archaeology
Interested in learning more about human remains: the bones of the body, identifying sex, age, and illnesses on individuals from past populations? As part of the 26th Festival of Archaeology, North Hertfordshire Museum is hosting a one-day hands-on human remains workshop as part of a project to further our understanding of health in and around Baldock, Hertfordshire, the site of small Roman town.
The course takes place on Saturday 9 July 2016, from 10 am to 5 pm, in the Learning Centre of the new North Hertfordshire Museum, Brand Street, Hitchin SG5 1JE.
It will allow people the opportunity to directly analyse human remains from the Roman and Medieval periods. This is an ideal opportunity for members of the general public, undergraduates and graduates in archaeology and forensics, medical professionals, museum staff, local archaeologists from societies as well as anyone who wants to know more about osteology and what human remains can tell you and how to handle and curate them. It is a great way to gain hands-on experience of human remains in a museum environment and learn about the past from people who lived through it.
Classes are limited to twelve students to ensure maximum access to the remains and guidance from a trained osteoarchaeologist with experience on hundreds of skeletal remains. This is a general course suitable for anyone and the day revolves around handling skeletal remains. The day will include:
- Training in how to identify different bones and layout a human skeleton
- Determining sex, age, and height of individuals
- Identifying different pathologies and the health of a person at death
- Using skeletal remains and other evidence to reconstruct life in different periods
- Reviewing the different stages of skeletal remains from burial, archaeological excavation, osteological study, curation or reburial
- Learning how to curate and record remains
Cost £55, including tea, coffee and course materials.
Booking form: Adobe PDF or MS Word document formats.
Contact: Dr David Klingle, Osteoarchaeologist, Osteoachaeology Initiatives, 46 High Street, Chesterton, Cambridge CB4 1NG, mob 07578 323410, email david.klingle@cantab.net or david.klingle@yahoo.co.uk. Please book directly with Dr Klingle, not through North Hertfordshire Museum.
Excavating the burial at Kelshall in November 2014
Unusual archaeological finds dating back to AD 200 have been discovered in a field near Royston. The artefacts, which form part of a burial, probably of a wealthy and cosmopolitan individual, are a unique find in Britain and experts in ancient finds are already clamouring to study these rare objects.
Discovered late last year by a local metal detectorist in a field in Kelshall, a complete Roman jug was the first thing to be found. A bronze dish, a larger jug and then a third jug were soon uncovered. Realising this was an important find it was reported and Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews, North Hertfordshire District Council’s (NHDC) Archaeology and Outreach Officer, decided that it would be a good idea to investigate further.
Bronze jug with decorated handle
Once the dig was underway, glass bottles, an iron lamp and wall mounting bracket, two layers of hobnails from a pair of shoes and a box with bronze corner bindings were uncovered. Two shattered, but otherwise complete, mosaic glass dishes stood on top of a decayed wooden box which held two broken clear glass cups and a pair of blue glass handles. The largest glass bottle was hexagonal, and contained cremated bone and a worn bronze coin dating from AD 174-5. A rare octagonal bottle stood next to it. A major find was mosaic glass dishes likely made in Alexandria, Egypt, around AD 200
Glass millefiori dish, made in Alexandria
Currently owned by the farmer and the finder, the North Hertfordshire Museum Service hopes to raise the money to buy the finds, so they can be displayed when the new museum opens later in the year.
After 1800 years, finds like these still impress us with their workmanship. Working together with the metal detectorist, NHDC’s archaeologist and the Finds Liaison Officer, were able to uncover the past and find out and understand so much more about the lives of people in Roman North Herts.
A guest post by Daisy Bradford, who did four weeks’ work experience with the Museum Service in August 2014:
This summer holiday just past, I spent four weeks doing voluntary with the North Herts Archaeology Service because I have a passion for archaeology and I plan to study it at university when I complete my A-Levels.
Daisy working at the Museums Resource Centre, Burymead Road in Hitchin
In my four weeks with the local archaeologists and museum workers in North Hertfordshire, I learned a lot of things and gained a lot of experience that will aid me in my future ambitions and also as useful life skills. I spent a lot of time with artefacts, holding them, observing them, classifying, photographing, cleaning and it really enabled me to have a close insight into the archaic culture of our ancestors that you won’t get from visiting a museum.
I also got to go on a few site visits to current commercial digs throughout the county, which was fascinating for me, who’d never seen a real dig let alone got to go on one and see how they are organised and all the amazing things the archaeologists find and it showed me how incredibly rich the history is just outside my front door.
This experience has been a great one for me and I’ve earned many skills and a deeper understanding of the study of Archaeology, as well as increasing my passion for it.
I’d also like to say thanks to Keith and Ros, who made sure I was doing all my work right and made the experience even more enjoyable.