The Sutton Hoo excavations and William Francis Grimes

Sutton Hoo © David Gill

The contribution of William Francis Grimes to the Sutton Hoo excavations can sometimes be overlooked. Grimes was born in Pembroke and was an undergraduate at Cardiff where he read Latin; he then joined the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff where he initially worked on Roman pottery from Holt. However, his main interest was in prehistory, and in 1938 he joined the archaeological section of the Ordnance Survey. His expertise in working on organic materials was thought suitable for the excavation at Sutton Hoo where his ‘work in dissecting and removing the majority of the buried deposits was invaluable’ (AntJ 1940).

For his life see ODNB. See also his guidebooks for prehistoric sites in Wales as well as his excavation of the Walbrook Mithraeum in London.

Excavating the Athenian Agora: the temple of Hephaistos

Temple of Hephaistos, the Athenian Agora © David Gill

John Camp has given another virtual seminar from the Athenian agora. The subject this time was the temple of Hephaistos that stands on the low hill overlooking the agora. He broke the temple down into its architectural elements from its foundations to the roof. His explanation of the proportions of the Doric order showed how a reconstruction can be made from the smallest of architectural fragments. Camp explained how the internal structure of the temple had been reorientated when the building had been converted into a Christian church. There was a reminder that the modern planting was informed by the excavated ‘plant pots’ around the temple.

The subsequent questions include a discussion of the date as well as the use pf polychromy.

These in situ seminars do so much to explain architectural remains.

New Excavations at Sutton Hoo

Sutton Hoo excavations, June 2018 © David Gill

Some investigatory excavations were taking place at National Trust Sutton Hoo this last week in preparation for the construction of a viewing tower adjacent to the mound where the ship burial was excavation. This HLF funded project will enhance the public experience of what is one of the most important archaeological sites in Suffolk.

Archaeologists from MOLA have been investigating a Bronze Age ditch feature (with some contextualised pottery).

In 2015 a temporary scaffolding tower was erected to see how it changed the way that the public viewed the mounds.

Sutton Hoo excavations, June 2018 © David Gill

Isthmia: starting-gate

Isthmia © David Gill

Excavations at the Panhellenic sanctuary of Isthmia in the Peloponnese uncovered remains of the balbides starting-gate from the stadion. There were a sixteen starting-gates (on the right of the picture) that were controlled by strings that passed along grooves leading to the pit where the ‘starter’ was positions. The gate ‘system’ appears to date to the 5th century BC, although its use may have been limited.

An Inventory for Scotland

2015

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) presented its final reports in the form of a well illustrated overview of its work from 1908 until its conclusion in 2015. This beautifully designed study includes commentary on the impact of different technologies on how the historic landscape and its features can be mapped and recorded.

Anglo-Saxon Rendlesham

Heritage Futures is pleased to be supporting the Anglo-Saxon Rendlesham conference that is due to be held in Bury St Edmunds on Saturday 24 September 2016.

Further details are available here.

Terry Levinthal guest blog: On inventories

Conservation professional Terry Levinthal (Director of Conservation at the National Trust for Scotland & Board Member of BEFS) has been reflecting on Inventories for us:

“Three interesting publications crossed my path today. The first, given to me by Diana Murray, former Head of the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS – now subsumed into the new NDPB Historic Environment Scotland) is called “An Inventory for the Nation” which records the 107 year journey of the Commission to produce a permanent and enduring record of the archaeology and antiquities of Scotland.

The second, which arrived by post later in the day was volume 144 of the Proceeding of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (SocAnt). A good proper academic read if there ever was one, I was drawn to an article by James Scott Pedre titled, “Mingary in Ardnamurchan: a review of who could have built the castle.” It was interesting to see liberal references to some of the RCAHMS’s publications, including the seminal Inventories of Argyllshire.

The third publication (actually the first, if I can call it a “publication”) that drew my attention came from the BBC’s Breakfast newscast, which I enjoy most mornings over the first coffee of the day. James Donal Wales was interviewed on the 15^th anniversary of the founding of the Wikipedia, the free, open content, collaborative encyclopedia that would accept contributions from ordinary people. Loved and pilloried by all, I was struck by his mission of democratizing knowledge.

In flicking through An Inventory for a Nation, I was also struck by a quote from Roger Mercer, the Commission’s Secretary between 1990 and 2004, where he said, “Published Inventories have not ever really be a practicable, or, perhaps a desirable proposition.… By their nature, they seek to define, and as a result they tend to fossilise what must inevitably be a subject of constant reassessment”. As essentially a national collection for the antiquities of Scotland, this is an undeniable fact. Collections change; our understanding matures; different perspectives re-define.

However, in returning the Volume 144 of the SocAnts Proceedings, I was immediately struck on the timelessness of the Argyll Inventories and how they remain relevant and essential for modern scholastic purposes. The Inventories were referenced in numerous occasions, as were other works such as MacGibbons and Ross work on castles in Scotland (1889).

In essence, these Inventories provide a definable baseline; a point from which later works can be measured. James Wales spoke about his memory of an encyclopaedia, where as a child he would receive updates from the publisher on sticky labels and with his mother would painstakingly stick these over the corrected pages. These corrected passages never actually disappeared; they simply were hidden from view. Can we same the same about the edits to Wiki pages?

With no such fixed baseline, such as Argyll. An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments, Volume 1, Kintyre and the subsequent suite of other volumes, it would prove more challenging to conduct such a review as James Scott Pedre has done.

As such, it is comforting to have been given An Inventory for the Nation, which at least draws a measurable line from which future historians, scholars and management committees may wish to review in times to come. As our national heritage agencies merge and change in response to new challenges, being able to go back to review progress is more important than ever.

Saxon Stingray

This was recovered from a late Saxon pit in Ipswich. It’s a barbed tail spine from a stingray. Find of the week. pic.twitter.com/vx6FDd9ujD

— Oxford Archaeology (@oatweet) November 26, 2015

From Oxford Archaeology

Leiston Abbey excavations

Leiston Abbey © David Gill

DigVentures have been excavating at the Premonstratensian Leiston Abbey in Suffolk. The BBC are now reporting on what appears to have been the discovery of the hospital (“Leiston Abbey: Dig Ventures archaeologists in ‘hospital find’“, BBC News 5 September 2015). The abbey is in the care of English Heritage.

DigVentures hope to excavate the original location for the abbey at a location close to the Minsmere RSPB Reserve.

More on the excavations can be found here.

Walbrook, London

The excavations by William F. Grimes at the Walbrook in London captured the public imagination. The building that caught the imagination was the temple of Mithras and the Guildhall Museum published a guide to the Finds from the Temple of Mithras, Walbrook (price 1 s). There are 8 full page black and white photographs, plus the images on the front and read covers, and with two pages of text, one on the temple and the other on the ‘Works of art’.

A companion guide was Small finds from Walbrook 1954-1955 also published by the Guildhall Museum (price 1 s 6 d). This consisted of nine black and white plates with facing text description, and covered Grimes’ work in the mid-1950s.

(1986)

The finds from the Mithraeum appeared in a volume by J.M.C. Toynbee, The Roman Art Treasures from the Temple of Mithras (London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, special paper 7; 1986). The introduction on the archaeological back ground is by Grimes (pp. 1-4). Several of the pieces are illustrated in colour.

(1998)

The full account appeared as an English Heritage archaeological report in 1998.  This included Alan Sorrell’s reconstruction of the Mithraeum.