That's Archaeology for you
It is a strange thing that Archaeology seems to swallow one up; there is no escape from this science. I went to Sark thinking that I would be having a relaxing thoughtless holiday as an antidote to the 3-week archaeolgical site-fest that was my trip to Crete.
Not to be: I found myself more-or-less in the middle of a very active excavation of a Bronze Age enclosure, complete with hearth and pot in situ. The pot had been decapitated by ploughing or possibly, the removal of the ploughsoil for this very dig.
The excavation was conducted by an eminent, newly-knighted archaeologist, some of whose books are among the favourites on my shelves, amd his team from Oxford University. Coins, jewellery, pottery fragments and stone tools also showed up in the course of excavation. This was close to the find spot of the disappeared Sark Hoard so the area seems to represent a palimpsest or at least an occupation over millenia.
The members of the Societe Sercqeraise,interested locals (and I) were treated to a very interesting end-of-season talk from the Professor and his excellent Phd student about the Hoard, the finds of this year's dig and future plans for a larger excavation next year. We were shown stone axe-hammers and mauls and locals appealed to, to watch out for them and also asked to search attics and cupboards to try to locate the missing treasure! The Professor would dearly like to find an axe factory that he is hoping may exist on the island which was an active participant in the trading chain from Europe to Britain. Because the geology of Sark is varied but extremely easily identified as to place of origin, this should be possible - if the evidence still exists after all the quarrying and building that has taken place on this small island.
We talked to a fisherman one of whose ancestors was among the finders of the treasure, which included metal horse-decorations(?) - plaques originally from Thracia. Excellent engravings were made of these at the time but they, along with a possible amber lump and identifed Iron Age and Roman coins, have vanished along with the pot, bound with an iron hoop, in which they were found. The antiquarians and the local gentry seem to have passed it around among themselves and it was 'lost' along the way.
The Societie has some lovely flint arrowheads found nearby on the surface by the nearby mill. Good flint is not found on Sark so these were imported. A number of Neolithic stone axes have also been found and many are in the Guersnsey Museum, in the F C Lukis (Antiquarian) Collection, with a great mixture of Channel Island, Breton and other objects from farther afield.
So now I am enthralled by the unfolding story and may have to return next summer for my next dose. And all because my friend, who has no particular interest in Archaeology, but is fascinated by Geology, insisted on my coming. She has stayed as a paying guest with members of one of the oldest island families for more than a dozen years and it is on his land that this dig is being conducted, so I was lucky to have an entree rarely granted to visitors, let alone first-timers to the island.
I only wish that there were an equal opportunity to be involved with paintings, so that I didn't feel as if my History of Art studies had been totally neglected at the expense of all this archaeology. I do always feel that Arch is a greedy subject that could eat one alive and spit out one's bones (for some future arch student to wonder over?)disdainfully.
Meanwhile, Diana is recovering her strength slowly and will return in a few more days. She could not brave the water but I swam at least once a day in many different locations and we biked and walked all over the island. She swears that there are still corners of it which she has not visited. I now have the thighs of a Tour de France cyclist without the drugs.
Not to be: I found myself more-or-less in the middle of a very active excavation of a Bronze Age enclosure, complete with hearth and pot in situ. The pot had been decapitated by ploughing or possibly, the removal of the ploughsoil for this very dig.
The excavation was conducted by an eminent, newly-knighted archaeologist, some of whose books are among the favourites on my shelves, amd his team from Oxford University. Coins, jewellery, pottery fragments and stone tools also showed up in the course of excavation. This was close to the find spot of the disappeared Sark Hoard so the area seems to represent a palimpsest or at least an occupation over millenia.
The members of the Societe Sercqeraise,interested locals (and I) were treated to a very interesting end-of-season talk from the Professor and his excellent Phd student about the Hoard, the finds of this year's dig and future plans for a larger excavation next year. We were shown stone axe-hammers and mauls and locals appealed to, to watch out for them and also asked to search attics and cupboards to try to locate the missing treasure! The Professor would dearly like to find an axe factory that he is hoping may exist on the island which was an active participant in the trading chain from Europe to Britain. Because the geology of Sark is varied but extremely easily identified as to place of origin, this should be possible - if the evidence still exists after all the quarrying and building that has taken place on this small island.
We talked to a fisherman one of whose ancestors was among the finders of the treasure, which included metal horse-decorations(?) - plaques originally from Thracia. Excellent engravings were made of these at the time but they, along with a possible amber lump and identifed Iron Age and Roman coins, have vanished along with the pot, bound with an iron hoop, in which they were found. The antiquarians and the local gentry seem to have passed it around among themselves and it was 'lost' along the way.
The Societie has some lovely flint arrowheads found nearby on the surface by the nearby mill. Good flint is not found on Sark so these were imported. A number of Neolithic stone axes have also been found and many are in the Guersnsey Museum, in the F C Lukis (Antiquarian) Collection, with a great mixture of Channel Island, Breton and other objects from farther afield.
So now I am enthralled by the unfolding story and may have to return next summer for my next dose. And all because my friend, who has no particular interest in Archaeology, but is fascinated by Geology, insisted on my coming. She has stayed as a paying guest with members of one of the oldest island families for more than a dozen years and it is on his land that this dig is being conducted, so I was lucky to have an entree rarely granted to visitors, let alone first-timers to the island.
I only wish that there were an equal opportunity to be involved with paintings, so that I didn't feel as if my History of Art studies had been totally neglected at the expense of all this archaeology. I do always feel that Arch is a greedy subject that could eat one alive and spit out one's bones (for some future arch student to wonder over?)disdainfully.
Meanwhile, Diana is recovering her strength slowly and will return in a few more days. She could not brave the water but I swam at least once a day in many different locations and we biked and walked all over the island. She swears that there are still corners of it which she has not visited. I now have the thighs of a Tour de France cyclist without the drugs.
posted by ruth @ 2:45 AM
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