Issue 91

November/December 2006

Contents

news

New finds 30 years on from the drought of 76

Houses near Stonehenge astonish archaeologists

Roman pool may be for early Christian baptism

Logboat's last voyage launches new journey

In Brief

features

English landscape: lovely, isn't it? It's dead
Cider with trunk roads - Trevor Rowley casts an archaeological eye on the last century

Final proof of ancient UK contact with Sicily?
Salcombe and Dover - Bronze age wrecked cargoes in Devon and Kent

Science: evidence for ancient dairying
Neolithic farmers milked their animals in 4000BC

on the web

Recommended websites

letters

Views and responses

CBA news

Headlines from the CBA office

ISSN 1357-4442

Editor Mike Pitts

CBA news

Summer of archaeology for young archaeologists

Summer is always a busy period for the Council for British Archaeology's Young Archaeologists' Club, and 2006 proved no different, with young people from across the uk engaging in a wide range of hands-on archaeological experiences thanks to YAC events.

In August, 12 YAC members enjoyed a week of archaeology in Norfolk on one of the popular YAC residential holidays. Thanks to the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project (SHARP), the group was able to undertake a range of practical tasks including finds identification and processing, environmental residue sorting, and excavation. Sixteen-year-old member Mindy from Liverpool made the find of the week, uncovering an Anglo-Saxon copper alloy brooch pin. During the holiday, members also visited the nearby Binham Priory, Leatheringsett Water Mill and Castle Rising, and enjoyed talks by a local finds liaison officer and environmental archaeologist.

The next event on the busy YAC summer calendar was the English Heritage Festival of History, where YAC volunteers provided free hands-on activities to accompany the massive reconstruction of a mosaic from Lullingstone Roman villa. Children made Roman standards and brooches, and also mixed up authentic Roman ink using a smelly recipe involving soot and vinegar!

YAC aims to provide access to real archaeological sites for members across the uk in partnership with established research projects. In August and September, members from Salford, London, Wolverhampton and Suffolk enjoyed a day of one-to-one archaeological practice. They worked on sites in Dumfries, York, Northumberland and Northamptonshire with experts from Stewartry Archaeological Trust, York Archaeological Trust, the Bamburgh Research Project and the Upper Nene Archaeological Society.

August bank holiday weekend saw YAC members get right up close to the action when they joined Time Team for the Big Royal Dig. Twenty eight members from the Edinburgh branch visited the dig at Holyroodhouse and immediately got put to work washing finds. In London, members from the branch based at the Museum of London were behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace, and children from the Central Southern England branch based in Surrey watched the action at Windsor Castle.

All in all, it was another action-packed archaeological summer for YAC!

Houses and the hearth tax

The latest CBA Research report to be published (no 150) is Houses & the Hearth Tax: the Later Stuart House & Society, edited by Paul Barnwell and Malcolm Airs.

The hearth tax (1662–89) is the only national listing of people between the medieval poll taxes and the 19th century census returns. It was a property tax, assumed to approximate to the householders' wealth, measured by the number of their fireplaces. The data provide valuable insights into national wealth, population and social structure.

This study goes further than any before in linking these general questions to a full investigation of changing and diverse forms of building style and house use, and is the first research to systematically use the hearth tax data to develop a better understanding of vernacular building in the 17th century at a county level – looking at how the buildings of various social classes differed, as well as the regional variation in new building, and differences between town and country. The authors trace developments in fireplace design, introduction of new building materials, correlation between the number of hearths and social status, as well as arrangements for cooking and levels of heating, to provide the most complete picture yet of Stuart housing and society in England. The book (ISBN 1902771656) is available for £17.50 from Central Books (tel 0845 4589910).

Bibliography updates

The CBA's online British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography (www.biab.ac.uk) is about to benefit from a major upgrade. Users will receive a significantly enhanced service when the new system is unveiled in a few months time. In the mean time, extra references to the latest archaeological publications are being added all the time, and recently there was a major upload of 1,800 new references covered in 2006.

Material from 2005 and 2006 is also now available as downloadable PDF files to encourage browsing of the publication information. Through an arrangement with Heritage Marketing & Publications these datasets can be ordered as bound volumes at a very reasonable price. Details are available at www.biab.ac.uk/downloads.asp or from Isabel Holroyd, CBA's chief bibliographer (tel 020 7969 5223).

CBA offices open to the public

The History Matters campaign held the UK's largest heritage sites free access day ever in the summer. As part of this, for the Civic Trust's Heritage Open Days event the CBA opened its offices in York. Staff gave two tours of St Mary's House and talked about the architecture and history of the site. Photo shows CBA historic buildings officer Lynne Walker describing the front of the mid 19th century grade ii listed building. The CBA moved to the five floor building on Bootham in October 2004.

Magazine binders

In response to requests, magazine binders are now available for your issues of British Archaeology. These gold-lettered, red hardback binders hold at least six issues and may be purchased for £9.50 each (inc p&p). Please send a cheque made payable to the Council for British Archaeology to: CBA, St Mary's House, 66 Bootham, York YO30 7BZ; or order by telephone (01904 671417) or email (sales@britarch.ac.uk).

Reader survey

Thank you to those many readers who completed British Archaeology reader survey forms. It aimed to help us to improve our services by letting us know what you think.

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