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History and Archaeology in the news

Topical stories from around the world can be found here.

2009: An archaeological and historical review

Some of the best - and least - known stories from 2009 are reproduced here. By no means exhaustive, these articles reflect some of the themes covered by the tours we currently offer or those that are in preparation.

Archaeo-blog

History and archaeology are not stationary - historians constantly uncover new facts and devise new interpretations, whilst archaeologists uncover the physical remains of past cultures on a daily basis. As an archaeologist working in Bavaria, your guide is able to keep you informed of at least some of the recent discoveries in the Munich and it's environs.

Early Medieval settlement near Munich, April - July 2010

As a result of a planning application to build retirement homes, the local archaeology firm "Singularch" undertook evaluation trenching on a small part of a 6 hectare site. The results of this evaluation were impressive. The segment of the site uncovered proved to be full of Grubenhäuser (which dates the site to between the 5th and 7th centuries AD), ditches and graves. The picture below was taken from a kite and clearly shows many archaeological features:

A - Grubenhäuser or similar structures    B - well   C - drainage ditch  D - graves  E - post-built structure (?)  F - modern cable trench (water)

     (Photo © Singularch 2010)

The natural geology on site is predominately chalk and prehistoric coral, which means that the site is well drained. It also means that the digging is relatively easy and quick.

In this period, the inhabitants sometimes buried their dead within the confines of their villages. This may have been to deter grave robbers or may have had some religious reasoning, the deceased continuing the co-exist alongside the living. To date (30th May 2010), 3 burials have been excavated and several more have been identified. So far, grave goods have been quite poor, limited to ceramic beads which were once worn as necklaces. In the photo above, 3 grave cuts, numbered D1-3 can be seen. WE know that these are Christian burials since they are aligned East-West (the belief being that the dead will be able to see the sun rise in the east of the Day of Judgement") The results of excavations were as follows:

Grave "D1"

Contained the skeleton of a child, probably female, perhaps 10-12 years old. Cause of death impossible ascertain. We do know however that infant and juvenile deaths were very common in this period (and would remain so up until comparatively recent times) The grave goods that this youngster was interred with consisted of a bead necklace. You see the beads in the picture on the right. The remains had been disturbed by animal burrows which accounts for the jumbled appearance of the pelvis. The soil here was loam with chalk fragments.

Grave"D2"

This burial was very well preserved indeed, due in no small part to the higher chalk content of the soil than was present in D1. The child was again, probably female, aged about 10 years old and buried with a necklace. Age was ascertained by the dentition

Grave "D3"

This feature, which lay immediately to the side of D2 proved to be empty and had possibly never contained a burial. It may be that the grave was dug before the winter, when the cold would make digging difficult (in anticipation of further deaths over the cold months), or that the body of the deceased could not be recovered and that the empty grave is a symbolic resting place. The size of the gave suggested that it had be dug for a child. Perhaps the child in question died alongside his mother and the two were buried together, the decision being made after the grave had been dug. Another possibility is that the bones simply did not survive - although given the superb preservation on the skeleton in the photo above (which was located only about 50cm to the South) this seems unlikely. We will never know the exact reasons .

As always in archaeology, meticulous record keeping is of paramount importance. As well as a detailed description, photographs and a detailed are made. Archaeologist Nils Dietermeyer drew this and the subsequent burials so far excavated:

The detailed drawings on the left show the exact locations of the beads. (© Singularch)

The following pair of graves were quite interesting:

The individual on the left was an adult aged perhaps 30-40 years old whilst the one on the right was about 18-20 years at death. what makes these individual interesting is that the one on the left had female grave goods - a necklace made of beads and a bronze brooch - but without these the skeleton would have been sexed as male as it has certain male attributes (The shape of the pelvic bone, skull and the form of the mandible (in particular the part known as the "Ramus". For an interesting article on the validity of using this particular bone for sexing - albeit on modern inviduals - see http://www.scielo.cl/pdf/ijmorphol/v26n1/art15.pdf ) suggested that this individual was male. The individual was also buried in a wooden coffin and most likely had been buried in some sort of wrapping or binding. This was ascertained by the fact that the feet and toe bones were all jumbled up, as they had fallen onto the floor of the coffin. The best scenario is that they were bound (perhaps just to make it easier to move the corpse) and that after burial, this binding rotted, allowing the remains of the feet to tumble on to the floor of the coffin. Compare the feet of the two individuals above - the one on the right had no coffin and yet the feet are more in situ than the the ones on the left.

In the picture, the ramus is labeled "A". You can see that it flairs out and is quite pronounced, fairly typical of males, less so of females. The big hole in the skull is post-mortem. (i.e. it happened after death. this is not some gruesome ritual involving the dead but is more than likely the result of plant roots.

The  second individual has long legs in relation to a rather short and twisted torso. This was not the result of being buried in the ground or the work of rodents burrowing into the grave. Rather, this individual suffered from Polio. These individuals were interpreted as being mother and child, although only a DNA test would establish whether they were related or not.

Yet more infant burials:

Excavated by the author, drawn by Nils Dietermeyer (© Singularch 2010) Scale is 1cm (each big square) to 10cm.

Everyone needs fresh and clean drinking water everyday. The settlement was supplied by numerous wells which were sunk several metres into the soil. The depth of the wells posed several health and safety risks which had to be carefully considered - the consequences of a high section collapsing onto an archaeologist would more than likely be fatal. In excavating these features then we would dig to a depth of about 1-1.2 metres and record the feature. Then, using a mechanical excavator we would lower the ground level in relation to the feature - in effect digging big steps down into the earth.

Here, 2 colleagues prepare Feature 410 for photographing. The "stepped" nature of the excavation is fairly clear in these photos, as is the stratigraphy in the well itself. (These are the lines that show the differing deposits that filled the well up over time)

Feature 1025 was also a well. In this instance we wanted a fuller profile picture. To achieve this safely we excavated be hand down to about 1metre and then went deeper using a mechanical excavator. The quality of the soil here meant that a fairly clear section could be achieved using such a machine with additional cleaning being done with a hoe or kratzer.

To be continued....

Excavations in Lagerlechfeld, Bavaria April 2010

After a very quiet winter (both tour-wise and with digging) I was very keen to get back in the field but the severe cold and snow meant that the jobs that were available were very over subscribed - too many archaeologists applying for too few positions. And then - two job offers in as many days. Typical! The site I am currently working is probably middle or late La Tene (late Iron Age, c.450 - late first century BC) although we have also found some evidence for Roman occupation on site.

The site is to be developed for a commercial concern and so excavations are required before building work can commence. The site is not big, perhaps 100m x 150m and is bordered on one side by the Via Claudia Roman road, which heads straight for the nearby city of Augsburg - Roman Augusta (See below) The plough soil is thin (typically c.30cm deep) and lays directly over glacial gravel and sand. As a result of the thin topsoil, some features are severely truncated (have been cut in half as it were by ploughing) and some have most probably been destroyed altogether by the plough.

The typical dwelling of much of later prehistory through to the Medieval period is what is known as the longhouse. Usually, all that remain are the postholes. In conditions where the soil is less gravelly, the stain of the wooden posts can be seen against the backfill of the posthole itself. However, on site this is rarely possible. The fill of the various postholes in nearly all cases have shown the same sort of fine-sandy-gravel which does not lend itself to preserving the subtleties of colour and texture that would further fill in details about the construction of the various structures.

In this photo, the postholes of a longhouse (House 2) show up clearly against the natural gravel. Distance from the outer lines of posts to the centre line is about 3 metres, giving a house width of about 6metres.

The trees in the background are directly along the edge of the "Via Claudia" Roman road.

In this photo, the postholes of House 3 can be seen. A lot smaller than House 2, perhaps we are wrong to call this structure a house. It is quite possibly an ancillary structure such as a shelter for farm stock. The black smudge inside the structure was a pit, although for what purpose it was dug remains unknown. The site has yielded few finds to date and nothing suggests that this will change before the job is completed. (Although one of the joys of archaeology is that you never really can tell what a site will yield until you have excavated...each site is unique and no two days are alike on a dig)

The area with structures was delimited by a wooden fence, pierced by several gates. We know this as the construction trench for the fence and postholes for the gateways are visible. It was outside of this boundary that we discovered the grave of a former inhabitant. The burial was crouched and lay on its side with the head facing the South. The skeleton was quite poorly preserved and we were unable to sex the individual. There were no grave goods present, although we should not rule out the possibility that this person was buried with items that have not survived. Items could be made out of wood, for example. The skull was badly crushed (post-mortem) but the teeth survived well enough. That is slightly misleading as the teeth actually showed a tremendous amount of wear and this person no doubt suffered a great deal of pain from their worn-down pegs. The reason for the horrific dentition was that when grain was ground in a mill to make flour, bits of the grindstone would break off and end up mixed in with the flour. It would be like eating a sandwich at the seaside (We have all gotten sand in our cheese sarnies...the grind and noise of sand and grit on teeth is not nice) everyday of your life.

One side of the excavation is bordered by the Via Claudia Roman road. Built in 46-47 AD by the Emperor Claudius, it linked the local capital Augusta Vindelicorum with Italy. The city was an important trade centre in the Roman (and subsequent periods) and had been founded by the stepsons of Augustus, Tiberius and Drusus. The road is now a long distance cycle path although in places it still carries traffic. The route of the road has been marked with replica Roman milestones like the one pictured here on the left.

The site cabin and portaloo are actually parked on the road itself, seen here stretching away towards Augsburg

Other hints of local Roman occupation can be seen in the neighbourhood:

Not the Via Claudia but another Roman road in the vicinity. The straightness is obvious. The drainage ditch of the road (long since filled in) can seen as a darker strip of grass in the right hand photo.

The site is located on the periphery of a military airfield used by Kampfgeschwader 32 (Bomber squadron 32) who fly Tornado jets. The airfield was used as a testing area for the firm of Messerschmidt as well as an active base for combat operations in WW2.In the last days of the war, Me 262 jets operated from here. As a result, the airfield became the focus of intense bombing raids by the USAAF and was practically obliterated. It seems likely that our archaeological site had aircraft parked here in WW2 as a metal detector survey by a Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) revealed scores of ferrous returns. Each site is marked with a red flag and is then plotted with a GPS system. The EOD officers then evaluate what the object is likely be before removing it and making it safe for disposal.

Most objects turned out to be shrapnel splinters although 2cm phosphorus (Tracer) bullets also turned up. The shrapnel was Allied, the bullets German.

A piece of bomb shrapnel

Postscript, June 2010

Unexploded bombs (UXB's) sometimes become XB's with tragic results....

On Tuesday, June 2nd, In the German town of Gottingen, three workers were killed and six wounded while trying to defuse a 1,100-pound Allied bomb — a tragic legacy of World War II.

Sixty-five years after the end of the war, unexploded ordnance from the conflict remains a common, annoying and occasionally deadly hazard for construction crews across Germany.

The nine German bomb-disposal experts — men with years of experience — were working Wednesday on a bomb found during construction of a sports arena in the central German town. The police had already evacuated some 6,000 people when the bomb exploded.

 Peter Bodes, head of the Hamburg Ordinance Disposal Unit, told German public television that while old war bombs are commonplace, fatalities are not. "Accidents happen, of course. But you always go out there thinking 'It won't be me.' So it's just dreadful when something tragic like this happens," Bodes said.

Each year as spring and summer construction work expands, unexploded aerial bombs, hand grenades, artillery rounds and ammunition are uncovered: Last year, construction crews even found old explosives near the private apartment of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Berlin city officials estimate there are some 4,000 unexploded pieces of ordnance — mostly aerial bombs and artillery — still scattered across the capital. Earlier this spring, officials evacuated several hundred Berlin residents from offices and apartments after construction crews found a live 500-pound bomb near a main S-Bahn commuter rail track.

Unexploded World War II ordnance remains a problem in many European cities and in parts of North Africa. Berlin city officials estimate the German capital was bombarded by 465,000 tons of explosives and that 1 out of 8 bombs dropped on the city during the war did not explode.

According to Berlin's municipal records, some 7,300 bombs have been detonated successfully in the city since officials started purchasing aerial images from the British in the mid-1980s.

Berlin's City Hall requires construction firms to carry out bomb-risk assessments of sites, and the city pays for the eventual removal of any Allied explosives found. But the disposal of German-made bombs is paid for by the federal government, which is responsible for paying for the legacy of the Third Reich.

It all adds up to job security for those who make their living doing the dangerous work of bomb disposal. Tom Alexander runs a Berlin company that specializes in locating and assessing the removal of unexploded ordnance. "I still have to work for about 15 or 20 years. We won't run out of bombs and ammunition," he says. "There are still massive amounts of ammunition in Berlin from the ground fighting and of course from the bombing of the city."

Alexander has a doctorate in biology, but decided to take over the business his father founded in 1947. A trained car mechanic, Alexander's father served as a German army explosives expert during the war. Alexander says it's really just a guess how much unexploded ordnance is left in Berlin.

"The city's [Nazi] administration really collapsed in the fall of 1944 and records stopped being kept of the bombs — especially in the last days of the war, when the Russians on the ground came closer to the city, it all went into a big chaos," Alexander says.

As this spring's ammunition finds show, the Allies targeted major transport hubs such as train stations and airports. But the acres of woods surrounding the city also contain munitions dumps where German soldiers got rid of their guns and grenades as the Soviets and the Western Allies converged on Berlin and what was left of Hitler's regime fell.

Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker on April 30, 1945, and German commanders in Berlin surrendered May 2. A week later, almost all Nazi armed forces had unconditionally surrendered throughout Europe.

One legacy of Berlin's post-war division is that bomb busting differed on either side of the Berlin Wall. In the West, most construction sites were cleared of explosives before new buildings went up; the communist East seemed less bothered by what might be underground.

"Many new buildings were just [built] on bombs. They never did ammunition searches in socialist times," Alexander says. "They looked a little bit, but they didn't have the technology." Or the money, he adds.

 More than 2,000 tons of American and British aerial bombs are discovered in Germany each year, with four found over the past two months in Berlin alone. But the devices are becoming increasingly unstable with age.

The bomb which went off in Goettingen is of a type containing a vial of acetone, which bursts on impact and is meant to trickle down and dissolve a celluloid disk that keeps back the cocked firing pin that then ignites the TNT inside.

Hans-Juergen Weise, a retired bomb disposal expert, has warned of the dangers of rotting detonators."The last few years we've found that the detonators we take out of such bombs are increasingly brittle," he said in 2008."We had three extracted detonators go off with a pissssh sound while they were being transported away, all it took was a bit of vibration."One day such bombs will be so sensitive that no one will be able to handle them."

 In 1945, as the war ended, both the British Royal Air Force and the U.S. Air Force recorded the damage their bombs had done across Germany. These images are still paying off today. The British government's Aerial Reconnaissance Archives in Edinburgh, Scotland, sells photos to help the German government and private firms locate the ordnance. Allan Williams, head of the archives, says that his team looks at aerial photos of war-damaged Germany every day. "It's like Avatar of the Second World War. It's quite surreal," he says. "We are able to identify images showing bomb craters and many of the images show actual unexploded bombs on the ground. So through our work, we are able to supply bomb disposal agencies in Germany on a daily basis with photographs of particular areas."

The photographs prove helpful, most of the time.

But Berlin's City Hall is reluctant to make public its records of where ordnance is located beneath the city for fear of panicking residents.

Last summer, a woman was walking her German shepherd when it dug up and played with what looked like an odd bone. In fact, it was a live hand grenade left by the U.S. Army.

The bomb disposal unit was called, and the dog and its master walked on — carefully.

(abridged from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/7797710/German-bomb-disposal-experts-killed-while-trying-to-defuse-US-bomb.html and http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127476757)

Excavations in Donauwörth, Spring 2009

Donauwörth is a small town in the area of Bavaria known as Swabia. The town stands at the confluence of the Danube and Wörnitz rivers. Strategically important because of this, the town has been the site of at least 3 battles - the first during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), the second during the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713), the third during the Napoleonic Wars.

Excavations are currently underway on the site of the Burg Mangold, the first major fortification in the area, which dates to the 11th century. King Heinrich IV (later Holy Roman Emperor) was plagued by nobles who were intent on feathering their own interests rather than following his orders.  A very public way of showing who was boss was the demolishing of the fortifications that these nobles controlled.

The Burg Mangold was not a gigantic stone edifice but was most modest, resembling the Motte and Bailey structures of Norman design. Usually, the motte (mound) is constructed from earth dug out of a defensive ditch but at Donauwörth a natural stone outcrop was utilised. The motte was the location of the Keep, which was the most important structure of the fortification. Initially made of wood, they were sometimes later replaced in stone. The current excavation is investigating part of the bailey which was destroyed on Heinrich's orders.

The site, like most in urban centres, is complex. As well as the remains of the demolished castle, the site also has a large portion of the medieval town wall, a large, multi-phase town house with cellars (destroyed in an air raid in 1945) and a well constructed latrine. Deposits from a later period of building work within the cellar yielded a stone cannonball and clay musket balls in association with 17th century pottery. It is possible (by no means certain though) that these may be related to the battle of Donauwörth during the 30 Years War. The medieval latrine is revealing good evidence for medieval and post-medieval diet in the shape of fruit and vegetable seeds (it is best not to consider too closely just how they came to be in a medieval loo!) and animal bone. The latrine was used as a general rubbish bin as well as it has revealed large amounts of pottery and glass, leather, textiles and even cut or shaved hair, some of which may be human. The latrine shows at least two phases of use, a new one being dug immediately to the west of the original, earlier medieval one (see photo. North is to the top of the picture)

 Medieval latrine under excavation. Note the large amount of pottery in the section                               Stone cannonball from cellar deposits.

Very badly built brick archway built into the cellar. Perhaps they had had a bit too much beer the night before they built this?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Excavations near Augsburg, Spring 2009

(Note: these excavations are still ongoing as of 2010. due to the sensitive nature of the site, details of the location have been obscured) Augsburg was founded by the Roman emperor Augustus in 15 BC as a garrison called Augusta Vindelicorum but people have lived in the region since prehistoric times. Excavations ahead of new building developments in late 2008 revealed extensive remains of what is probably a Hallstatt culture settlement, with a later La Tene culture one on top. These cultures typically used wooden posts and wattle and daub for their buildings, so the features uncovered were in the main post-holes and ditches. The site is about 200 metres from a Roman villa (of a type known as a "Villa suburbana" which was excavated a few years ago.

In 2008, typical finds from our site were sherds of coarse and finer pottery as well as burnt daub. Work on the site recently restarted and in a short time has revealed a number of interesting features, the star of which has to be a high status Bronze Age burial, which was totally unexpected.

Burial under excavation. Grave goods included a bronze dagger, bangle (here in situ on the right wrist) and some sort of chain or necklace.

                                                                      Close up of the bronze dagger. This is about 1-1 scale                     

Other interesting features discovered to date are one or two Longhouses (the "Roundhouse", so typical of British prehistory and into the Roman period, is a style that is to all intents and purposes absent from Bavarian archaeology)  and a number of "Grubenhäuser" (These are sometimes referred to in British archaeology as S.F.B's or Sunken Floored Buildings. On excavation they frequently reveal traces of light manufacturing, weaving being the usual, evidenced by loom weights and traces of the loom itself being visible as post or stake-holes in the floor) which typically date to between the 5th and 7th centuries AD.

The scale equals 2m. The outline of the outline of the Grubenhäus can be clearly seen. Due to sensitive nature of the site, the details on the sign have been edited

Identifying archaeological features

A frequent question people have is "How did you know this stuff was there?". In short, one can never be really sure what you will find until you start digging. Before an archaeologist starts digging, various non-destructive avenues of research are pursued. Are there any records that mention remains in the neighbourhood? Any local stories that might have a bit of truth to them? Do aerial photographs show us anything? (try looking at "Google Earth" for where you live. Sometimes ancient remains show up very well in fields). Sometimes a structured walk over the area to be excavated can reveal hot-spots of ceramics or building materials which can be plotted on to a map. In some circumstances - not all by any means - ground penetrating radars (popularly known as "Geo-phys") of various types can give us an idea of what lays beneath the topsoil. When all the information has been analysed, archaeologists are able to say that "There is a high probability of archaeology here" or "It is likely that no archaeological remains of significance will be uncovered or disturbed in the course of building works". However, even the best research can be faulty if the archaeology is very subtle.

When it has been decided that a site needs to be excavated (usually in advance of some construction project - this is known as "Commercial archaeology) the topsoil, or overburden is removed by a mechanical excavator. This is the case on urban sites with lots of modern concrete and tarmac as well as more rural sites. On rural sites, the removal of topsoil by a mechanical digger is not as drastic as it may seem at first, since this soil will have no archaeology (except perhaps very recent) in situ. Archaeology is concerned with material culture and where it came from the context. A Roman brooch found in a grave - therefore in a secure context - will tell us more than a similar brooch that was just found in the plough soil. On upland sites, where the topsoil is very thin and which perhaps has not been turned since perhaps the Iron age or Roman period, then topsoiling is done by hand, each turf cut and stacked (It is usual to make these turves it a windbreak for archaeologists to eat their lunch behind - eating corned beef sandwiches in a gale is never fun). Once the topsoil has been removed, archaeological features - be they post holes, ditches or plough marks, for example, will be visible against the natural subsoil. Sometimes features are very obvious, being a starkly different colour to the natural soil, other times they can be very difficult to discern. The weather, cloud and strength of sunlight - as well as the time of day - can all make features appear or disappear.

When a feature is uncovered, a set procedure is followed:

Here, two postholes have been discovered (the grey areas). Prehistoric postholes tend to be quite big (like the one on the left. The grey area on the right is quite a bit smaller, so perhaps it is better to describe it as a "Stake hole" (a post would have a hole dug for it, whereas a stake would just be hammered into the ground), often in the region of  50-80cm across. In later periods, better technology and a greater understanding of structural dynamics allowed smaller postholes and posts to be utilised. Before this picture was taken, the features had had the topsoil stripped off. Then they were "cleaned" - scraped with a trowel to remove crumbs of soil and to make them clearer - and then photographed. Different archaeological companies have different approaches to photography. Some insist that a sign with all the details of the site and feature is visible, along with scales and a North arrow. Others say that such things actually draw the eye away from the archaeology - or a distraction - and insist that as long as a good written record is kept of which photograph was taken of what and in which direction, then that is enough. This photograph was taken after the "real" photograph was taken and so is devoid of scales and of the sign with the details. However, it does help to illustrate the next point -

The same features in the next stage of excavation. The edges have been marked out with a trowel ready for surveying. The white labels each have a number, by which each feature is known. The German system of recording is quite different to that used in the UK and US. These countries use a system known as the "Harris Matrix" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris_matrix), whilst the Germans use a recording style known as the "Tree System". In this , if Feature (Befunde) 7001 is ditch with 3 different fills, they are recorded as 7001-1, 7001-2 and 7001-3, whilst the cut - the actual ditch itself - is known as 7001. This system has many adherents (particularly in Germany) as it is claimed that the Harris Matrix system is too rigid and cannot always be used to adequately explain the subtleties of every site - every site is unique. Equally, the Harris-Matrix system of interpretation has merit as a recording system. This is what undergraduates get taught in British universities and although it can sometimes be very complex, it is based on logical observations. Mr Spock would agree I am sure. 

The archaeological features are surveyed with an instrument known as a TST (Total Station Theodolite). Prior to surveying, when the machine set up, it is told at exactly which point in the landscape it is set up (to within a few millimetres). Then when archaeological features are surveyed, the machine is able to store the exact coordinates and shape of each feature. This is a little like a child's dot-to-dot drawing. An archaeologist stands with a prism on the edge of a feature. A reading is then taken with the TST. the archaeologist then moves a few more centimetres around the edge of the feature. another reading is taken. And so it goes on until the feature is entirely surveyed.  Once the information is downloaded onto a computer, it can be manipulated (Typically by a programme known as AutoCAD). The results can then be printed out, giving a scaled plan of the site and its features.  

A posthole prior to excavation. "Bef" stands for "Befund" or "Feature" whilst "PL" stands for "Planum" or "Plan". A site is typically recorded as a series of scale plans. Planum 1 will always be the topmost layer with archaeology.

The same posthole after excavation. The profile is clearly visible. The technique of overcutting every feature is radically different to standard British practice, whereby the edges of a feature are followed exactly. In this picture the sign says "PR A-B". This stands for "Profil A-B". "Profil" is the German word for "Section". After the photo is taken, the section is drawn at a scale of 1:20 and then coloured with pencils.

Roman period graves near Augsburg

In early June 2009 whilst stripping topsoil with a mechanical digger, the unmistakable shapes of several graves appeared. In the picture below, they appear as the dark areas of earth. Each scale is 2 metres long.

The same two graves after an initial cleaning. The orange lines that can be seen is clay that has been subjected to heating and may represent a baked clay coffin that the deceased was cremated in. It was this and the presence of many burnt and cracked stones within the graves that led to the conclusion that these are cremation burials, c.1st Century AD, rather than inhumations. (An inhumation is where the body is buried, rather than a cremation, where the body is burnt)

Grave 831 (the one on the right of the pictures above) during excavation. The edges of the grave are very clear, except in the top left-hand corner, where the edge has been disturbed. What could have caused that?

Graves 830 and 831 under excavation. 831 has been excavated by cross-sectioning ("Kreuzschnitt" in German). This allows the archaeologist to see the various layers and deposits in both long and short profiles or sections. When these have been recorded the remaining two quadrants will be excavated. Grave 830 was excavated using another technique, whereby the feature is examined by making a single long section. It is clear in this picture that the reason for the edge of the grave being disturbed is that it has been robbed in antiquity. The area of dark earth which has been further sectioned is the fill of a hole dug by grave robbers. The grave yielded only a few fragments of burnt human bone and some prehistoric pottery that was in the plough soil when the grave was cut.

Another grave under excavation, showing the abundance of fire cracked pebbles. The small white articles are blossom petals. When the wind blows they get everywhere and make taking good photographs a real problem.

The drawing above shows a typical Roman period cremation. Our cremations on site were slightly different in that the pit underneath was longer and at least two of the burials seemed to suggest that the deceased was placed in a sort of fired-clay coffin prior to being burned. The coffins would be placed on a byre as seen in the illustration. As well as being hygienic, burning the dead was believed to release the spirit and help it towards the after life.

August 2009 - Grubenhäuser

With the gradual waning of Roman influence in the 5th century AD, new styles manifested themselves in many aspects of life, not least in architecture. New building styles also point to a new social structure. In this case, the Roman villa Suburbana has been replaced by a type of building known as a Grubenhäus. The characteristic feature of these structures is that they are half sunk into the earth, sometimes to a depth of half a metre or so. These are very different to the buildings of the villa estate they replaced, being quite small (sometimes only about 2.5 metres wide by about 3 or 4 metres long) and rude. At each corner, posts were sunk to hold up the steeply pitched thatched roof. When these structures went out of use of this site, they rapidly silted up, washing in all manner of artefacts that were scattered around on the ground. We now that there was Bronze Age and Roman period activity here and finds from these periods are the most common that we uncover from the Grubenhäuser - finds from the period when the structures were in use are quite rare in comparison, although some distinctive pottery from c.500 - 700 AD has recently discovered.

The wavy lines on these sherds are similar to some prehistoric forms. However, these were quite well fired and had quite a hard fabric. The sherds were quite thin as well (about 5mm). All these things identify this pottery as being early Medieval.

     A Neolithic red flint Burin. Burin's were for either engraving wood, bone or antler, or for punching holes in leather or skins. The point has snapped off.

The bottom edge of this Limestone pebble is very smooth and has been deliberately shaped. In German this is known as "Gletstein" whilst in English they are known as "Linen rubbers". These were used to press linen fabrics, like a primitive sort of iron. (Except these don't plug in anywhere). This particular Grubenhäus (Bef 585) yielded a large number of loom weights as well as this and two other possible linen rubbers which is pretty good evidence that this structure (for at least some of the time it was in use) was used for textile manufacture.

When the final deposits inside the Grubenhäus were removed, a rare survival was noted. The slight (but very real) remains of at least one weaving loom were discovered, visible as stake holes.  A fired clay loom weight (A) which was in direct association with a large piece of charcoal (B) - presumably part of a loom frame are visible in the photos below.

To make the stake holes easier to see, in this picture they have been marked with waterproof paper. Initially, it was thought that some of the stake holes were due to rodents burrowing. However, as a general rule, creatures like moles are not so methodical in their tunnelling. The photographs were taken on different days under different light conditions. (Overcast and then sunny). Too bright a day can make taking quality, archaeologically useful photographs difficult. Typically, archaeologists use a mixture of colour slide and black and white film as well as using digital cameras.

Finds from Bef. 585 were not particularly dramatic - mainly cow and sheep/goat bones, fragments of Roman roof tiles (What are known as Tegula) and a mixture of different pottery types, including 2 sherds of high status Roman "Samian" ware. (Think of the best china you use for Sunday dinner for special occasions, as opposed to the plates you use everyday)

This rusted piece of iron is most likely an early Medieval belt fitting (The "tongue" or strap end of the belt) although it is also possible that this is a short knife blade. After an X-ray and conservation we will know for sure. (Bef. 585)

Yet another Grubenhäus. This shows well the sort of "kreuzschnitt" or cross-cut we use to excavate these features in order to get as much information as possible. Archaeologists reading this will comment on the fact that the base of the Sondage in the background is far from level. This is because at this moment in time we were concerned with the two sections which have been cleaned and were being recorded (The vertical area to the right of the short - 50cm - staff, and the section with the white thing sticking out - actually a cattle skull)

Another burial

August also saw another burial being uncovered, this time from the early Medieval period. This person was a Christian - the body was aligned East-West, with the skull at the western end of the grave (this is so that on "Judgement Day" the dead can see the sun rise) - and had minimal grave goods, just 5 or 6 glass beads worn as a necklace. These and a quick analysis of the remaining bones strongly suggests that this person was female and fairly young, around 20 years old perhaps.

    One of the glass beads in situ near the left Clavicle, or collar bone

Excavations near Dachau, 2008

At the time of writing (October 2009), I am between digging jobs. This does mean that I can devote a little more time working on this website and dig out some records of some older excavations. In 2008, a local archaeology firm by the name of Singularch won the contract to conduct archaeological works ahead of a massive development at Bergkirchen, near Dachau. In the course of stripping the topsoil, a whole series of ancient features were discovered, consisting in the main of:

• Various prehistoric structures, including "Longhouses" and a Neolithic burial mound (Tumulus/Grabenhügel)

• A Romano-Gallic Villa and associated buildings

• An early Medieval settlement and an associated gravefield

What follow are a few choice photos from the excavation. They are reproduced with kind permission of Singularch

Two structures, both probably of either the Hallstatt or La Tene culture. The aerial views shown for this site were made by attaching a digital camera to a kite. Trying to get useful pictures can be difficult - kites can be difficult to manoeuvre -  in taking 200 photographs on a 10 minute flight one might be lucky to have 20 to 30 which were really useful. However one of the great things about digital photography is the cost. Trying the same sort of technique with traditional still (35mm) film) could prove to be very expensive.

This aerial view, also taken from a kite has been manipulated to show the outline of a Romano-Gallic Villa and associated fence lines or boundaries (red) which overlay an earlier structure, also probably of Roman date (blue). The black dots to the left of the photo are archaeologists. These and the JCB digger ("Bagger" in German) give a good indication of scale. The fact that the bigger posts are located along the inner square of the villa is very good evidence for the villa having a tower and at least one upper storey. Other villa types have a similar post arrangement but without the massive inner posts. In these cases, one can infer that the villa had a Peristyle or courtyard instead. The type of plan seen in the picture is also typical of Romano-Gallic temples. What suggested that this was a villa and not a temple were the abundance of outbuildings associated with the structure. Most villas were not the pleasure palaces of Hollywood and the popular imagination but were working farms, the villa itself being the heart of what could sometimes be a massive estate.

One grave with the disturbed remains of 3 individuals. (Note the two skulls at the left of the picture). The little white plastic crosses are for a technique known as Photogrammetry. The positions of the crosses are recorded with a TST (see above). Using a programme like "AutoCAD" one can measure the distance between the crosses. Once the exact positions of the crosses and their spatial relationships with the other other crosses has been determined, one can use this data to measure the dimensions of the bones. This technique also allows the exact location of the burial within the gravefield to be recorded in great detail - millimetre accuracy.   

                                                                           Bird-headed brooch, before and after restoration.

The early Medieval gravefield had about 200 graves. It had originally been bigger but had been badly damaged by open-cast mining operations in the  past. This is a terrible shame, not only because of the archaeology that will have been lost but also because of the destruction of the human remains. The skeletons archaeologists find are often, 100's, sometimes 1000's of years old. They  were still someone's, mother, father, daughter or son, with a life and loves. The photo above shows a general view of the site. The graves show up well against the glacial gravels alongside the river Amper. The two parallel lines are drainage ditches from a later medieval road. Luckily, the road did not damage the burials underneath.    

Finger ring with a Christian symbol - a Cross - engraved on it. On the left, as found, with finger bone in situ.

Iron Seax. The Seax (Sometimes in English "Sax") was used a both a all-purpose/hunting knife as well as a weapon. A version known as a "Langseax" gave a warrior better reach and in some cases were pretty much single-edged swords. On this example, the cutting edge is parallel to the bottom the picture. The grip would typically be made from wood or leather, sometimes bone perhaps or antler. The wearing or carrying of a knife - no matter how big or small - would mark a person out as being a "freeman" and not a slave. No scale in this photograph but this example was about 50cm long.

Arguably the finest find from the gravefield. This brooch was buried with a female child who was about 5 years old at death. The centre of the brooch is 24 carat gold whilst the outer part with intricate rope-work is 16 carat. The centre would have been inlaid with either precious, semi-precious stones, glass or perhaps enamel. This would have highlighted the cross motif. In this period, these people were Christian - hence the cross at the centre - but still buried their dead with grave-goods. Age was determined by milk teeth - the grey-brown blobs to the left in the drawing. The grid squares on the paper are 1cm squares, so you have an idea of how big the brooch was. Note also the glass beads from a necklace.

This is what is known as a Francisca, or Frankish throwing axe. Whether the person in the grave was an ethnic Frank or whether this is the result of trade, barter or war booty, it is impossible to say. This was the only example we had in the gravefield.   

The picture above and the two below show 3 graves that cut each other. At first it looks like this is a mass grave but in fact it is 3 different graves very close together. We can surmise that the two people on the left were female. In this period, women wore their jewellery at the upper body with little of value from the waist downwards. When female graves are robbed, the thieves only  target the upper body (Why dig a huge hole when a smaller hole over the jewels would suffice?). The fact that the male skeleton on the right is intact suggests that either the thieves were disturbed and fled before they could dig or that this is a later burial. The presence of charcoal in many graves - but without evidence of any major burning activity - suggests that the thieves operated at night, the charcoal coming from their torches. The fact that the robbed graves had been specifically targeted - the females were usually only disturbed in the upper torso area whilst the men, when robbed, had been disturbed from the waist down (the men wearing their swords or seax on a sometimes elaborate belt) - suggests that they were possibly robbed by their own relatives or that they had some sort of grave marker - or both.

In these 2 pictures we see some details of the male warrior from the photo above. In this photo we can clearly see his seax, placed across his upper thighs and a shield boss (the big black rusted lump in front of the skull). In the diagram to the right, the red colouring represents iron objects. The seax is obvious but the other iron objects require explanation. In this period - c.500- 700AD, men of status would sometimes wear highly decorated belts as a sort of badge of rank or wealth. The basic belt leather would be decorated with iron plates on leather fobs. When the warrior moved, the plated would have glinted in the sunlight and jingled as they moved, adding to his presence. The location of each plate is carefully noted so that in the Lab the appearance of the belt can be reconstructed. Details of the belt buckles can also be determined on the diagram.  

Above: a selection of grave goods. The brooches would have been used to fasten cloaks around the neck or upper body. The beads are made of glass and have been restrung after being conserved and analysed. In order to do this accurately, first-class recording skills - accurate drawing and detailed photography - are essential.

The pictures above and blow show a skeleton undergoing recording. Keeping accurate records is very important in archaeology as mistakes can be very difficult - if not impossible - to correct afterwards. Archaeology is sometimes referred to as being the "Unrepeatable experiment". Judging from the fact that the lower limbs are missing here, it is very likely that this was a male of some status who has been robbed. That the the skull is on its side and the jaw wide open suggests that this person was buried in a coffin. If the body was just buried in a pit, the grave fill would prevent this sort of post-mortem movement. The use of a coffin is another clue which suggests that this was a person of status. Here, local archaeologist Nils Dietermeyer records in a detailed drawing the position of bones and the remaining grave-goods .

Excavations in Augsburg, December 2009

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) are currently (December 2009) building a large production site just outside Augsburg. The site when completed will manufacture parts for "Airbus" passenger planes. Prior to construction of the new facility, an archaeological evaluation was undertaken. This revealed features of Prehistoric and Roman date which would need to be fully excavated prior to building. Archaeologically speaking, the site was pretty scrappy: a few structures (evidenced by post holes) a boundary ditch (probably roman in date) and various rubbish or cess pits. Scrappy archaeology or not, the site still had to be excavated. Finds consisted in the main of pottery fragments and the odd bit of flint. Some features revealed traces of burnt bone: intact bone was quite scarce. A couple of human cremations, which the bone fragments in pottery jars, were also recovered. (The date of the cremations is as yet undetermined but are quite likely to be of roman date)Towards the end of the excavation, conditions became rather difficult - firstly snow made digging physically near impossible, and then after a thaw, the site was rather reminiscent of the Somme battlefield, with quagmires and muddy puddles adding to the misery. Some days were very bright and sunny, which made good photography very difficult. Other days were very cold: sometimes minus 9 degrees. Trying to draw or use a camera in the sort of gloves you have to wear in these temperatures is very difficult. A minute was about the limit one could work without gloves.

Roman rubbish pit. This yielded the best part of a pot and a large piece of iron sheet (note the orange rust). The pottery was probably produced locally in the first or second centuries AD.

                       Cut feature of unknown use. Probably late prehistoric or early roman period. Not particularly exciting as features go.

Recording a feature. This particular feature was revealed a very deep post-hole. At the very base was a piece of 19th century pottery. It is likely that this feature was a cut for a telegraph pole!

Typical finds: a mixture of roman ceramic types. Some is imported (e.g. the dark orange/red sherd is a piece of Samian ware), other types made locally.