Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Mar 10, 2010
Tagged in:
wooden coffin ,
Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre ,
Walcot Street ,
tests ,
teeth ,
Syria ,
St Swithuns' Yard ,
skeleton ,
series ,
Roman Baths Museum ,
reinterpret ,
redisplay ,
reconstruction ,
Project ,
preserved ,
Planning ,
Objects Conservation Laboratory ,
Museum of London ,
Meet the Ancestors ,
man’s face ,
male ,
local ,
lead coffin lining ,
late 4th century ,
Julian Richards ,
filmed ,
female ,
exhibitionmuseum ,
excavation ,
eastern Mediterranean ,
discovered ,
development plan ,
conservation work ,
conservation equipment ,
conservation ,
collection ,
coffins ,
clay ,
buried ,
bones ,
BBC ,
ancestors ,
analysis ,
analysis ,
5 year ,
45 years old ,
25 years old ,
1999
The coffin lining was discovered in 1999 at the St Swithuns' Yard site on Walcot Street, Bath. The original excavation and conservation work was undertaken by the Museum of London and the project was filmed as part of the BBC series ‘Meet the Ancestors’ with Julian Richards.
Two coffins were found at the site. They were buried by the side of an alley way in the late 4th century. One coffin belonged to a male, 45 years of age and a height of 5”8. He was buried next to a female who was local to the area. She was approximately 25 years old and had been buried in a wooden coffin. Unfortunately the female skeleton was not well preserved.
Coffin lining before treatment
The coffin lining and the skeleton were taken to the Museum of London where a number of tests were carried out. Analysis revealed that there was no obvious cause of death. DNA results showed that his maternal ancestors came from the eastern Mediterranean and further analysis of his bones and teeth suggested he had probably spent his youth in Syria. Please 'read more' to find out about the conservation work taking place...
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Oct 6, 2009
Tagged in:
Wiltshire ,
Truckle Hill ,
third season ,
tessellated pavements ,
suite of rooms ,
Roman Villa ,
Roman bath house building ,
pre-bath house building ,
Phil and Darren.Wessex Archaeology ,
monumental entrance ,
long term preservation of the site ,
intact painted wall plaster ,
grant funding ,
excavation ,
earlier building ,
discovery in 2004 ,
dedicated volunteers ,
conservation of Roman masonry ,
complex of buildings ,
column ,
classic late Roman t-shaped corn dryer ,
Castle Combe ,
building for feasting and dining ,
backfilling ,
AD 85 ,
AD 250
The third season of excavation at the Roman bath house building at Truckle Hill has just been completed. These past two weeks have revealed a lot of surprises about what we now know were a complex of buildings in this small valley bottom location close to Castle Combe.
Pieces of Painted Wall Plaster
The aim of this season was mainly to reveal more detail about the pre-bath house building which surprisingly came to light at the end of last season. This building had some intact painted wall plaster and a column base (see earlier blog from February 2009 for photo). More of this building was revealed this season, including part of a further partial panel of intact painted wall plaster and what could be a monumental entrance feature leading into the building from the direction of the Roman Villa which is located 100m metres away. The jury is still out about the function of this earliest building as there is no evidence to suggest is was a bath house, but could possibly have been a building for feasting and dining. The biggest surprise this season was the discovery of yet another earlier building under the bath house, meaning there were at least three buildings constructed on site, one on top of the other. The second building was larger than the first. Structural evidence points to this being a bath house with a suite of rooms, some with painted wall plaster and tessellated pavements. A further discovery was a classic late Roman t-shaped corn dryer which had been inserted into the final bath house rooms after it went out of use. 'Read more' to find out about the dating of the buildings and the additional focus of the project….
Stone Roof Tiles from the Bath House
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Jul 29, 2009
Tagged in:
uncovered ,
treatment ,
sword ,
ornate hanging attachments ,
Objects ,
News ,
Labs ,
Kelly Abbott ,
helmet ,
grave items ,
grave burial ,
Fragments ,
finds ,
excavation ,
contract conservator ,
conservation ,
chin ,
Bognor
We thought it was time for another update on the grave burial from Bognor Regis as yet more exciting finds have been uncovered.
The Helmet
The latest stage of the excavation has seen the helmet completely uncovered with the discovery of an attachment that would have held a chin strap in place. Although damaged the helmet is in one piece and, thanks to the painstaking work of our contract conservator Kelly Abbott, is ready to be lifted free of the surrounding soil. Read on to see some additional images of the helmet attachments........
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Mar 16, 2009
Work has progressed significantly since our last blog entry – as a result of a lot of hard work from our Contract Conservator! The shield boss has now been excavated along with a large iron object which has two copper alloy rings placed alongside it. The identity of this is unknown but one suggestion has been that it might be a large knife or sword that has been bent in half.
a large knife or sword bent in half
The excavation of the largest block is coming on in leaps and bounds, with a section of the helmet now exposed and several of the small hanging attachments. It’s really exciting to finally see the artefacts for real after weeks of painstaking excavation work.
