The excavation of a 17th-century pit at the Black Gate,Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1975

Abstract

A stone-lined pit beneath the roadway into the castle was found to be part of the new defences constructed at the time of the Civil War. Artifacts found in the pit show that it had been filled up with largely domestic rubbish between c. 1645 and 1675. The finds include pottery, particularly redwares and tin-glazed wares, a variety of glass vessels including chemical apparatus, clay tobacco-pipes and some Scottish coins. The majority of the objects were imports, both from southern England and the continent.     

An assemblage of 17th-century pottery from Bombay Wharf,Rotherhithe, London SE16

Abstract

A detailed examination of an assemblage of pottery deposited during the last quarter of the 17th century at Bombay Wharf, in Rotherhithe, London, provides the opportunity to look at the wider context of painted earthenwares made at selected centres on the Continent and found in London. The Rotherhithe material includes a high proportion of imported pottery, with fine examples of Portuguese faience, Ligurian maiolica and Dutch tin-glazed ware. The wider distribution of these wares in London is considered, as well as questions of the original context in which they appeared and the circumstances of their disposal.     

18th- and 19th-century shipyards at the south-east entrance to the West India Docks, London

Archaeological fieldwork in 1997 on the Isle of Dogs, at the south-east entrance to the West India Docks, recovered evidence of 17th- to 19th-century shipyards, associated activities and foreign trade. Reused timbers may be the remains of the 17th-century Rolt's yard. Reclamation along the natural inlet was accompanied by the construction of a timber dry dock probably in the late 18th century. This soon fell out of use and was filled in with the construction of new dry docks to the south in 1806 by Thomas Pitcher. Much of the debris dating to the first half of the 19th century from ship repairing and building and from a range of ancillary crafts, together with ceramics from Iberia and the Far East, probably came from Pitcher's yard.     

Three-dimensional recording by laser scanning of the petroglyphs at Rombald's Moor,West Yorkshire

Abstract

A variety of methods have been used to depict and document petroglyphs, from hand sketching to close-range photogrammetry. Most methods, however, record only a two-dimensional image, whereas petroglyphs are by their nature three-dimensional. Additionally, most methods suffer from inaccuracies resulting from the skill and subjectivity of the recorder or distortions imposed by the equipment and conditions under which the panel was viewed. Conventional three-dimensional recording techniques such as the use of traditional moulding and casting materials, may damage the petroglyph itself. An assessment of the various shortcomings of established rock art recording methods resulted in the field-testing of laser scanning with the objective of obtaining a quantitative, three-dimensional record of petroglyph panels and the creation of non-contact replicas. This paper presents the principles behind laser scanning and an account of field trial results of laser scanning rock art in situ at Rombald's Moor, West Yorkshire, England. The work presented was undertaken as part of the Rock Art Pilot Project commissioned by English Heritage in July 1999.     

Archaeology of a Great War Dugout: Beecham Farm,Passchendaele, Belgium

Abstract

Beecham Dugout is situated on the lower slopes of the Passchendaele Ridge, to the north-east of the Belgian town of Ypres (Ieper). Fears over the stability of the structure created the need for emergency archaeological investigations. The dugout is shallow (2 m deep) and was constructed in a basic 'T' shape, with accommodation for 66 men and four officers. It is cut within silty-sand levels of the Passchendaele Ridge. The dug-out was surveyed, recorded and removed. Archival studies, coupled with artefacts recovered, suggest that this is a dugout of German construction, but one that had been occupied by British troops after capture of the ridge in 1917. Prior to this discovery, the presence of German dugouts was largely unknown.     

The north service range,Aston Hall,Birmingham: excavation and recording, 2004

Abstract

Excavation has exposed the foundations of the early 17th-century north service range of Aston Hall, Birmingham. Consideration of the remains alongside documentary evidence and comparative analysis has allowed the room functions, and something of the range's structural character, to be established. In the 17th century it contained a washhouse, brewhouse, bakehouse, laundry and dairy, with a large cellar beneath and a building straddling a water culvert. Outhouses, a large icehouse and a new laundry were added later. With its precocious use of brick in ancillary buildings, the range occupies a significant place in the construction history of the West Midlands.     

Two 17th-century English factories in North Kanara,Karnataka, India: a historical archaeology perspective

Summary: This article presents historical archaeology evidence for two 17th-century English factory sites located in North Kanara, Karnataka, India. The factories were established in the 1630s by a rival to the East India Company known as the Courteen Association to trade for spices and textiles. Documentary and archaeological evidence for the factories’ foundation, setting and structural form is presented and the broader significance of these principal characteristics considered with reference to the study of later East India Company factory sites in south-west India. The article concludes by assessing the potential for further archaeological investigation of the sites.     

Banishment,Urban Community and Judicial Practice: Thieves in mid-17th-century Turku

The practice of banishing thieves, and the changes that took place in that practice in mid-17th-century Turku, illuminates the issues of building a good urban community as well as the changes that were happening in law and judicial practice in early modern Sweden. Variations and changes in punishing thieves in the 1640s and 1650s in Turku show that the position of the thief in the urban community, and the amount that was stolen, affected the courts’ considerations throughout the two decades. Nevertheless, an ongoing tendency towards moderation in sentencing is visible in courts, and the influence of a new penal ordinance of 1653 is noticeable. The banishment of thieves, even if it removed unwanted people from town, was no more strongly connected to the goal of creating a good community than other punishments were. Both banishment and other punishments, however, were connected to the conceptions of an ordered and harmonious community. The court cases, nevertheless, show that the makeup of the Turku urban community was more open than the strict moral or legal guidelines of the time would suggest.     

A Reappraisal of Dinas Powys: Local Exchange and Specialized Livestock Production in 5th- to 7th-century Wales

RESULTS OF THE analysis of a previously unstudied group of animal bone from Dinas Powys are tested against the original report and subsequent interpretations. Assumptions inherent in the initial sampling policy and analysis are discussed. The present interpretation explores the concept of social production in early medieval Wales.     

The estimation of body weight of the reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) from skeletal measurements: preliminary analyses and application to archaeological material from 17th- and 18th-century northern Finland

Abstract

In this study, a variety of postcranial skeletal measurements of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) are used to predict the body mass. Regression equations for estimating the body weight of females as well as correction factors for estimating the weight of males are generated. These are applied to archaeological reindeer bones from 17th- and 18th-century Northern Finland. Predicted weights of archaeological reindeer correspond well with the weight of modern reindeer. Sexual dimorphism, however, caused problems in this analysis, since the criteria used for sex assessment affect the body weight prediction and thus the results of inter-assemblage comparisons.     

Plain lives in a golden age. Popular culture,religion and society in 17th-century Holland

Though it has rarely been the subject of academic criticism, there is a philosophy of truth that animates Jean-Jacques Rousseau's broader philosophical system. This philosophy of truth was unique for its time—in the same way as the whole of Rousseau's thought—in its emphasis on feeling over reason, the heart over the mind, the simple over the sophisticated, the useful over the demonstrable, the personal over the systematic. Rousseau's philosophy of truth might be more accurately called a ‘philosophy of truthseeking’ or an ‘ethics of truthseeking’, because its focus is on the pursuit and acquisition of truth rather than on the nature of truth itself. What was needed, Rousseau believed, was a guide back to the simple truths of human happiness—truths that were immediately apparent to us in our natural state but have become opaque in society. This article describes Rousseau's normative philosophy of truthseeking, of what human beings must do if they hope to (re)discover the truths of human happiness. This philosophy can be summarised as utility, autonomy, immediacy and simplicity in pursuit of what Rousseau called the ‘truths that pertain to the happiness of mankind’.     

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.     

Inter-Tidal Causeways and Platforms of the 13th- to 16th-Century City-State of Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania

Survey of the coastal and inter-tidal zone at Kilwa in Tanzania resulted in the discovery of a series of artificial causeways and platforms at the entrance to the harbour of Kilwa Kisiwani, an important port trading with East Africa and southern Asia from around the 13th century. These appear to be part of a phase of monumental stone building at Kilwa in the 13th to 16th centuries, and represent a prosperous, confident Kilwa, impressing foreigners arriving by sea. Although necessarily speculative, several possible interpretations of their functions are advanced including navigation, protective breakwaters, access to marine resources, or ceremonial use.
© 2007 The Author