| Exhibition at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology closes |
| 23/1/2018 |
| Our successful exhibition of what CAFG does at the Museum closes this Thursday evening (25th Jan). For those who have not visited it yet, your final opportunity is before close of the Museum on Thursday afternoon. Apparently it's success means that the Museum is going to carry on with a new display by Access Archaeology to demonstrate what test pitting in villages can tell people about where they live. We look forward to seeing this story. | |  |
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| 2018 AGM |
The AGM on 4th April 2018 resolved to retain subscriptions for 2018/19 at £12 for individual membership and £18 for families. Officers and committee remain unchanged, with the addition of co-opted members, Bill and June Woodfield.
We are 40 this year! We are planning celebratory events. |
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| More on Westerwald pottery found at Comberton |
| 24/4/2018 |
| During our last session in Comberton, one of the finds was a nice piece of a Westerwald stoneware tankard base, shown in the photograph. What is interesting about this piece is the fact that it uses both the normal cobalt blue band around the base but also a manganese purple filled area containing a stylised leaf in relief. This helps date the item more closely as this combination of colours was only used for a short period during the years 1650 - 1680AD and again in the last quarter of the 19th C. | |  |
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| More information on the Heat Pump activity at Wimpole |
| 24/4/2018 |
For those who would like to know more about Heat Pumps and how they work, Historic England have a free publication on their website explaining how they work and their advantages. It can be accessed via www.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/eehb-heat-pumps.
Wimpole will use both Ground Source heat Pumps (for the main house) and an Air Source Heat Pump (for the new visitor reception in the new car park at Lamp Hill). |
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| Season comes to an end |
| 8/4/2018 |
Well, the weather won again. The rain has made this a difficult field walking season and it came again. The scheduled season is now finished but we may try to return to Comberton in a few weeks time, If it dries out and the drilled crop sprouts enough, we will try to complete the last part. Keep checking the website and your emails for further news.
The next planned activity is during May at Wimpole where we have been asked to monitor contractors who are putting in 30 bore holes for Wimpole's new Heat Pump System. They will excavate 30 holes of 1 x 1m and to a depth of approx. 0.5m in batches of about 5 at a time. We need to draw sections and any features for each hole together with collecting any finds. The work is supposed to take 4 weeks from 8th May. Volunteers are asked to make their availability known to Mike Coles (michaelcoles741@gmail.com) |
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| Much better conditions at Comberton |
| 25/3/2018 |
What a difference a week makes! Conditions were good - nice dry soil, blue skies and not much wind - and ground visibility excellent.
The photo shows what an esoteric mixture we found - a.303 cartridge, lots of oyster shells, lovely Westerwald jug/cup, a possible medieval strap handle, a white glazed redware rim and a small redware rim, possibly Roman. The white glazed foot could be from a cake stand. The previous time there was a lot of brick and tile in the other half of the field, this week virtually none.
The field is being prepared and drilled so this may be the last time on this field, and is probably the end of the spring season. | |  |
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| The weather strikes again |
| 18/3/2018 |
| Yet again the weather intervened at Comberton. A combination of snow on the ground and a biting easterly wind meant that the field walking was called off. |
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| Mud plugging at Comberton |
| 11/3/2018 |
Field walking this weekend took place in awful muddy conditions, the result of snow followed by rain showers on several days. We could see the surface finds very well and consequently plenty of brick and tile plus modern pottery came up. There were lots of oyster shell and some possible Roman pot, as the photo shows. The presence of a known Iron Age/Roman site over the other side of the road may be connected to these finds.
Let's hope it dries out somewhat before the next venture on this field!! | |  |
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| The Beast from the East won the day |
| 4/3/2018 |
| Another cancelled weekend due to the inclement weather. The Beast from the East brought snow and low temperatures during the week but started thawing on Sunday. However, this left the ground in an unwalkable state. So here is a photo of the happy members the weekend before when it was merely freezing cold with an Arctic wind. Let's hope for better this coming Sunday. | |  |
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| New area, same result |
| 25/2/2018 |
This weekend we moved to a field in Comberton, which lay close to sites of medieval and Roman finds. However, the result of our efforts was very similar to our last ones at Childerley - very few finds, mostly modernish tile and several pieces of transfer printed ware. One piece of the latter must represent the smallest piece ever seen - well spotted someone!! There was also some stoneware and the odd piece of possible worked flint.
The good news was some sun and a strong wind had dried the surface out and made walking a pleasure, even if the wind was so cold we were glad to finish early.
Next weekend, a field near an Iron Age/Roman site identified by Historic England so fingers crossed. Let's hope the "Beast from the East" does not deposit too much snow in the interim. | |  |
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| Last day at Wrefords, dryish at last |
| 18/2/2018 |
After 3 days of dry weather it was a pleasure to walk on a dryish surface at Wrefords and especially in the sun.
Finds were in short supply but the photograph shows the more interesting ones. More flint flakes and a burnt flint, together with a piece of lava quern stone and a possible whetstone in natural stone. There was a rim piece of possible Roman red sandy ware, some blue transfer print and mottled stoneware.
Next weekend we hope to be on a new site in Comberton which is near to where we found medieval ware before, so let's hope the weather remains dry. | |  |
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| Wrefords produces some interesting finds |
| 11/2/2018 |
| On a sunny day, but with a cool wind, we returned to Wrefords and its muddy surface. Having found little on the eastern end, we had few expectations for the western section that goes downhill to Knapwell village. However, we were surprised to find a few interesting finds, as shown in the photo. They included the mottled ware handle, the green glazed medieval handle, the sandy ware base with the thumbed lower edge and some black wares. Also one of a number of flints, this being the best. They mostly came from the lower part of the field nearest to Knapwell village itself. Just shows that things can change a lot in 100 metres. | |  |
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| A different field, same result |
| 4/2/2018 |
We moved on to the Wrefords field this weekend but the result was basically the same as the week before - one piece of shell tempered ware and some possible flint (burnt and struck).
To remind us of more productive times, the photo shows the top stone of a beehive quern made of Hertfordshire pudding stone found by one of our members at Great Eversden. This is in very good condition, with only a few chips missing. You can see the side hole for the pushing handle and the conical feed hole on top. We have found quite a few lava quern stone pieces but these ones of pudding stone are much less common finds. | |  |
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| Another quagmire day at Childerley |
| 28/1/2018 |
The incessant rain this winter has reduced the clay-based fields in Cambridgeshire to paddy fields, with large puddles and mud everywhere. Walking these fields is becoming an exercise in stamina, often (as this weekend just gone) with very little return. After the small amount of medieval pottery from the previous weekend, it was back to a single piece of post-med pot and lots of broken brick this week.
Hopefully the rain might stop and some of the water drains away for next weekend, fingers crossed!! |
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| It was a whiteout! |
| 21/1/2018 |
| Arriving to see a lightly frosted surface it was only minutes later that the sleet/snow started to fall. Within a short space of time, the surface was covered enough to make seeing any finds difficult. if not impossible. So home for a hot cup of coffee - better luck next time. |
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| Thorofare produces some finds |
| 14/1/2018 |
After last week and the absence of finds, the middle part of Thorofare gave us some interesting finds. In overcast, but dry and windless, weather, the field conditions were typical heavy clay-collecting-on-your-boots type of walking.
The photograph shows a summary of the finds - the flints (both burnt and struck), the red glazed and stoneware typical finds and even a piece of transfer printed ware. The interest is the possible medieval ware and a probable Roman bowl rim, these finds all came from a relatively small area of the field. It is also well away from the bridleway which is where you might have expected to find things.
Next weekend we hope to finish Thorofare and move on to another Childerley field that lies much nearer to Knapwell village - what will this produce? | |  |
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| Back to the Childerley clays |
| 7/1/2018 |
The new season started with a slight frost underfoot but sunny skies overhead. The frost kept the soggy field surface at bay for a while but, as it thawed, so the mud took over. There were just a handful of finds (literally), the photo shows the best, including the nice Staffordshire pie-crust dish/plate and a very dubious struck flint.
The area walked lies close to the public bridleway from Knapwell to Childerley and so it is surprising not to find lost material, especially at the Knapwell village end. Still, ever optimistic, the Romans or Saxons are just across the field! | |  |
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