Big booms and salty tears

Shall we start with the big news, and get it out of the way? Only the little fact that our excavations on Hatteras Island have been covered by NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. Seriously, natgeo, the legends themselves hopped over to see what we've been working on, and they loved it.

Check out the story here

In other news, we were back at Berkeley Castle yesterday to do a little filming with Dr. Ruth Farrar of SheExtreme.

The greatest joy of sound recording? You get to tell other people to be quiet and don't get in trouble for it ;-)

Meanwhile, the PhD is ticking along and progress has been made with significant rewrites and pushing myself boldly where I really don't want, but need, to go.

In June, I hosted my favourite ninja friends on a visit from Ireland. Last month, was full of ups and downs.  I helped out with the National Sustainable Schools SEED Conference, doing bits of filming for their online content. I got a chance to work with the Realising Opportunities students I am tutoring. A bunch of archaeology students led an interactive bonanza of archaeological goodness for all the family as part of the Festival of Archaeology. Unfortunately, the month also marked the passing of my ever-vivacious granny Nancy, a fine woman who reached the grand age of 97 with all her own teeth and a wicked sense of humour. Card shark, messer, shenanigans-instigator... we will miss her forever.

Tierney Towers will probably be very quite for the next couple of months as I gradually build a cocoon filled with papers, books and calcified tears - that's right folks - the final months of the PhD are upon me and I am rightly TERRIFIED!

Stanton Drew fieldtrip

Just a short drive outside of Bristol are the beautiful stone circles of Stanton Drew. I accompanied Prof. Mark Horton and our enthusiastic third years on a fieldtrip that introduced secondary school students from Merchant's Academy to the world of Archaeology.

It was cold and windy, but nothing could dull Mark's excitement as he raced through thousands of years of history in just an hour. Students got hands on with the stones, climbing on top of the monuments and seeing the scale in person was quite impressive. They were amazed to hear how far away the source of the stonework was, and surprised to hear that it was once filled with timber posts. They ventured their own ideas on interpretation, and I must admit we were very impressed with some of their ideas - a bright bunch this lot!

Pof Mark Horton

Merchant's Academy students at Stanton Drew

As the sun set we headed to three stones behind the Druid's Arms pub. One appears to have fallen down over the ages. Mark tried out some experimental archaeology and his idea that the semicircular shape could have acted as a sound projection (video footage, below). Great fun and especially engaging as it was interactive. We also have plans to try and get students from the school to come on site to Berkeley during the summer.

Mark Horton laughing in front of a giant straw Minion... of course

Berkeley Castle: newly discovered skeletons

The biggest news of the year, as reported by BBC News:

About 30 skeletons dating back 500 years have been found during an archaeological dig at a castle in Gloucestershire. 


The skeletons were discovered near an old churchyard during excavation work looking for Anglo-Saxon remains at Berkeley Castle.
They will now be taken for reburial at a nearby churchyard.
In 2005, archaeologists uncovered the remains of an Iron Age settlement in the grounds the Grade-I listed castle.
But only last year, a £5m appeal was launched to save the structure from falling into ruin.
A survey by English Heritage had uncovered a list of structural and cosmetic problems needing attention.
The Plantaganet king, Edward II was murdered at the Gloucestershire castle in 1327.