the Boscombe Bowmen. This grave, a simple grave cut into the chalk, was found 1km away from the graves of the Amesbury Archer and his Companion.

The grave of the Bowmen was different because it is a collective burial; it contains the remains of at least 7 people. Like the grave of the Archer, the Bowmen's grave also contained stone arrowheads and Beaker style pottery.

The way in which the Bowmen were buried is unusual for the time. Only parts of their skeletons were present, and before then these bones seem to have been buried elsewhere. It is difficult to find close parallels for this way of burial in Britain or elsewhere in Europe.

The isotope fingerprinting of the teeth of three of the young men buried in the grave showed that, like the Amesbury Archer, they were not local. One of the few places in Britain that matches the strontium and oxygen isotope fingerprints of the Bowmen is Wales.

The igneous rocks of Armorica in north-west France provide another possible origin, experts suggest. The strontium isotopes can be matched but the match for the oxygen isotopes is not as good. However, in Armorica it is not unusual for several ‘Beaker culture' burials to be found close by and it has been wondered if this is a more likely homeland for the Bowmen? In favour of this idea is that by shortly after 2,000 BC there were close links between Wessex and Armorica?

Against the idea is the view that although some burials in Armorica may be found close by, they were still the burials of individuals and not a collective grave. These burials were often placed in Stone Age megalithic tombs that were being re-used. In contrast, the Bowmen were buried in a simple grave cut into the chalk.

More important is the key scientific fact about the Boscombe Bowmen. This is that their isotopes show that they had migrated when they were children. They can be shown to have been in one place at about the age of 5 when their first permanent teeth grew, and in another at about the age of 12 when their last permanent teeth grew. Both places were different from the place they were buried as young men. This is the best isotope evidence for migration in prehistoric Europe.

Archaeologists and scientists cannot be sure of where the Boscombe Bowmen came from. But does the new dating of the bluestones at Stonehenge now suggest that Wales is the most likely homeland for the Bowmen? When they were children, did the Bowmen make a journey in which the adults who brought the bluestones from Wales to Stonehenge had led the way? Or like the Amesbury Archer, did they come from continental Europe? Were they pilgrims from France?

What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment below (comments may take a few days to appear here, as we have to approve them manually).

CBA Wessex Autumn Conference: Saturday and Sunday 1st -2nd November 2008

In 2008, CBA Wessex is celebrating its 50th year. To mark this occasion, we are pleased to announce a major two-day conference "The New Antiquarians: 50 years of archaeological innovation in Wessex" to be held at the Ordnance Survey conference centre in Southampton on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd November 2008.

The aim of the conference is three-fold: to review the significant advances that have taken place in the past 50 years; to outline current thinking and to speculate where the next half century could lead us and to help promote our continuing outreach programme and other activities. The conference is broken down into eight sessions, covering a range of periods and specialist areas.

We are proposing, with the support of Council for British Archaeology (CBA), to publish the proceedings as a record of the event. We are aiming to bring together as many as possible of those who have made a critical contribution to archaeological knowledge and practice in the Wessex region. Confirmed contributors include Barry Cunliffe, Geoff Wainwright, Tim Darvill, Mike Fulford, Mike Parker-Pearson, Peter Fowler, Josh Pollard, Phil Harding, Martin Green and many others.

The Venue

The conference will be held at the Ordnance Survey Business Centre, Romsey Road, Southampton SO16 4GU. The venue is within easy reach of Southampton city centre, with good road and rail links and on-site parking. For site details and map, please visit the OS website.

Food, Drinks and Accommodation

Tea and coffee will be provided during the morning and afternoon breaks. Hot meals and sandwiches will be available at lunch time in the Ordnance Survey café. A wide range of local accommodation is available. A list of useful contact numbers is available on the conference website and on request.

Conference Dinner

The conference dinner will be held on Saturday evening at a local restaurant with Andrew Lawson as after dinner speaker. Cost will be £29.95/head and details and menu options will be displayed on the website or on request. Please note, numbers for the dinner are very limited and early booking is highly recommended.

Further Information

For further information on the weekend please contact:
Andy Manning, CBA Wessex Meetings Secretary
at a.manning@wessexarch.co.uk
or telephone 01722 343 406
Fax 01722 337562
or write to Andy Manning, CBA Wessex Meeting Secretary C/o Wessex Archaeology, Portway House, Old Sarum Park, Salisbury Wiltshire SP4 6EB
Website:  http://blogs.wessexarch.co.uk/newantiquarians/

Partners

The weekend event is organised by CBA Wessex in association with the Ordnance Survey and Wessex Archaeology.

Recent work by Wessex Archaeology in the Thames Estuary has been captured in two BBC programmes Thames Shipwrecks: a race against time. The programmes have been produced by Touch Productions and broadcast on BBC2 on Tuesday 26 August and Tuesday 2 September 2008.

Thames Shipwrecks: a race against time (BBC 2)

Find out more about the background to our work and involvement in the series over at Splash, our coastal and marine archaeology blog.

There are just a few spaces left on the 2008 Practical Archaeology courses at Down Farm, Cranborne Chase, Dorset. This excellent training course offers 5 days excavation on an Iron Age site, with first class tuition in fieldwork techniques together with workshops on identifying pottery, flint and bone. Courses run from 1st to 5th and from 8th to 11th September and are suitable for all levels of experience.

To find out more please visit the Training section of our website.

Practical Archaeology Course 2007 Team Photo

Despite big black clouds and the occasional spot of rain, National Archaeology Day at Salisbury Museum was a big success again this year. More than 670 visitors enjoyed a wide variety of family activities from making pots to building Stonehenge. There was even an opportunity to go snorkelling underwater for finds! Visitors were fascinated by Neil Burridge’s demonstration of Bronze Age metal-working while children enjoyed helping Julian Richards build a huge Stonehenge trilithon.

Building a trilithon with Julian Richards

Visitors had a go at the various stages of archaeology from excavating and recording to finds washing and conservation. They tried their hand at metal detecting and making pots, made models of Stonehenge and reconstructed faces like the experts on ‘Meet the Ancestors’.

'Snorkelling' for underwater archaeology

Volunteers from Salisbury Museum, The Wiltshire Conservation Centre, Salisbury Cathedral, National Trust and Wessex Archaeology were joined by local societies for what has become a favourite annual event.