The Archaeology Team at Newcastle University are pleased to announce that our new, online course about Hadrian’s Wall is now accepting registrations of interest.
The course is FREE, requires no previous experience or knowledge and begins in September.
Further details can be found by following this weblink.
Hadrian’s Wall is a long way from Lufton but it’s a reminder that Britannia was a frontier province.
This year’s excavations will take place between 12th July and the 2nd August.
We’ll be investigating a deserted medieval settlement that was probably known as ‘Barrow’. The settlement has been badly damaged by ploughing and we hope to determine whether any archaeology survives.
We’re really looking forward to being back in Somerset and working with SSARG and the local community. Keep posted for more updates about the project.
It’s been a while since we’ve posted anything substantial. Fear not, despite the lack of posts lots of things have been happening behind the scenes.
We’re pleased to say that a piece of research on the project’s geophysical survey has just been submitted for publication in a major archaeology journal. This has taken a lot of work by a number of people and we really hope that the journal will accept the article. Fingers crossed…
We also have a Newcastle Undergraduate team together for this season’s excavations at Barrow. Lucy will be returning and will be joined by Bill, Ollie, Kimberley, Jess, Chris, Hayley, Flora, Elliott and James. Andy will be returning as site supervisor and James G will be project directing.
Many logistical things happening and more details to follow…
The project would like to say a big thank you to the Medieval Settlement Research Group. The MSRG have just awarded us a small grant towards the geophysical survey of the deserted medieval settlement of Barrow.
It’s almost mid-Winter and Christmas is only a week away.
If you need a last minute Christmas present for a friend or loved one, why not buy them a membership to the South Somerset Archaeological Research Group? It’s only £10 for a year and you get this:
SSARG volunteers are a vital part of the Lufton Project. So if you, or a friend want to get involved, joining SSARG is your first step. They’re a friendly bunch and membership is a great way of hearing about archaeology in south Somerset and north Dorset.
Merry Christmas!
A nice picture from http://redtreetimes.com/tag/archaeology/
Things have been relatively quiet up here in Newcastle. The site archive is currently sat in James’ office and he’s hoping to find some time to start writing the assessment report for last summer’s excavations.
We hope that our friends in SSARG and GeoFlo will soon be carrying out a small survey on the ploughed out deserted medieval settlement of Barrow.
James also recently found this interesting write up about some recent archaeological work at Montacute. Working in Lufton we’re always conscious of the ancient power centres around us – in the Iron Age Ham Hill and South Cadbury; in the Roman period Ilchester, and in the Middle Ages Ilchester, Yeovil and Montacute.
The twelfth-century Waltham Chronicle describes how a Dane called Tovi apparently dug a stone crucifix up on top of Montacute in 1030. This cross was given to Waltham Abbey where it survived until the Dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century.
The Bayeux Tapestry showing William (centre) and his brothers Odo (left) and Robert (right)
Following the Norman Conquest Robert the Count of Mortain (William the Conqueror’s half brother) acquired Montacute and constructed a Motte-and-Bailey castle atop the ‘Steep HIll’ (Mons Acutus). The castle was besieged by the men on Somerset in 1068 but their attack was defeated by the Normans. In 1102 the lands were given to the Cluniacs who founded Montacute Priory.
What did the people of Lufton and Barrow think of these events?
An aerial photo from the 1940s showing the earthworks of the motte-and-bailey on Montacute. Today this site is largely hidden by tree cover.
James is pleased to announce that his new book – The Ruin of Roman Britain – has been published by the Cambridge University Press.
The Lufton Villa gets a couple of mentions!
The geophysics team have completed two further fields called Danscombe and Ten Acres. Both of these fields contain geophysical anomalies that are likely to be archaeological. One of the most interesting discoveries is a sinuous anomaly that is probably an ancient stream channel that would have fed into Balls Water (or Welham’s Brook).
Geophysics of Ten Acres. The features in this field may well be Romano-British © Geoflo and The Lufton Project
Geophysics of Danscmobe. The sinuous anomaly is likely to be an ancient stream channel © Geoflo and The Lufton Project
We’re pleased to say that Nigel, Neil, Doug and some other SSARG members have just started to extend our geophysical survey. This is a piece of work we’ve been meaning to do since 2012 and will give us a much greater coverage of the landscape to the south west of the villa.
Updates to follow – so keep an eye on the blog!
The work is partially funded by the Aston Fund of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society.
