And Yet Again, More Experimental Archaeology, Sussex (2013)

SSA Manager, Lisa Fisher in front of our exhibit.

An array of food: crab apples, acorns, black mustard seeds, fermenting elderberries.

The weekend of September 20-22nd, I assisted in promoting the Sussex School of Archaeology at the Bentley Country Park Woodfair. We had several exciting projects occurring such as flint knapping, bone carving, Mesolithic and Roman cooking, spinning and weaving, repairing a Saxon sunken-feature dwelling and teaching children how to make pinch pots. There were also several dishes of raw food that would have been available in the Mesolithic, Iron Age and Roman periods on display that led to hearty discussions with visitors passing by our table. We swapped knowledge throughout the two days that I was there. Many had never heard of the SSA since the school is brand new this past year. I described some of the projects that the SSA has been doing such as the excavations in Isfield and the past two weekends of reconstructing pottery. Visiting groups of children were especially fascinated when I donned my safety goggles and pounded some fire-cracked flint in a mortar and pestle to use as temper for making pottery.

Me, up to mischief as usual.

Experimental Archaeology, Sussex (2013)

Iron Age bowl I whipped together.

One of the final boxes of pots.

Over the course of two fun, filled Sundays, the ladies from the Sussex School of Archaeology (SSA) and the Sussex Archaeological Society (SAS) (and myself) reconstructed and created several pieces of Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman pottery. The lighter coloured clay came from the Isfield site in East Sussex and is to be fired and tested to see if the Iron Age pottery that we found there during our excavations was  indeed of a local origin.

 

Pounding out some fire-cracked flint to add to the clay for inclusions.

 The firing finally occurred on Sept. 15th, where we built a small bonfire covered with wet hay. Unfortunately, the firing involved several small explosions of which some pottery may have completely shattered. Details will be known later on this week.

The bonfiring, phase 2.

Butser Ancient Farm, Hampshire (2013).

Spinning Yarn, August 2013

Drop Spindle, September 2013.

My life has taken a new twist - I have taken on the role of an Iron Age maiden at Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire. Here I am using a drop needle to make yarn, or rather cord in my case.