Delivering Successful Outreach on the Westgate Oxford Project P3
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The Archaeologist Issue 102 Autumn 2017 In this issue: Delivering successful Archeology under Advocacy news: Guidelines for cultural outreach on the Westgate pressure: the museum the future of the heritage impact Oxford project perspective environment assessment – project p3 p14 p18 launched p20 Part-time courses in Archaeology at Oxford • Undergraduate Certificate in Archaeology • MSc in Applied Landscape Archaeology • Undergraduate Diploma in British Archaeology • DPhil in Archaeology • Advanced Diploma in British Archaeology Short and online courses also run throughout the year www.conted.ox.ac.uk/ba2017 Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit http://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk ORAU is dedicated to providing high quality Contact details: radiocarbon dating services for UK archaeologists: Director Prof Christopher Ramsey Deputy Director Prof Thomas Higham x Advice on sampling strategy Administrator Emma Henderson x Sample-specific chemical pre-treatment x Isotope and elemental analysis Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (Ɂ13C, Ɂ15N, CN) Research Laboratory for Archaeology x Precision AMS measurement Dyson Perrins Building x Prompt reporting South Parks Road x Comprehensive quality assurance Oxford OX1 3QY UK x Interpretation, calibration and modelling Also visit our website for the OxCal calibration Tel 01865 285229 software and our online searchable database of Fax 01865 285220 Email [email protected] published radiocarbon dates. Website http://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk Please see our website for more information including FS-53284 current prices and turnaround times Autumn 2017 ⎥ Issue 102 Contents Notes for contributors 2 Editorial Themes and deadlines 3 Delivering successful outreach on the Westgate Oxford project Ben Ford TA103 will be looking at the professional pathways that are opening up in archaeology, how these 6 Archaeology under pressure: excavating Partick Castle Warren Bailie can help to address the issues of capacity and skills for the sector and what we can do to 8 Going underground: the challenges of fieldwork and interpretation in cave archaeology make them the norm. Deadline for abstracts and images: 1 December 2017 Steven Birch TA104: Collaboration is now often a key 11 Murder, mayhem and misdemeanour: the application of archaeology to the recently consideration in all aspects of archaeology. It can take place between archaeologists who may work in deceased Jennifer Miller different countries, have different roles, be in education or commercial practice, and may be paid 14 Archaeology under pressure: the museum perspective Lucy Creighton or unpaid: there are also valuable collaborations between archaeologists, professionals in other 16 Archaeology under fire? Heritage conservation on the MOD estate Martin Brown sectors and communities. Deadline of abstracts and images: 1 April 2018. 18 Advocacy news: the future of the environment 20 Guidelines for cultural heritage impact assessment – project launched Contributions to The Archaeologist are encouraged. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss 21 RO News ideas for articles, opinion pieces or interviews. We now invite submission of 100–150 word 22 Spotlight on... the CIfA Standard and guidance for commissioning work or providing abstracts for articles on the theme of forthcoming consultancy advice on archaeology and the historic environment issues. Abstracts must be accompanied by at least three hi-resolution images (at least 300dpi) in jpeg 24 Your chance to vote on a proposal for Chartered Archaeologist status or tiff format, along with the appropriate photo captions and credits for each image listed within the 26 RTPI and CIfA heritage seminar: Layers of London text document. The editorial team will get in touch regarding selection and final submissions. 27 Member news We request that all authors pay close attention to CIfA house style guidance, which can be found on 28 ‘My job means it’s too dificult to join CIfA’ – or does it? Helen Parslow the website: www.archaeologists.net/publications/ notesforauthors 29 CIfA enrolment party for Dutch archaeologists Marloes van der Sommen TA is made digitally available through the CIfA website and if this raises copyright issues for any 30 New members authors, artists or photographers, please notify the editor. Copyright of content and illustrations remain 32 Noticeboard with the author, and that of final design with CIfA. Authors are responsible for obtaining reproduction rights and for providing the editor with appropriate image captions and credits. Opinions expressed in The Archaeologist are those of the authors and not necessarily those of CIfA. Commisioning editor Alex Llewelllyn [email protected] Copy editor Tess Millar Members’ news: please send to Lianne Birney, [email protected] Registered Organisations: please send to Kerry Wiggins, [email protected] CIfA, Miller Building, University of Reading Reading, RG6 6AB Telephone 0118 378 6446 Design and layout by Sue Cawood Printed by Fuller Davies Cover photo: Site of the new museum for London in ISSN: 1368-9169 West Smithfield. Credit: Museum of London The Archaeologist ⎥ 1 Issue 102 ⎥ Autumn2017 EDITORIAL Guest Editors: Beverley Ballin Smith MCIfA (294) and Gerry Wait MCIfA (771) TA 102 started, as do so many good ideas, other specialists, who must achieve the while a few of us talked in general about the objectives of their disciplines, and then the magazine. Our shared observation was that whole goes to court. archaeology has successfully permeated so much of the development control and land Martin Brown outlines the role of archaeology management systems in Britain that it has and the military. Not so much ‘archaeology moved from an ‘amateur’ past-time into under fire’ as he says in his title (or at least mainstream commerce, adapting to working we understand there are no bullets flying in situations that our professional ancestors past) but archaeology and conservation in a of a generation or two ago would not wide range of military contexts, where the recognise. pressure can, and perhaps does, involve the national defence or military operations in This edition presents some case studies foreign theatres of operations. about doing archaeology under pressure, p6 which nowadays comes in many forms. In We think this small collection demonstrates no particular order (of project, author, or the maturity of our discipline and our ability pressure!), Ben Ford shows that even in the to adapt and extend the use and midst of a massive commercially driven effectiveness of our skills in areas and redevelopment with considerable health and contexts that even 20 years ago would have safety issues, innovative public presentation been difficult. As a celebration of the is not only possible but can be hugely breadth, depth (pun intended) and diversity successful. of archaeology, this will be hard to rival. Warren Bailie’s work at Partick Castle encountered severely contaminated land, Gerry Wait and the ability to conduct first-class Gerry has over 35 years of experience as an p8 excavations under quite extreme safety archaeologist and heritage consultant and conditions, with full recovery and recording, has worked all over the world, especially in is a landmark. the UK and West Africa. His principal expertise lies in conservation planning, Likewise, Steven Birch’s work in the High environmental and social impact assessment Pasture Cave system encountered very and finding ways to make the past relevant to hazardous working conditions (both guest people and communities in building their editors would be simply unable to work in future. Gerry is a member of the CIfA Board these underground environments!) and yet of Directors and is active in the Committee still produced ground-breaking results, on Professional Associations in Archaeology enabling far-reaching synthesis and re- of the European Association of interpretation of the prehistory in Scotland’s Archaeologists (EAA). p11 Islands and Highlands. Lucy Creighton introduces a very different form of pressure – the ever-increasing volume of artefacts and archives in museum stores. Once thought to be the place where archaeologists could consult and research the results of past fieldwork, museum archives may now more closely resemble warehouses, and in practice the ability of archaeologists to make use of the collections Beverley Ballin Smith is threatened. Beverley has been a member of CIfA for p20 nearly all her professional life; she has Jennifer Miller takes us to the world of served on CIfA committees, Council and as a forensic archaeology, once the realm of CIfA Board director, and is currently President fiction and TV but now conducted under a of Archaeology Scotland. Her experience as peculiar set of constraints imposed by the an archaeologist has taken her far afield, and requirements of meeting the needs of law she is now based in Scotland as Publications courts. This is in addition to adapting Manager at GUARD Archaeology Ltd and methodologies to match the requirements of editor of ARO (Archaeology Reports Online). 2 ⎥ The Archaeologist Autumn 2017 ⎥ Issue 102 Delivering successful outreach on the Westgate Oxford project Ben Ford, MCIfA (5424) View over Oxford looking NE shows the site and Greyfriars (in red) in the foreground, with the historic medieval city in sepia-tone and landmark buildings labelled. Credit: Oxford Archaeology At the British Archaeological Awards EXCAVATIONS ON THE SITE in June 2016 OA South won the Best OF THE WESTGATE CENTRE, remains of the Greyfriars claustral ranges 1967–1976: THE GREYFRIARS and wider precinct, as well as a large The preaching Order of Franciscans or Greyfriars was founded by St Francis in Pisa, Italy in 1210. St Francis sent friars to England Archaeological Project Award for the in 1224 under Agnellus also of Pisa. It was Agnellus who founded the Greyfriars Friary in Oxford. The Friary was established under the floor of the church, area of Thames floodplain channels and between St Ebbe’s but the body of Agnellus, who church and the city wall. was later made a saint, was The popularity of the Church not identified. Other burials Westgate Oxford project, a large friars as teachers within were excavated from the deposit sequences.