Alas Poor Yorick!

Good Day to you all,

Since I have been working for the Eastbourne Ancestors Project, cleaning and preserving the Anglo-Saxon Skeletons found at the old Eastbourne College of Further Education site, the treatment of the remains has been the topic of more than the odd conversation, as we near the end of the preservation of the remains and the next steps are starting to take shape. This has led me to think a great deal about the process of excavation of human remains and their subsequent aftercare. Here follows my views and thoughts on the subject. I hope you find it interesting and informative.

The Britsh Museum, London - A wonderful Day out.

With a growing interest in the fate of human remains, archaeologists can no longer ignore the pressure to open up their practice to wider consultation and input. I think that most Archaeologists will claims that they deeply respect any human remains that they are excavating and treat them with great care and reverence. However, what constitutes respect varies widely depending on religion, culture, and professional discipline. The notion of how valuable, useful or sacred the human remains are can differ an awful lot, when looking from a purely scientific view to the religious.

Therefore what happens to human remains after they have been excavated, leads to a choice of either reburial or long-term retainment by a museum or archaeological society. So even though there are only two choices available it doesn't make the decision any easier. Due to the ever increasing popularity in human remains, and the fact that, legally, there can be no ownership of the corpse (The laws of England and Wales do not recognise the concept of property (i.e. a right of ownership) in human bodies or tissue except where remains have been treated or altered through the application of skill.) It has become popular belief, that the public should have more of a say in the decision-making process, in regards to the aftercare of human remains in Archaeology.

Human remains must always be treated as a special category, and because of this there must be a good reason for a museum to seek to keep the remains in stores, for either temporary or long-term use. The usual practice is for archaeologists to decide amongst themselves whether a certain human remains should be keep in a collection for further/future research or whether they should be reburied. However, again due to the ever increasing outside interest in the subject of human remains, it has come to debate about whether these questions (should human remains be kept or reburied, or should there even be a discussion over this topic) should be discussed by a broader community than just archaeologists, because they all have their own particular research interests and bias towards the subject.

In regards to this subject of the retainment of human remains, I believe that it is important that we find a clear balance between the obvious importance of retaining information from the human remains and the need for maintaining a high level of respect. The main discussion and dispute that occurs over human remains is whether after being dug up, cleaned and tested should they remain in a museum’s collection or immediately be reburied, there are also a group of people that disapprove entirely of the excavation of human bones. This group of people especially, raise the largest problem for archaeologists, because generally they do not go out looking or digging for skeletons. When skeletons are found immediate reburial is not always an available option for example the burial site that was uncovered at the old Eastbourne College of further education. The burial site was only discovered by accident when developers moved in and dug up the car park. The skeletons in this case had to be excavated and moved; otherwise they would have been destroyed under the new foundations of the new housing estate. (This is quite often how human remains are discovered when developers prepare to dig foundations for buildings or roads and accidently discover these burials.) In this cause, when looking at getting a balance between information retainment and respect for the remains, excavation and removal was seen as the best and perhaps only option. This is the project which is I am now working on and is called "The Eastbourne Ancestors Project" and can be found at Eastbourne Town hall. (Link to their Facebook page --> http://www.facebook.com/EastbourneAncestors?ref=ts&fref=ts Link to their Twitter page --> https://twitter.com/EBAncestors)



Eastbourne Town Hall - The present base for The Eastbourne Ancestors Project.

I personally believe that keeping human remains, in a museum or archaeological society’s collection is generally the most logical and economical solution, especially with remains that are well over 1000 years old. I believe this for many reasons, the first being, when comparing keeping a skeleton in a museum collection to reburying it; you come across a lot less problems. The main problem that occurs when talking about reburial, especially if a body is over 1000 years old, is that you can no longer be sure of the religious orientation of the remains, and therefore the type of burial they would have received, you cannot I feel allow yourself to apply modern day views or beliefs onto the remains, as none of them may be shared with the remains, making the reburial disrespectful and thoughtless. Another problem that you may encounter when dealing with reburial is space, or a certain lack of it. Especially in the case of the Anglo Saxon skeletons found at the old Eastbourne College of Further Education, 200 skeletons are very hard to rebury, especially as the site is no longer there (under a housing estate) this means looking for a plot of land which is not religious (no church graveyards) and is also large enough for all the bodies to fit in.

Then comes the question of how are you to bury them? For you will never be able to bury them in the exact same position that they were buried in to start with, they can be reunited with their grave goods, but positioning, orientation etc., cannot be replicated, especially as over time due to, in this case, bad conservation, the human remains are no longer in the condition that they were when they were found. This of course could be used against, those of us who believe that the excavation of human remains are ok, as they may say, if the human remains cannot be kept at the same level of condition and protected, then what is the point of digging them up in the first place. In this case, it would be fair to say that, without the excavation and removal of the skeletons, then they would no longer be in any condition at all, after being covered in concrete, and metal foundations, and therefore even though the original aftercare, was poor, the scientific information gained from them now, and the conservation program which they are now going through made excavation the most respectful and informative root to take.

One of the main arguments, that people have against the excavation of human remains is that due to there being no living relatives around, no one can "stand up for" the remains, and decide whether they can/should be dug up, however, it appears to me, that although human remains are to be treated with respect no matter what, the disrespect that people feel digging up the remains may have, are instead emotions, solely to do with how the living feel and little to do with the remains themselves.

I would like to make it clear that the above views and opinions are all based on my feelings towards the subject and are not necessarily shared by anyone else at the Eastbourne Ancestors Project. I have really enjoyed discussing these views with friends and family, and would be very happy to hear the views and opinions of all my wonderful blog followers!

I look forward to hearing from you all.

Maisie

Grave Endeavours

As its Halloween this week, I thought that you may be interested to read about Vampires (something to really sink your teeth into!!)

Over the summer, I saw an archaeology/history documentary about the vampire graves which had recently been discovered in Bulgaria near the black sea town of Sozopol. I found the documentary very interesting, as it gave me an entirely different view on what a vampire is, it also gave it a certain amount of reality, these ‘vampires’ really were seen as a threat to people, they weren’t just creatures of fiction.

The remains of a female 'vampire' from 16th-century Venice, buried with a brick in her mouth to prevent her feasting on plague victims

Archaeologists had found two skeletons from the medieval period, which had iron rods pierced through their chests; this was done to "supposedly stop them from turning into vampires". The discovery of the skeletons shows that this pagan ritual was very common, especially in small villages, and that it was still happening at the end of the 1800’s. Bulgaria is home to approximately 100 known 'vampire' burials. This makes them fascinating for anyone interested in archaeology, folklore or anthropology. 

A vampire Skeleton found in Bulgaria

As well as the program, which initially got me interested in these 'vampire burials', this month’s Current World Archaeology magazine, also carried an article entitled 'Vampires, Slayers and False Accusations' by Chris Catling. In the article it states, that there are only two 'types' of Vampire, the fictional variety - "handsome, debonair, usually wears a silk lined clock, has a slight Slavic accent, perhaps a small moustache.... (and) then there's the real thing. The Real thing? No, of course not. They don't exist". 

If you are interested in finding out more The National Geographic Channel also did a programme on the Vampire Skeletons follow the link for more information ---> http://natgeotv.com/uk/vampire-skeletons-mystery

MUSE AT THE O2!!!

On a completely different note, this weekend I went to see Muse with my friends at the O2!! Muse where AMAZING and the O2 was a great venue to see one of my favourite bands and newly voted 'Best Band in the World Today’ by Q Magazine.

 Although getting to the O2 turned out to be more of a chore than expected, as not all the underground was working, it did gave us the opportunity to get fit with an unexpected walk!! And it was also sooo worth it, as Muse played all my favourite tracks including, unnatural selection, supremacy and panic station, and we were able to get really close to the front. I would highly recommend a Muse concert to anyone who loves live rock music and a fantastic night out. I would also really recommend ALL their music, but especially their brand new album ‘The 2^ND Law’.

  

OTHER 'FANG'TASTIC STUFF:

·        Eastbourne Ancestors, will soon be making their debut on BBC TV Programme Inside out, which will be on BBC1 19:30pm Monday 5th November. 

·        I have also added some crazy new snaps, from last week’s blog, so go and check them out. I would like to thank Hayley for taking and sending them to me. Go check out her blog here>http://osteoarch.wordpress.com/

IT'S ALIVE...IT'S ALIVE!!!!...RIGHT...HA....urm... i've..i'vegottogo

Maisie mwhahaaa!!!!

I think I might be turning into a Pothead!!

Hi Everyone, Sorry about my absence last week, I hope none of you are getting withdrawals... but fear not here is this weeks fix.

POST ROMAN POTTERY WORKSHOP:


Earlier this week I went along to a workshop on Post Roman pottery, held at Eastbourne Town Hall run by Luke Barber. I've always been interested in Bones, Burials and Mummies, and since my many university visits/open days last year, where every one gave a long talk on Samian Pottery and how to identify it, I felt that maybe I had, had enough pottery for one year. But when I saw that there was a pottery workshop happening at the town hall last Wednesday,  I thought why not, whats the worst that can happen.... and all I can say really, is that since the workshop, I think I might be turning into a 'pot'head!!

Two examples of Samian Pottery (so called, I think, because it all looks the same!!)

The day started with Luke Barber, explaining what the sorting process of archaeological pottery finds consisted of, and what we needed to identify. We needed to try and identify the the forms of the vessels, the source of the material used to make the vessels and the date it was made or was in circulation. To do this we were given a 6 step plan: 

STEP 1 - Sort all bags of finds into context order (this helps with spot dating)

STEP 2 -  Learn to sort the items into fabrics (here you will look at what the pottery is tempered with : - flint, sand, chalk, shell etc.)

STEP 3 - Sort into time periods (e.g. early medieval, transitional, late medieval) 

STEP 4 - Split into fabric sequences (relates to both step 2 and 3, there are two different types of sorters, lumpers and splitter. Lumpers group huge amounts of pottery together, where as splitters group into tiny groups depending on strict criteria, over the amount of sand, flint, shell and chalk found within the pottery. 

STEP 5 - Look for vessel forms (rims, externally sooted etc, if your pottery doesn't fall into at least one of these criteria they must be classified as unidentifiable.)

STEP 6 - Quantify for the archive and log. (Sherd count, weight, EVE's <-- estimated number of vessels)

The workshop was very interesting and informative and due to it being on a small scale with just 8 of us, the controlled environment, made it easy to understand and pick up the tips, but also removed a lot of the pressure that might have be present if the workshop was done on a working archaeological site, or/and with a bigger group of people. Although I wrote notes during the morning which will now always be available for me to refer to, only through practise of pottery sorting will I become more efficient and knowledgeable in the identification of pottery. 

Here are some examples of the types of pottery that we were sorting out:

Early Medieval Pottery: 

Some examples of  Early Medieval Pottery 

 

Early medieval Pottery I felt was one of the easiest to notice, and put into its time period (step 3), due to it being the only group of pottery which is consistently unglazed, noticeably coarse and gritty. The best way to tell if a piece of pottery is early medieval is to look at the edges of the piece, here it will be easiest to see the selection of material that was used to make the original vessel. Clippers and a hand lense are very useful in this process.

Transitional Pottery:

An example of Tin Glazed Earthenware. 

Tin Glazed Earthenware, is a great example of pottery throughout the transitional stages. It was first produced in London in the 1630's. It was recognisable for its thick glaze and yellowness of the clay used, however, as time passed and techniques improved, the glaze on the pots became thinner and they lost the yellowness of the original pieces. As the pieces became whiter, it gave potters a way of being able to copy the much loved Chinese ware. Throughout the 17th century, Tin Glazed Earthenware slowly came down the social scale until it can be seen at the beginning of the 18th century, even being used as chamberpots.

Late/Post Medieval Pottery - 1750-1900+

An example of Pearlware

 During the late/post medieval period, pottery became more industrialised, especially in places like Staffordshire and Newcastle Upon Tyne. When Pearlware comes in, it is quite like the Tin Glazed Earthenware above, as it starts out yellow with a thick glaze, but again over time the glaze gets thinner and the clay becomes whiter, but unlike the Tin Glaze, the producers start to add a cobalt to the glaze, again to try and mimick the Chinese Pottery, as well as White and Blue, the Pearlyware can also be green. 

Other pottery types to look out for include, yellow ware, English Stone Ware, Borderware, Porcelain, and the Staffordshire White Salt Glaze, which has a 'orange peel' like pattern covering its outside walls. 

Since doing the Post Roman Pottery Workshop, I am really excited about what I have learnt, and can't wait until I have the opportunity to put my new skills into pratice. I am also looking for a good book (again) on the subject of pottery indentification, so if anyone has any ideas, or recommendations, feel free to comment below!!

Thank you for reading.. until our paths cross again, FAREWELL!!

 Maisie 

Other exciting stuff:

 

On BBC 2 starting Monday 22nd October at 9pm is a new series called Prehistoric Autopsy with Professor Alice Roberts and Dr George McGavin. 

Follow the link to find out more ---> http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00xfdmt

Human Bones Save Me From Twilight

Hi there, my super amazing blog followers!! Let's go live...

This week I have been looking for something interesting to read and after checking out this weeks top 10 best sellers and even considering the Twilight Saga, luckily I came to my senses just in time and decided that there was nothing for me in Waterstones. Just as I was about to give up all hope of finding a good read this week, I was recommended 'Human Bones in Archaeology by Ann Stirland'. 

Highly Recommended Read!!

This paperback book although only 60 pages long, is well written and therefore easy to understand. Although it doesn't go into vast amounts of detail it covers a little bit of everything worth mentioning, if you are interested and just starting out in the study of human bones in archaeology. I was easily able to write notes on all the key areas covered and the diagrams dotted throughout the book which are clear and concise helped put things into perspective. (on the down side some of the black and white photos are not as clear as they could be). On the whole I would highly recommend this book.

Over the coming months I will be adding to my library of archaeology books (maybe even the odd Twilight saga book if things get really bad) and will list them to the side of my blog, for your consideration.

A smashing review of Twilight - By BiteMe

"Okay. I could repeat the other reviews-bad writing, 1 dimensional characters, ect. But the other reviews (most of which are better than the actual books) have covered this. The only thing I'm going to say is that Edward and Bella deserve each other, as they're both clearly MENTAL. Avoid if you value your sanity."

As well as hunting for a good read, this week I have also started to research where I would like to go, over the second half of my gap year. I have a few ideas which I have listed below and I would welcome any advice or tips from anyone who has been to any of these places, or might have other suggestion of interesting historical or archaeological places worth visiting. 

1. Machu Picchu - Peru

“Machu Picchu” means “Old Peak” or “Old Mountain.”

 This holds the number 1 spot of places i'd like to visit, as although it is the most visited site in Peru, it still seems to hold that distant and other worldly appeal. Machu Picchu is a true symbol of the Incan Empire and was built around 1450AD. Unlike most other Incan cities, Machu Picchu, was never discovered by the Spanish conquest due to the prime location, making it almost entirely hidden from below. Due to this it is one of the most well-preserved Incan cities and an archaeological must see.

2. Mexico City - Mexico

A scene from the day of the dead festival.

Number 2 on my list is Mexico city it is one of the worlds oldest and most populated city in the world (with 8,705,100 people). It is built on the ruins of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan and due to an underground pool where water is regularly drawn, the city is in fact sinking at a rate of 6-8 inches a year. The city is full of archaeology and I would love to be there on November 2nd for the Day of the Dead festival.

3. Nemrut - Turkey

A stone head in front of Mount Nemrut

Number 3 on my list is the tomb-sanctuary built by King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene in 62 BC. It is built on the mountain top flanked by huge statues of himself, 2 lions, 2 eagles and various Greek, Armenian and Iranian gods. This often forgotten and some what remote treasure of Turkish History would be a marvellous place to visit.

Please feel free to message me in the comment section, if you have any advice :D

Thank you for reading and until next week, "Adiós mis amigos"

Maisie

'ere 'ere

As promised, this week there will be bones... although they are admittedly quite small bones, in fact they are the three smallest bones in the human body. The bones that I am talking about are known as the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil) and the stapes (stirrup). 

At the Eastbourne Ancestors Project ear bones have been the cause of me spending many an hour staring intensively at a sieve full of mud and gravel whilst picking through it with a pair of tweezers just hoping that today would be the day that it would not all be in vain and I would find one. 

BUT!!!

On the 17th September I not only found one ear bone but a whole ears worth, plus one extra. And just to prove it here's the picture.

From top left clockwise: Stapes (stirrup), Incus (Anvil), Incus (Anvil) and Malleus (Hammer)

Like buses, you wait for ages to find one, and lots come along together, since the 17th I have found four more!! 


How the ear ossicles work:

The ear ossicles fill the space of the middle ear and connect the ear drum to the oval window of the inner ear which in turn is connected to the cochlea, from where the auditory nerve leaves. From the ear drum, the bones are positioned in the following order - the malleus or hammer connects to the incus and the incus attaches to the stapes, which is the smallest of the three bones and thus the smallest bone in the human body. 


If you enjoyed my last post on the CSI: Sittingbourne and the Conservation workshop, Hayley Forsyth, has written a very good blog post about it. Follow the link to find out more ---> http://osteoarch.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/eastbourne-ancestors-conservation-workshops-2012/

 Due to work commitments, the post this week has been a little short, but I hope you enjoyed it all the same.

COMING SOON TO BLOG SCREENS NEAR YOU:

- Review of  Human Bones in Archaeology by Ann Stirland

- And my experiences at the Pottery in Archaeology Workshop. 

Until Next Sunday, I bid you farewell


Maisie

An Interesting Day with CSI:

SURPRISE!!!! It’s not Sunday and yet I'm already back again (you lucky lucky people) unfortunately I won't be able to get to a computer on Sunday, so here's the second post on my blog. (Downside, there will be a longer wait for my next one =[a whole 9 days!!!)

SOOO here we go..... 

In between working hard (yes I have a job as well), cleaning bones for the Eastbourne Ancestors Project and running this blog, on Wednesday I went to a presentation and workshop with CSI: Sittingbourne (Conservation Science Investigation) which was run by Dana Goodwin-Brown. 

I really enjoyed the presentation which covered many methods of archaeological conservation, such as the importance of looking at grave plans, examining x-rays previous to working on any artefacts and different methods of cleaning and preserving finds. These included scalpel cleaning and air abrasion. The before and aftercare of artefacts was also discussed and we learnt about block lifting and the importance of using silica gel in the preservation of finds that needs to be kept in a dry environment, such as ferrous metal work and the fact that the gel needs to be regularly replaced. 

This is a photograph of an Anglo Saxon Shield Boss that was found at the Eastbourne Anglo-Saxon Village in St. Anne's Road in 1997. Many hours where spent cleaning this, with air abrasion, but due to the poor aftercare of the item, the silica gel was never replaced, and the boss now shows clear signs of severe oxidisation and pitting. 

The CSI: Sittingbourne site and the Eastbourne Anglo-Saxon site share a lot of similarities which enables them to work closely together in regards to the conservation of artefacts. The Sittingbourne Site, known as The Meads contained 229 burials and approximately 2500 finds making it a site of high importance. Sittingbourne like the Eastbourne Ancestors project, is community led, allowing for member of the public to get involved and help maintain and preserve the archaeology found in their towns. 

A hair pin found at the Eastbourne Anglo Saxon Site

A brooch found at the Anglo Saxon Site in Eastbourne

In the afternoon after the presentation, we got a chance to try our hand at cleaning and preserving some samples. I was 'lucky' enough to have the challenge of removing 20 year old blu tack from the back of antique thimbles, which had been used to attach it to a wooden board. (Oh how I HATE blu tack now!!), this was done using a toothpick and scalpel under a microscope (and a lot of time). After that I helped to remove sticky tape that had been used to stick a medieval pot back together. Using a cotton bud and a solvent solution I slowly removed all trace of the tape. (NOTE: NEVER use sticky tape to stick archaeological finds back together) 

A Medieval Pot

Below are some links that you might find interesting: 

CSI: Sittingbourne’s Blog/Website

http://anglosaxoncsi.wordpress.com/ 

And these are English Heritage publications on the guidelines of Conservation in Archaeology, Free Downloads are available. 

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/x-radiography-of-archaeological-metalwork/

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/investigative-conservation/

So that's all for this week, and just incase you're thinking that the title of this blog is somewhat misleading, next week... there will bones :D 

I bid you farewell

Maisie

From Year Dot to the Present!!

Today my blog finally goes live!!! Hello everyone (that means both of you =D)

This is my first ever blog, and today I would just like to tell you a bit about myself and what I hope to achieve with this blog.

My names Maisie and in September 2013 I will be going to Reading University to read Archaeology, I have been interested in Archaeology since I was very young, but the first time the importance of archaeology became apparent to me, was in the Mummy room, at the Cairo Museum in Egypt when I was nine years old.  Since then I have been a volunteer for Eastbourne Ancestors Project run by the Eastbourne Museum Service and have taken part in several digs in and around the Eastbourne area, and have even appeared on television, in the local news!!! (It truly was 5 seconds of fame; I might try and get a link posted on here at some point) Last year I did a training dig, at Barcombe Roman Bath House with University of Sussex, where I was taught the basics of archaeology, as well as receiving 'a hands on' digging experience. 

I am presently cleaning bones as part of the Eastbourne Ancestors project at Eastbourne Town Hall, where we have the remains of nearly 300 Anglo-Saxon's, that where found 15 years ago under the car park of the old Eastbourne College of Further Education  https://www.facebook.com/EastbourneAncestors <--- Here's a link to the Eastbourne Ancestors Facebook page for more information.

I hope to post on here every Sunday with more information, stories and pictures, which hopefully all/both of you find interesting. This blog will hopefully, help me to keep track and record everything that I do over the coming year, and hopefully get others interested in the wonderful world of Archaeology.

Until next Sunday, I bid you farewell.

 Maisie