A roman 'hairpin', poss. 2nd/3rd century, found on Sunday by a younger member of the group! Enthusiasm was just as high on a sunny Sunday as on a rainy Friday and Saturday. Great atmosphere on site as the past of Old Sleaford is slowly revealed to meet the present. It has been a day spent recording the archaeology so far exposed (the bit they never show you on TV archaeology programmes!) and also some further digging, with some amazing finds to brighten the day even further.
Often finds come in two distinct categories – the standard ‘goodies’, the metalwork and the pretty stuff, and the less attractive but archaeologically significant. Both categories have been in evidence today. First-timer at Old Place, Holly, uncovered a beautiful Roman object, usually termed a hair-pin, but sometimes thought to pin together other items such as clothes. Mostly, such items are made of bone but this may have been made of ivory. Imagine finding that on your first day on site – unearthing some beautiful artefact that has lain buried for 1800 years! Well done Holly. Some metalwork was also forthcoming, including two jettons (tokens), thought to be of possibly 13th/14th century date.
In the ‘ugly but highly significant’ finds category came a smattering of pottery sherds, mud-encrusted broken pieces of pottery which, when cleaned, turned out to date from the 10th century or thereabouts. This is one of the ‘blank’ spots in the otherwise near continuous history of settlement in the immediate vicinity of Old Place. Has the site got another period of archaeology yet to be uncovered – yet another story to tell? If you would like to help answer this and other questions about the fascinating past at Old Place, and to work alongside the area’s most knowledgeable archaeologists email oldsleaford@gmail.com
Often finds come in two distinct categories – the standard ‘goodies’, the metalwork and the pretty stuff, and the less attractive but archaeologically significant. Both categories have been in evidence today. First-timer at Old Place, Holly, uncovered a beautiful Roman object, usually termed a hair-pin, but sometimes thought to pin together other items such as clothes. Mostly, such items are made of bone but this may have been made of ivory. Imagine finding that on your first day on site – unearthing some beautiful artefact that has lain buried for 1800 years! Well done Holly. Some metalwork was also forthcoming, including two jettons (tokens), thought to be of possibly 13th/14th century date.
In the ‘ugly but highly significant’ finds category came a smattering of pottery sherds, mud-encrusted broken pieces of pottery which, when cleaned, turned out to date from the 10th century or thereabouts. This is one of the ‘blank’ spots in the otherwise near continuous history of settlement in the immediate vicinity of Old Place. Has the site got another period of archaeology yet to be uncovered – yet another story to tell? If you would like to help answer this and other questions about the fascinating past at Old Place, and to work alongside the area’s most knowledgeable archaeologists email oldsleaford@gmail.com
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