ICE AND FIRE | A Very Special Place – 2017 Archaeology Project Video

◊ Dear Microburins

The 2017 rescue archaeology excavations on the Eston Hills, Teesside, have now been completed and post-excavation work on the finds, records and digital plans is about to commence. We can say that, in the two weeks of test pit and trench work, we have finds and features of both regional and national significance!

Half way through the season, archaeological filmmaker Archaeosoup Productions visited the project and, with the help of fantastic drone footage by Clive Winward, has produced this dramatic video of what we have learnt so far in this first of hopefully many seasons ahead. Project director Adam Mead explains the context of the project, its strategy and methods.

Watch the video | Youtube 15:20 »

Spence

ICE AND FIRE | Project kick-off and finds already!

◊ Dear Microburins

The Eston Hills rescue archaeology project has kicked off and, three days in, we have features and flints. The weather has been mixed, but the hearty project team are delighted with progress, well-informed by previous geophysical work kindly provided by AOC Archaeology Group.

Read the ICE AND FIRE Week 1 Site Diary »

In other news, Mesolithic Spence has a job interview scheduled. Cross your fingers and roast a hazelnut for me?

Spence

Scotland’s earliest people, their landscape and houses | Alan Saville Memorial Conference 17-Jun-2017

◊ Dear Microburins,

There are still places available for this conference in Edinburgh, Saturday 17 June 2017, free entry. Hope to see you there!

Spence | FSA Scot

ICE AND FIRE | Public Meeting with Anna Turley MP & Cleveland Police Commissioner | Fri-28-April

◊ Dear Microburins

The ongoing problems on Eston Hills and neighbouring farmland will be the subject of a Public Meeting hosted by Anna Turley MP at the Cleveland Inn, 37 Cleveland St, Normanby, Middlesbrough TS6 0LX at 5.30pm on Friday 28 April 2017. Cleveland Police Commissioner Barry Coppinger and ICE AND FIRE project director Adam Mead will also be in attendance.

The meeting is intended to discuss and explore, in an open community forum, both the issues and how cooperation between local government authorities, the emergency services, landowners, schools, residents and businesses might work together more effectively.

Acts of fire-setting, the burning of abandoned vehicles, illegal 4×4 and off-road vehicles, fly-tipping and other anti-social behaviour persist on an increasingly frequent basis, despite ongoing efforts by local services and voluntary organisations, including the Friends of Eston Hills, and media coverage.

The ICE AND FIRE project team and its stakeholders also believe that shifting public opinion – across generations from school children, their parents and people who benefit from tourism and economic footfall – is a local and regional priority. While the project aims to rescue archaeological and environmental assets where they are at risk, the longer term solutions must involve a coordinated effort to make anti-social behaviour entirely unacceptable in a community that values its rich historic, archaeological and natural environment.

More about the project and summer fieldwork »

Spence

Living Mesolithic Project | Evocative images of life in 5000 BC

◊ Living Mesolithic Project | Frank Wiersema Photography with Chris Pallasch at Stone Age Park Dithmarschen in Albersdorf | 2015 Facebook (Images & video) Experimental archaeology

Mesolithic_FrankWiersema1In the summers of 2015-16 the Stone Age Park Dithmarschen in Albersdorf (Germany) organized a Stone Age Living Project in the area of the newly built 2014 “Mesolithic Settlement” site, in the form of both an educational programme and as an experiment. The activities and outputs (used tools and established structures) were scientifically documented by archaeologists from the Archaeological Department of the University of Exeter, England, as partner of the OpenArch-project. The scientific results will be published by Exeter, the detailed documentation will be published by the Stone Age Park in form of a magazine and a brochure.

Mesolithic_FrankWiersema2The aim of the project was to reconstruct the everyday life of hunter-gatherers of Mesolithic Northern Europe around 5000 BC by doing an authentic as possible life experiment with skilled re-enactors and experimental archaeologists, in order to gain a new type of insight of how life might have been at that time.

Images © Frank Wiersema

Spence

Mesolithic Deeside, Aberdeenshire | 30-Sep – 01-Oct 2016

◊ Dear Microburins

2016_DeessideI’m hoping to attend this event — hopefully see some of you there? More info »

Horsemill, Crathes Castle AB31 5QJ | 30 September – 01 October 2016

  • 30 September 7pm Caroline Wickham-Jones – talk: Mesolithic Deeside
  • Saturday 1 October 11am Shannon Fraser – talk: Crathes Castle Mesolithic pit alignment
    1pm and 3pm Heather Sabnis – talk: Discovering Mesolithic Crathes
  • All day – Flint sessions – handle flints from the Mesolithic Deeside sites and talk to archaeologists, plus events for children
    Outdoor events by Brian Wilkinson 10am-4pm

Useful links

Spence