| To the linseed field at Ickleton |
| 5/02/2023 |
After the stickiness of Eltisley it was a welcome relief to be back on the chalk soils at Ickleton on a field that had been sown with linseed. The weather was perfect but the crop had grown sufficiently to make ground visibility poor in some places. The surface was strewn with flint and chalk lumps so we were expecting a harvest of worked flint.
Not so, a disappointing return of worked flint or burnt flint as the photograph shows. Yet again the finds were mostly post medieval - GRE, green and white ware plus a piece of Metropolitan ware and a clay pipe. There were several pieces of red sandy ware that may be medieval in date. We hope to complete the field this coming weekend. | |  |
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| The last day at Eltisley for now |
| 29/01/2023 |
| Our last visit for now at Eltisley produced very little in terms of finds. As the photograph shows it was mostly glazed and unglazed red sandy wares. There was a single piece of possible medieval ware, some clay pipe stem and post medieval white ware. Ground conditions were quite sticky but visibility of the ground surface was fine, so another piece of Eltisley with no signs of settlement. | |  |
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| Weather cancels field walking |
| 23/01/2023 |
| Due to adverse weather conditions on the day, we never got to field walk at the weekend. The photograph shows the conditions out in the countryside at 8.45am on Sunday. Ironically, by 9.30am the sun was out but the ground was still very heavily frozen. We will attempt to complete the Eltisley field walking this coming Sunday - again, weather permitting. | |  |
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| Into the mud at Eltisley |
| 15/1/2023 |
We returned to a piece of land separated by a hedge from an area where we had previously found a quantity of medieval pot. Ground conditions were atrocious - just like walking in porridge - and with standing water puddles. However, apart from a possible piece of medieval pot, most of the limited number of finds were of post-medieval origin (as shown in the photograph). It is interesting that the hedge line formed such a clear cut boundary between the finds and no finds.
We may be back at Eltisley again this coming Sunday on a strip of land alongside the Eltisley - Papworth road and hope for better success. | |  |
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| Another day of slim pickings at Eltisley |
| 8/1/2023 |
On a day of very strong winds and quite cool, we finished one of our outstanding fields. It has not produced many finds previously and did not disappoint - a total of 10 bags, many with a single find in them. The photograph shows two interesting things - one was a dark glazed redware bottle neck of post medieval origin. The other was a piece of a Roman mortaria in a pale fabric with black slag tituration grits. This is most likely of Nene Valley origin but the question is where did it come from? We often find single bits of Roman pottery or tile and always relate them to manuring practices - but who knows where this piece started out from.
This coming weekend we hope to finish another field attached to an area that had produced medieval pottery previously - let's hope for more finds this time. | |  |
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| Very picturesque but no good for walking |
| 18/12/2022 |
| Well the predicted heavy frost came and immediately followed by the snow that hung around for over a week. The photo shows how heavy the freezing fog settled over the land and why field walking was not an option. The coming weekend is Christmas Day and therefore no walking but time to rest up and prepare for the New Year and, hopefully, a successful 2023 archaeologically speaking. | |  |
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| Another return to Eltisley with little return then cancelled due to fog and frost. |
| 14/12/2022 |
On the 4th December our visit produced very few finds, just like the week before. Some abraded medieval but mostly post-medieval. Ground underfoot was quite good after no further rain.
Then on the 11th December to temperature dropped and the fog lingered on. Walking on growing crop when there is a heavy frost is not a good idea so we cancelled field walking that day.
This coming weekend has a similar grim forecast so we have cancelled this and will have to hope we can get back early next year to finish off this small area.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MEMBERS AND LOOKING FORWARD TO A POSITIVE NEW YEAR |
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| A new field at Eltisley but slim pickings |
| 27/11/2022 |
After yet more rain it was no surprise that underfoot conditions were a little on the sticky side but ground visibility was good. However, a total of only 10 bags - each containing two or less pieces - was the result. The photo shows what we found - mostly post medieval wares and some clay pipes - but also some very medieval-looking wares. Two shell tempered pieces and a very smooth sandy piece spread over the field don't suggest any settlement present.
We will complete this field and its neighbour this coming Sunday, weather permitting. | |  |
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| Yet more medieval pottery at Eltisley |
| 20/11/2022 |
Returning to our incomplete field from last week it was a pleasant surprise that, after heavy overnight rain. the conditions were as good as they were. However, what was different was the amount of probable medieval pottery that was turned up on the western edge of the field. The photograph shows just some of the pieces recovered, including post medieval stuff like the Staffordshire combed ware and the inevitable GRE.
The medieval pottery included quite an amount of shell tempered ware and a nice piece of a whitish ware with embossed surface and thick green glaze. Many of the pieces were very small (approx 0.5cm square) and quite abraded. There was also an area of cobbles that may represent part of a farmyard surface. We hope to go over the hedge next week and see whether the material continues there. | |  |
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| Back to Eltisley |
| 13/11/2022 |
This last weekend we returned to fields at Eltisley owned by Papley Grove Farm. After an invigorating walk to the field, we were contemplating a field with beans already growing but not enough to make observation difficult.
The photograph shows a selection of the finds which were few in number. There were the usual post medieval wares - creamware, GRE and manganese wares - but also finds of fine sandy coarseware sherds that look quite medieval. There were also some iron slag lumps like the one in the photo.
We will return next weekend, weather permitting to finish the field. | |  |
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| Val Whittaker Memorial Prize 2022 |
| 02/11/2022 |
| This year’s Val Whittaker Prize was presented at the November CAFG lecture in the McDonald Institute. The winner is Mikael Steeder, a final year student in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology. He won the prize for his project report on a commemorative bronze head from West Africa – one of the Benin bronzes. The report contains a commendable discussion of historical, political and scientific aspects if his investigations into this topical and controversial subject | |  |
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| Test pitting at Wimpole 26th - 29th October |
| 26/10/2022 |
This was an exercise carried out at the request of the National Trust, following a series of geophysical surveys across Trust land due to be planted with trees. Top 20 field revealed traces of potentially Iron Age and Roman date that required confirmation by a series of test pits.
A total of 9 test pits (all 1m x 1m square) were dug at 50m intervals across the area. The first 5 pits to the north (across the presumed iron Age features) produced no real finds apart from a single piece of possible Iron Age pottery. Pits were generally excavated to 30cm before the clay base layer.
However, the 4 pits to the south revealed Roman pottery and one exposed a feature going some 50 cm deep with no obvious signs of reaching a base clay level. The test pitting, therefore, produced confirmation that the geophys results were most likely to be Roman in the south but the north is still unproven.
This field is due to be ploughed next Spring so we hope to be able to field walk it then to cover a much wider area. | |  |
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| Return to Thornberry |
| 16/10/2022 |
| After a not very productive weekend at Childerley we returned to our Roman site at Wimpole and completed the field. This showed that the concentration of finds we found previously did not extend much further north or west than the area we had already covered. The photograph shows that a few pieces of Roman or medieval pottery remained but that the majority was post medieval in origin. GRE, stoneware, white ware and a piece of Staffordshire ware. | |  |
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