Hell-Fire Club interviews with BBC

I've been away with work and research, but still super enthused about the Hell-Fire Clubs! The media types quite like the story as there are lots of spooky myths relating to the club sites.

Read all about it here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-37609835

Hear all about it here:
https://soundcloud.com/tierneae/hell-fire-club-interview

Glastonbury fieldtrip

Last week we took the first year anthropology students to Glastonbury. Our archaeology expert, Dr. Stuart Prior, guided them through the archaeological context so they could understand the site's rich history. The region's legacy informs many aspects of everyday life and this was explored under various themes (food, ritual, commodities, etc.) - students were divided into fourteen groups and conducted their own research throughout the day.

I documented the experience and made a short video - check it out!

No news is good news

In the invigorating world of research, sometimes there is just very little to report. I've been reading, do you care? Probably not. I could jazz it up - I've been annihilating the appalling work of so-called academics in my quest for intellectual superiority. More interesting, but not completely true. I'm just researching all about the Hell-Fire Club of Sir Francis Dashwood and tumbling through the myths and truths about his life and everything relating to the infamous club he founded (alledgedly, it might have been someone else, but it was probably him, for this club, not the others - see - it's just swings and roundabouts with this lot of 18th century shenanigan-meisters). 

Me in the Hell-Fire Caves along with mannequins showing Dashwood and his friends #totallyprofessional

I have bee enjoying re-reading Francois Rabelais the 16th century satirical French rascal. He is hilarious and rude and crude and perceptive all at the same time. Plus, he is easy to read, unlike so much of what we researchers have to digest. I'm looking at how his imagining of the Abbey of Theleme relates to motifs used by Dashwood in his building programmes at Medmenham and West Wycombe.

Other news?

• I'll be posting my Public Archaeology idea soon here: https://publicarchaeology2015.wordpress.com/. You can get involved in the project by reading the posts and commenting - we want your ideas!
• I'm working on the Academic Assignment Tutor Programme with the University and a local secondary student.
• I saw Steven Seagal and his Blues Band in Clapham recently... you couldn't make it up!
• There were some strange days in Devon that featured the Gnome Reserve, Watermouth Castle and the Museum of Witchcraft - more on that soon.

And, just for fun, another throw back thursday shout out to my by-all-accounts-awesome great-grandfather Cantwell who was the archaeologist in Limerick, Ireland (and raises my awe meter readings with all his publications in the Royal Irish Academy).

Archaeology Swag  Great Granddaddy pipe-smoking on site

Guest Blog

Check out the guest blog post I wrote for the British Geological Survey!
http://britgeopeople.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/laser-scanning-hell-fire-caves-by.html

Update: November 2013 - March 2014

The last few months have been a haze of activity and have kept me out of trouble.

First up - I successfully completed the upgrade process, moving me from MLitt to official PhD student status.

Parliament - I made my debut at the House of Commons, speaking as the representative for ESD in Higher Education. Surprised to find that entering the hallowed halls was a bit like going through airport security.

Awards - the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) team, including yours truely, were commended for our education efforts at the Green Gown Awards (courses category - see more here: http://www.sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk/13-courses/1728-green-gown-awards-2013-courses-university-of-bristol-highly-commended-case-study)

Me centre holding our commendation from the Green Gown Awards

Research - I did some more survey work at the Hell-Fire Caves; and took a trip to LAARC to conduct x-ray fluorescence analysis of some bits of glassware related to the Hell-Fire Clubs (pew pew)

A sample of the glassware I sampled at LAARC

This is what a sensible academic looks like (#LearningIsFun)

Conference - attended the Shipwreck Archaeology conference in Plymouth: great chats, papers, and new friends.

One of my new friends in Plymouth

Abby - and stopped by Buckfastleigh Abby on the way back.

Blast from the past - found a bunch of golden oldie childhood toys while at home for Christmas.

Pogs! Who remembers pogs!

Presentations - workshops, posters...too many for any sensible person, but at least one of them had cake.

The University understands that its students need cake

New Brighton - it's a place near Liverpool which is guarded by a demented clown. Be afraid.

BAARS - my home away from home, the #LearningIsFun capital of the world: BAARS (Bristol Archaeology & Anthropology Research Seminar Series).

It's all about the post-talk drinks and bonding

New Years - a fantastic get together of friends. Totally civilised. All photos were burned.

Lecture - with limited teaching this term (good for time contraints) I only had to give a few lectures, one to the visiting Access students on Maritime Archaeology, and the other on the material culture of the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Social - saw Steel Panther (oh dear, they are a lot to handle), went to a delightful Bristol Real Ale Festival; took a scenic trip to Henley-on-Thames, survived Ragnorak, etc.

Press - I did some more BBC 5Live cover for Win Scutt on Archaeology (Giles Dilnott's "Up All Night"); and was interviewed about the Hell-Fire Cave survey plans by BBC 3Counties, which was also covered by the Bucks Free Press and the University in a press release.

Funding - started a crowdfunding project to help get a 3D laser scan of the Hell-Fire Caves done, check it out and support here: http://wefund.com/project/hell-fire-cave-mapping/p59473/

Phew. Need to get back to my PhD by resolve (again) to update more frequently.

Hell-Fire Cave Survey

The Hell-Fire Caves at West Wycombe are a complicated series of tunnels and chambers, hewn by human hand in the mid 18th century. Sir Francis Dashwood commissioned the creation of the caves to serve as a meeting place for his friends who formed a club known as the Monks of Medmenham or the Knights of St Francis.

To date, very little archaeological evidence from the caves has surfaced. As part of my research on the Hell-Fire Clubs, I would like to undertake a 3D laser scan of the whole complex. This is an enormous task as the caves stretch for over a quarter mile underground, twisting and turning all the way. My previous attempts to hand survey have been moderately successful, but the laser scanning would offer the opportunity to record the site in full 3D, including detailed imaging of the wall surfaces. My intention is to make this 3D plan available online for anyone to access, and I will use the information collected to inform my archaeological PhD studies.

I have received a very low price to conduct the scanning, but it is still far outside my student budget. The scanning itself will cost c.£1500-£1750.

Please help me achieve my goal to scan the caves and share my findings widely - you can do this by donating as much or as little as you like here: http://wefund.com/project/hell-fire-cave-mapping/p59473/

Many Thanks! Ash

UPDATE: Great news - the BGS have offered to step in and support my research by providing the scanning for me! Wow! Really looking forward to working with them and sharing the results in the next couple of months.

UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL PRESS RELEASE

Student undertakes landmark 3D scan of Hell-Fire Caves


Press release issued: 28 March 2014

Mexico: Underworld tunnel found under the Temple of the Snake

Teotihuacan, with its huge pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, its palaces, temples, homes, workshops, markets and avenues, is the largest pre-Hispanic city in Mesoamerica. It reached its zenith in the years 300-600 AD.

Researchers found a tunnel under the Temple of the Snake in the pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan, about 28 miles northeast of Mexico City.

The tunnel had apparently been sealed off around 1,800 years ago.

Researchers of Mexico's National University made the finding with a radar device. Closer study revealed a "representation of the underworld," in the words of archaeologist Sergio Gomez Chavez, of Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History.

Experts found "a route of symbols, whose conclusion appears to lie in the funeral chambers at the end of the tunnel."

The structure is 15 yards beneath the ground, and it runs eastwards. It is about 130 yards long.

"At the end, there are several chambers which could hold the remains of the rulers of that Mesoamerican civilization. If confirmed, it will be one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 21st century on a global scale," Gomez Chavez said late Thursday.

SOURCE

More super survey (team)work

Laying out some lines for Resistivity Survey:

There have been a few days of survey at Medmenham and a trip out the Hell-Fire Caves at West Wycombe - the data is being processed at present - here are some images, courtesy of James Ashwell, one of the volunteers who has so kindly helped me out (along with Tiffany and Lindsay - thanks to you all!)

Here's James, hard at work in the blazing sun:

Pioneering maritime work in China

I am absolutely delighted about this. $40 million has been invested into maritime archaeology work in China, led by Zhang Wei of the National Museum of China. After receiving training from Texas A&M, Wei removed an 800 year old sunken merchant ship, dubbed South China Sea No. 1, and moved it to the Maritime Silk Road Museum in Yangjiang.

I did some research into Chinese maritime archaeology, specifically the Opium Wars, back in 2007. While all the museums were very nice to me and helpful, maritime interests didn't seem to be fully developed. This new investment by the government is definitely a step in the right direction.

Read more about Zhang Wei's work here.

Global warming reveals more archaeology

Not really a silver lining to the possible destruction of the earth...but new archaeology discoveries in any case...sigh...

Melting ice patches in Colorado have revealed archaeological remains that have been preserved for thousands of years. 10,000 year old weapons have been discovered by archaeologist Craig Lee of the University of Colorado.

Researchers have little choice but to collect all of the finds as they find them as, otherwise, the items will very quickly degrade due to their fragile condition.

You can read a bit more about the weapons here.