Issue 108
Sept / Oct 2009
Contents
news
Major slipware kiln site found near Leeds
Roman graves rescued: but cemetery doomed?
Isle of Man house is one of Britain's first
features
THE BIG DIG: Fetternear
Penelope Dransart reports on the topical issue of MPs claims expenese, at Kettlethorpe Hall
London: the mud of ages
Lorna Richardson reports on the discoveries made by the Thames Discovery Programme community initiative and Nick Booth describes his Foreshore Group training
For the sake of the worms
As we celebrate Charles Darwin, Matthew Law considers one of his less well-known interests that led him to excavate at ancient sites
on the web
Recommended websites
Caroline Wickham-Jones reviews How to get active with archaeology, and John Schofield looks at Flash methods to view the evolution of graffiti
letters
your views and responses, with further Beneath the Sea coverage
book review
We review a new publication about the Vindolanda Roman Fort
CBA Correspondent
Mike Heyworth welcomes new HLF money for training, and highlights the CBA's role
ISSN 1357-4442
Editor Mike Pitts
features
London: the mud of ages
As the Thames flows through London, its waters lap against the remains of millennia of human activity. The Thames Discovery Programme is encouraging people to record the evidence as it washes away. Lorna Richardson reports.
At low tide, the Thames is the longest open-air archaeological site in London. It has been used for water, transport, food, energy and waste disposal for millennia. These river-related activities and settlement nearby have influenced the distribution of most of the artefacts and features recovered on the foreshore. Well-preserved prehistoric landscapes and evidence for prehistoric, Roman and later activity survive in and beneath the muds, peats and rubble, and these deposits are eroding out.
Erosion, deposition and physical disturbance – all part of the natural development of any river over a long period of time – are accelerated by human intervention. Aggradation and degradation on the Thames appear to have increased considerably during the last century, disturbing archaeological deposits. Amongst the causes of this are foreshore consolidation, alterations to river walls and docks and the construction of the embankments; redevelopment and construction or replacement of bridges, flood defences, sewage outlets, piers, locks, weirs, wharves and jetties; and dredging for navigation channels.
This list is by no means exhaustive, and omits accidental damage to archaeological deposits by water craft or deliberate vandalism. Recent climate and sea level changes are seriously affecting the condition of archaeological deposits on the foreshore. As a result, the Thames inter-tidal area is an immensely dynamic and fragile environment. Many of the exposed archaeological sites are as yet unrecognised and unprotected, and almost all are vulnerable to the twice-daily tidal scouring, and thus require close monitoring. There is an urgent need for the permanent preservation by record of this diverse and vulnerable archaeological material.
Building on initiatives pioneered by the Museum of London's Thames Archaeological Survey that took place from 1993–1999, and the Thames Explorer Trust's innovative education projects, the Thames Discovery Programme (TDP) was officially launched in October 2008 and will run until 2011. The project is supported by the National Lottery with a generous grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The programme is designed to train members of the public to monitor and record the foreshore's archaeology in perpetuity. The emphasis on outreach and community involvement aims to communicate an understanding and informed enjoyment of the historic Thames to the widest possible audience. The TDP currently has a small staff team: part-time project director Gustav Milne (UCL Institute of Archaeology), full-time community archaeologist Nathalie Cohen, archaeology outreach officer Lorna Richardson and part-time field officer Elliot Wragg (based at the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre – LAARC), and GIS specialist Stuart Brookes. The project is managed directly by the Thames Estuary Partnership at UCL Environment Institute. Other supporting bodies include the Thames Explorer Trust, Museum of London, the Port of London Authority, English Heritage and UCL Institute of Archaeology.
Since the project began last October, the TDP archaeologists have been systematically resurveying key archaeological sites along the tidal Thames. The geomatics section of Museum of London Archaeology has been contracted to provide survey support for both research and developer-led work, and has undertaken contour surveys at sites across London. These will provide a base from which to monitor any erosion of the foreshore archaeology over the next three years. Baselines across features and temporary benchmarks and gridlines on key sites have been located in preparation for the central part of this community archaeology project, the activities of the Foreshore Recording and Observation Group (Frog).
The programme website is key to the community project. This is an ever-expanding resource, with information, training, events and images from the foreshore, alongside blogs and films made especially for the project. The website is a "mash-up", which combines various Web 2.0 applications and hybridised open source software, such as Textpattern for the content management system, Flickr and Google Maps for the multimedia galleries, with Vimeo for video feeds and Wikimapia for other mapping data.
In June we launched Ark (Archaeological Recording Kit), L–P: Archaeology's online database system, which will allow the creation and dissemination of data online from all the TDP survey work that takes place over the next two and a half years. The ultimate aim is to train all interested members of the Frog in the use of the various applications, including the content management system, so anyone can contribute to the website. Blog entries are actively encouraged, we are hoping to move into podcasting in the near future, and photos of the foreshore can be added to our Flickr pool for sharing with the wider public.
We hope that the Frog monitoring work will result in contributions directly to Ark, once the Frog group has been trained to use it. This approach to the project may seem overambitious, and it can be difficult for some Frog members without internet access at home, although we encourage everyone to access their local library if possible, and we provide paper copies of all our materials. We strongly believe that the internet offers the best possible opportunities for members of the public to become involved in the archaeology of the foreshore. Facilitating access to archaeological information and data is a key part of our commitment to community archaeology – supporting the process of creating an online archaeological record, through images, blogs and interpretation, by the Frog, for the public.
The Frog members are a diverse bunch. Some have previous experience of archaeology, and are long-seasoned members of local archaeology societies, students of archaeology or history, or heritage professionals looking for hands-on voluntary work. Others have little or no previous experience whatsoever, except an interest in and commitment to preserving the future of the archaeology of the Thames foreshore. The Frog group is London-wide, and is not affiliated to any particular geographical area or period of history.
The Frog training we provide is an intensive process. It occurs over two days, starting with a classroom-based day of lectures and workshops, teaching foreshore recording techniques, digital dissemination and health and safety issues. Day two is held on the foreshore itself, putting day one into practice and recording and planning archaeological features on our key sites at Custom House, Isleworth and Charlton.
All the foreshore sessions are supported and supervised by professional archaeologists. This unique opportunity to participate in the archaeology of London, for free, with continuing support offered by the Thames Discovery Programme is a huge draw; the project is heavily oversubscribed. The TDP team has trained 170 Frog members in the first nine months of the project. Over the next three years, Frog members will help to record and monitor each of the 20 sites we survey and hopefully take responsibility for monitoring our foreshore archaeology for many years to come. It has been nothing short of a revelation to meet so many enthusiastic members of the public, with such diverse knowledge of photography, local archaeology, history, geology, shipbuilding techniques, metal detecting, Concorde's journey along the Thames... you name it, we have an interested Frog member!
Lorna Richardson is Archaeology Outreach Officer at the Thames Discovery Programme
Nick Booth trained as a Foreshore Recording and Observation Group member in January 2009. He describes his experience of the Thames Discovery Programme (TDP).
I was forwarded an email about the TDP from someone in the local archaeological society. Working in a small local authority museum, I tend to feel slightly cut off from the field aspect of archaeology. After a week spent documenting potsherds the opportunity to participate in a project that focuses on one of the largest archaeological sites in London looked particularly appealing!
I had a look at the programme's website. The layout was really easy to use and I was particularly interested in the interactive potential. Foreshore and Recording Observation Group (Frog) members are encouraged to blog about their experiences and submit articles to go on the website. I especially like the idea of a Riverpedia, a sort of Wikipedia for the river, which everyone is encouraged to add to in the future. I emailed a few questions to the TDP staff and their answers came back quickly, and were full of enthusiasm, so I signed up for the two training days.
The first day was held at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, and was well attended by potential Frog members. The training covered diverse topics like finds identification, digital outreach and archaeological recording methods (particularly useful as I was slightly nervous that I had forgotten everything I once knew). Audience participation is strongly encouraged, and early on you learn that the ultimate plan for the future of the project is to have it totally run by the volunteers.
On the second training day we went out onto the foreshore and considered the practical side of the work that we will be doing. I chose Isleworth, as there was less chance of falling over in the mud in front of lots of tourists, but I could also have worked on the foreshore in front of Custom House (central London). There were plenty of experienced archaeologists there to answer questions and identify finds, and they were really patient and willing to discuss all aspects of the programme. There was a good mix of people volunteering as well; I met university undergraduates, retired people with aninterest in the area they now lived and plenty of people in-between.
For me the nature of the foreshore is one of the biggest attractions of the TDP. There is an incredible mix of sites, ranging from those heavy in industrial and urban archaeology in the centre of London, to less built-up areas on the edges. The foreshore itself is constantly changing; as tides move in and out and sites become exposed and submerged they have the potential to change in character almost from day-to-day. The river Thames has been a focus of human activity for thousands of years, and the range of finds must be close to unparalleled. From stone axeheads to shopping trolleys, the Thames foreshore has it all. And with the staff willing to use a variety of media to get their news and information out to Frog members and the wider public it is really easy to keep up-to-date with the next event. I have just joined the TDP Facebook group!
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