A zoomorphic horticultural urn from Gosport,Hampshire

Abstract

A large ceramic urn with elaborate relief decoration was recently recovered in Gosport, Hampshire. It had been treated externally to imitate the stone urns used to contain shrubs and small trees in 17th- and early 18th-century formal gardens. This was only the second example of its kind known from Britain and its discovery in the backland of a small county town showed that such vessels were not restricted to high-status sites.     

An inn-clearance group,c. 1800, from the Royal Oak,Eccleshall, Staffordshire

Abstract

A watching brief behind the Royal Oak, a coaching inn on the London to Chester coach route, revealed an inn-clearance group of c. 1800. It consisted primarily of plain creamwares and provided an opportunity to study the type of material used in a coaching inn at this time. The group also contained a significant assemblage of clay tobacco pipes. These included the longest stem yet found of this period and early products of the important Broseley manufacturer Noah Roden.     

A 14th-century vessel from Immenstaad (Lake Constance, southern Germany)

The following article provides a preview of a recent find from the Bodensee (Lake Constance). It can be dated dendrochromologically to the second quarter of the 14th century and is to date the only material evidence, for Medieval shipping on Lake Constance^[1]. A final publication is currently in preparation .     

A group of 17th-century glass goblets with restored stems: considering the archaeology of repair

Abstract

Recent research has identified a group of 22 glass goblets, dating to the 17th century, that have contemporary repairs to their stems. The repairs used are conspicuous and it is doubtful whether they would have proved effective in the long term. This paper compares these stems with repaired vessels of other media and periods to ascertain whether there were additional motives for the retention of damaged material culture. Further reasons for these repairs are suggested, leading to significant differences in the way that material culture can be viewed archaeologically.     

Excavation of an early 17th-century glassmaking site at Glasshouse,Shinrone, Co. Offaly,Ireland

An archaeological research excavation was conducted in the area immediately surrounding an upstanding glassmaking furnace near Shinrone, Co. Offaly, Ireland. It dates to the early to mid 17th century and was built and operated by French Huguenots, probably de Hennezells (de Hennezel/Henzeys/Hensie) who had settled in this region as part of the Crown plantation of King’s County (now Co. Offaly). This furnace, which employed wood rather than coal as a fuel, is a very rare survival, with no other upstanding examples known in Ireland, Britain or the Lorraine region of France where the form probably originated.     

The Pepper Wreck, an early 17th-century Portuguese Indiaman at the mouth of the Tagus River, Portugal

Found in 1993 of the rocks of the fortress São Julião da Barra, at the mouth of the Tagus River, the SJB2 shipwreck—or Pepper Wreck—was tentatively identified as the Portuguese Indiaman Nossa Senhora dos Mártires , lost at this location on its return voyage from Cochin, in India, on 14 September 1606. Its archaeological excavation disclosed a collection of artefacts from the late 16th and the early 17th centuries and allowed the study of the surviving hull structure. The evidence suggests that the Pepper Wreck was a typical Portuguese Indiaman, similar to those described in Portuguese 16th century ship treatises, with a keel of around 27.7 m and an overall length of nearly 40 m.     

The finds from the cellar of the Old Hall,Temple Balsall,Warwickshire

Abstract

The cellar, excavated in 1981, revealed late 17th and early 18th century material, which is the subject of this report. The pottery included yellow wares, English delftware, blackware, manganese-mottled wares, stonewares, slipware and coarseware. Tobacco pipes, medicine phials, table glass, wine bottles, bones and iron-work were also found. The excavation report will be published separately.¹ Ex inf. Paul Woodfield.     

Characterization of bricks and tiles from the 17th-century brick Chapel,St. Mary's City,Maryland

The brick Chapel at St. Mary's City, Maryland, built around 1667, would have been an impressive structure on a colonial frontier where all the other buildings were built only of wood. While the building is no longer extant, the bricks remaining in the buried foundations hold information about the technologies and materials used by brickmakers in the 17th-century Chesapeake region. Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and petrographic analysis of thin sections were used to compare the Chapel bricks and other 17th-century bricks and tiles from several Chesapeake contexts to locally available clay sources. While the composition of the Chapel bricks is generally consistent with that of clays available in southern Maryland, these historic materials could not be linked to any one deposit, and may reflect the mixing of clays from multiple sources. In contrast, building materials from other 17th-century buildings at St. Mary's City could be more precisely “matched” to specific local clay deposits. This paper reports on our initial investigations toward understanding the technology of the Chapel bricks and their relationship to other bricks from St. Mary's City.     

A Worth of their Own. On Gotland in the Baltic Sea,and its 12th-century Coinage

Abstract

In about AD 1140, the island of Gotland initiated what was to become one of the most influential coinages of the medieval Baltic Sea area. This was part of a strategy to meet the impact and pressure from the world outside in a period characterised by large-scale political and ideological changes. In this situation, old and new networks were important to maintain autonomy from those aiming for dominance over the island. The coins, with an independent weight standard and an iconography inspired by NW German and Frisian coins, were one way of attracting partners to the island's main harbour, where its inhabitants could maintain control and trading peace. Coins incorporate in them the dimensions of object, text and picture. A historical archaeology of coins needs not only focus on large-scale perspectives and formal power, but must also give weight to the archaeological context, the life biography of the coins and the social negotiations behind their production and use. Thus intention and reality, symbolism and social practice may be studied to find openings to the stories behind the objects. The different dimensions of the coins together with historical sources give away plenty of information on several levels: about the networks, ideological framework, artisanship and changing loyalties of this time and area.     

陕西高陵县益尔公司秦墓发掘简报

20 0 2年 1月 ,陕西省考古研究所阳陵考古队在配合高陵县益尔公司基建考古工作中 ,钻探出一处新石器时代遗址及 66座古墓葬。 3月至 1 1月 ,我们对新石器时代遗址和古墓葬进行了抢救性发掘 ,发掘总面积为 1 0 0 0平方米。发掘出新石器时代房址 5处、陶窑 5座及数量众多的灰坑等 ,清理战国至清代古墓葬 66座 ,出土了一批珍贵的陶、铜、石质文物。 66座古墓葬中有秦墓 5 1座 ,汉、唐、明、清墓 1 5座。现将这批墓葬中的秦墓资料简报如下 ,新石器时代遗址及其他时代墓葬资料 ,我们将另行整理公布。一、地理位置益尔公司秦墓位于高陵县泾渭镇东…     

A Donkey (Equus asinus L.) Partial Skeleton from a Mid-Late Anglo-Saxon Alluvial Layer at Deans Yard Westminster,London SW1

Abstract

A domestic donkey (Equus asinus) partial skeleton has been recovered from a mid-late Anglo-Saxon alluvial deposit situated below the present Westminster School at Deans Yard, Westminster, London. The remains have been radiocarbon dated to the 8th-9th century AD and, therefore, pre-date both the abbey of Edward the Confessor and the earlier foundation of St Dunstan. The skeleton is of particular importance as it is the only well dated specimen of its species recovered thus far in England from the Anglo-Saxon and Medieval periods.     

南京秦淮区宝塔顶10号院战国墓发掘简报

2007年,南京市博物馆在中华门外宝塔顶10号院发掘清理了一座战国末期的土坑墓,这是南京主城区战国墓葬的首次发现,为南京城市发展史的研究提供了较为重要的新资料。