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currentcurrent archaeologycurrent CONTENTS issue 271 (Vol XXIII, No.7) | October 2012 I s s u e 2 7 1 | O c t o b e r 2 0 1 2 current current THE UK’S BEST SELLING ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE October 2012 Issue 271 | £4.25 October 2012 Issue 271 | £4.25 www.archaeology.co.ukwww.archaeology.co.uk M i c k A s t o n | C o m b e D o w n | V e s p a s i a n’ s C a m p | Wi n c h e s t e r EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW MICK ASTONMICK ASTON MICK ASTON From his first dig to Time Team and beyond Issue 271 UP FRONT Letters Your comments, complaints, and compliments 4 4 News 6 6 Harnessing expertise; The tines they are a-changing; Cherrymount crannog: crisis averted; Spicing up Silchester; Altaring perceptions of Maryport; Vindolanda’s generation game; Named and shamed: Kent’s unusual suspects Cherrymount crannog: crisis averted; Spicing up Silchester; Altaring FEATURES MICK ASTON 12 An archaeological journey CA talks teaching, test pits, and Time Team with a household name of the heritage world. HOLLOWED GROUND The archaeology of Bath’s stone mines Going underground: navigating the labyrinthine quarries that built Bath. 20 VESPASIAN’S CAMP 28 Cradle of Stonehenge? Does the discovery of thousands of Mesolithic flint tools on Salisbury Plain provide the key to the later location of Stonehenge? UNCOVERING WINCHESTER 34 A city in the making Oram’s Arbour, Alfred the Great, and air raid shelters: exploring the 2,600-year evolution of England’s first capital. 28 20 34 c u r r e nt a r c h a e ol o g y Cradle of Stonehenge Excavating Salisbury Plain’s Mesolithic missing link 001_CA271-Cover Final.indd 1 Bath’s Georgian labyrinth Saving the secrets of a stone mine 28/08/2012 10:48 ON THE COVER Mick Aston in 1975. REGULARS 46 Context Exploring Maeshowe in Orkney 42 Reviews 44 Britain Begins;Discovering Abergavenny; Castles and Fortifications of Wales; Hadrian’s Wall and the End of Empire Sherds Chris Catling’s irreverent take on heritage issues 46 Last word 48 Andrew Selkirk asks whether the days of excavation without a grant are behind us, and casts an eye over official guidance Odd Socs The International Society for the Study of Pilgrimage Art 50 2 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk October 2012 |
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www.archaeology.co.uk www.facebook.com/currentarchaeologymag twitter.com/currentarchaeo visit us online at www.archaeology.co.uk WELCOME Mick Aston is one of our most highly respected and celebrated archaeologists. Over the past six months he has left TimeTeam and received a lifetime achievement award at the British Archaeology Awards. Now he shares the highs and lows of his archaeological journey. From Mick’s earliest site visits (while bunking off school) to his current project (exploring the back gardens of Winscombe), via the TimeTeam work that made him a household name, this is his story, in his words. work that made him a household name, this is his story, in his words. For almost 300 years an unsung archaeological gem lay just south of central Bath. Here a warren of mine workings had been cut through the living rock to win the stone that built the Georgian spa town. This unique monument was an archaeological timecapsule. But it was also deteriorating. Following dire predictions that within a decade the houses above would collapse, a team was sent to learn what they could before the mine was sealed forever. We tell the story of the largest underground archaeological recording project ever attempted in the UK. Vespasian’s Camp lies just over a mile from Stonehenge. Excavations here are revealing the first major concentration of Mesolithic material from Salisbury Plain. With tools hinting that groups were travelling long distances to assemble here, was this Mesolithic ‘missing link’ the cradle of Stonehenge? We end with England’s first capital: Winchester. Recent excavations have allowed the 2,600-year biography of a plot in the city’s urban core to be written. From Iron Age colonists to Second World War shelters, this dig has revealed how a city’s fortunes waxed and waned. Our contributors this month AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNEY PROF. MICK ASTON Mick has dedicated his life to public archaeology, working as an extramural tutor for Oxford and Bristol universities, as well as informing and entertaining an audience of millions on Time Team. UNCOVERING WINCHESTER BEN FORD Ben graduated from Reading University in 1990 with a BA (Hons) in Archaeology. He has worked in field archaeology for 27 years, and joined Oxford Archaeology in 1996, where he is now a Senior Project Manager. VESPASIAN’S CAMP DAVID JACQUES David is an Associate Lecturer for the Open University and won an OU National Teaching Award in 2010 for his work at Vespasian’s Camp and the way it involved his students and the local community of Amesbury. | Issue 271 archaeologycurrent Editorial Editor: Dr Matthew Symonds matt@archaeology.co.uk Tel: 020 8819 5580 Contributing editor: Christopher Catling chris@archaeology.co.uk Art editor: Mark Edwards mark@currentpublishing.com Designer: Justine Middleton Editorial assistant Carly Hilts carly@currentpublishing.com Sub editor: Simon Coppock Editor-in-chief: Andrew Selkirk 9 Nassington Road, London NW3 2TX andrew@archeology.co.uk Tel: 020 8819 5584 Managing director: Robert Selkirk Commercial Advertising sales: Mike Traylen mike@currentpublishing.com Tel: 020 8819 5360 Production manager: Maria Earle maria@currentpublishing.com Marketing manager: Emma Watts-Plumpkin emma@currentpublishing.com Tel: 020 8819 5575 Commercial director: Libby Selkirk Current Publishing Lamb House, Church Street, London W4 2PD Tel: 020 8819 5580 (office hours) Fax: 020 8819 5589 Web: www.archaeology.co.uk Subscriptions Current Archaeology is published monthly for a subscription of £44 for 12 issues. Foreign subscriptions £54. Subscriptions should be sent to: Current Publishing, Lamb House, Church Street, London W4 2PD Tel: (office hours) 020 8819 5580 Fax: 020 8819 5589 Subscription queries to: subs@archaeology.co.uk or online at: www.archaeology.co.uk Back issues: £5 each / £6 non-UK Binders: (hold 12 copies) £15 / £20 Slip Cases: (hold 12 copies) £15 / £20 Printed in the UK by William Gibbons Unauthorised reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without written permission. The publisher, editor and authors accept no responsibility in respect of any products, goods or services which may be advertised or referred to in this issue. Every effort has been made to secure permission for copyright material. In the event of any material being used inadvertently or where it has proved impossible to trace the copyright owner, acknowledgement will be made in a future issue. 230812170 www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology 3

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www.archaeology.co.uk www.facebook.com/currentarchaeologymag twitter.com/currentarchaeo visit us online at www.archaeology.co.uk

WELCOME

Mick Aston is one of our most highly respected and celebrated archaeologists. Over the past six months he has left TimeTeam and received a lifetime achievement award at the British Archaeology Awards. Now he shares the highs and lows of his archaeological journey. From Mick’s earliest site visits (while bunking off school) to his current project (exploring the back gardens of Winscombe), via the TimeTeam work that made him a household name, this is his story, in his words.

work that made him a household name, this is his story, in his words.

For almost 300 years an unsung archaeological gem lay just south of central Bath. Here a warren of mine workings had been cut through the living rock to win the stone that built the Georgian spa town. This unique monument was an archaeological timecapsule. But it was also deteriorating. Following dire predictions that within a decade the houses above would collapse, a team was sent to learn what they could before the mine was sealed forever. We tell the story of the largest underground archaeological recording project ever attempted in the UK.

Vespasian’s Camp lies just over a mile from Stonehenge. Excavations here are revealing the first major concentration of Mesolithic material from Salisbury Plain. With tools hinting that groups were travelling long distances to assemble here, was this Mesolithic ‘missing link’ the cradle of Stonehenge? We end with England’s first capital: Winchester. Recent excavations have allowed the 2,600-year biography of a plot in the city’s urban core to be written. From Iron Age colonists to Second World War shelters, this dig has revealed how a city’s fortunes waxed and waned.

Our contributors this month

AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNEY PROF. MICK ASTON Mick has dedicated his life to public archaeology, working as an extramural tutor for Oxford and Bristol universities, as well as informing and entertaining an audience of millions on Time Team.

UNCOVERING WINCHESTER BEN FORD Ben graduated from Reading University in 1990 with a BA (Hons) in Archaeology. He has worked in field archaeology for 27 years, and joined Oxford Archaeology in 1996, where he is now a Senior Project Manager.

VESPASIAN’S CAMP DAVID JACQUES David is an Associate Lecturer for the Open University and won an OU National Teaching Award in 2010 for his work at Vespasian’s Camp and the way it involved his students and the local community of Amesbury.

| Issue 271

archaeologycurrent

Editorial Editor: Dr Matthew Symonds matt@archaeology.co.uk Tel: 020 8819 5580 Contributing editor: Christopher Catling chris@archaeology.co.uk Art editor: Mark Edwards mark@currentpublishing.com Designer: Justine Middleton Editorial assistant Carly Hilts carly@currentpublishing.com Sub editor: Simon Coppock Editor-in-chief: Andrew Selkirk 9 Nassington Road, London NW3 2TX andrew@archeology.co.uk Tel: 020 8819 5584 Managing director: Robert Selkirk

Commercial Advertising sales: Mike Traylen mike@currentpublishing.com Tel: 020 8819 5360 Production manager: Maria Earle maria@currentpublishing.com Marketing manager: Emma Watts-Plumpkin emma@currentpublishing.com Tel: 020 8819 5575 Commercial director: Libby Selkirk

Current Publishing Lamb House, Church Street, London W4 2PD Tel: 020 8819 5580 (office hours) Fax: 020 8819 5589 Web: www.archaeology.co.uk

Subscriptions Current Archaeology is published monthly for a subscription of £44 for 12 issues. Foreign subscriptions £54. Subscriptions should be sent to: Current Publishing, Lamb House, Church Street, London W4 2PD Tel: (office hours) 020 8819 5580 Fax: 020 8819 5589 Subscription queries to: subs@archaeology.co.uk or online at: www.archaeology.co.uk Back issues: £5 each / £6 non-UK Binders: (hold 12 copies) £15 / £20 Slip Cases: (hold 12 copies) £15 / £20

Printed in the UK by William Gibbons

Unauthorised reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without written permission. The publisher, editor and authors accept no responsibility in respect of any products, goods or services which may be advertised or referred to in this issue. Every effort has been made to secure permission for copyright material. In the event of any material being used inadvertently or where it has proved impossible to trace the copyright owner, acknowledgement will be made in a future issue. 230812170

www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology

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