#medieval pottery

[place--project-blog]

Day Eight.

Wednesday started with a site tour given by Derek, in which he gave us some interesting theories about the features in each section of the trench. Something that is very useful for the supervisors and other diggers that don’t get to see a day by day of what’s going on in the rest of trench. Though those theories have now changed and developed, they were very interesting! Also, Dan gave us a great finds talk where he showed a spout for a water jug which dated from the medieval period.

The rest of the day was spent digging through the features, most of the second and third years haven’t worked with positive archaeology before (features like walls that have to be dug down), this site poses some challenges to them, but they all are doing amazingly! The site continues to grow, and change into something that is completely different, theories are discarded and developed every day; it is so exciting!

Photos: an interesting piece of pottery, area a (taken by Bianka), and Joe, a second year working hard shifting spoil. 

[place--project-blog]

Day Seven.

A slightly longer post, thank you very much to Bianka (a 1st year) for your wonderful work! 

After a week on trench walls are starting to be defined in Section B, the diggers there are starting to pinpoint the natural points of soil under the clay. In the same section, all of the clay patches could have been a  working surface for the area, due to the amount of trampling, the boundaries of this feature might have degraded over time. Sasha is drawing a survey of the site, something that she seems to really enjoy, and is also very good at!

Over in Callum’s section (area C), the building has been split into sections that are 3m by 2m to get an idea about what happened to the structure. Looking at the stratigraphy (different layers of the soil), it seems to be that each section has different features. By the west wall, there was a vitrified clay pile found, Callum explains that this might be a dumping ground for maybe salt working debris known as briquetage - this was all excavated by two first years and produced three whole buckets of vitrified clay. All groups in this section are continuing to remove the fill from the structure to hopefully reach the natural ground. Though a lot of the first years are worried about hitting the natural ground by accident! Another exciting development is the potential window which was found by Sophia and Hannah, in what looks like a fallen wall.

Over on the far side of the trench in area A they have found a clay wall with a possible doorway, today they are hoeing back and excavating. The current thinking about the feature that is starting to emerge in this area was a wooden structure that then collapsed, being that post holes were found. There has also been a ditch that has been found which is long but shallow, one section of it has already been dug and recorded. This section is very challenging, because of the sand, it makes seeing the difference in soil texture difficult.

Photos (taken by Bianka): a lovely piece of medieval pottery, a plan drawing, and the same piece of pot placed as it might have been on the pot itself. 

[archaeologicalnews]

Interns Find Medieval Pottery at Richard III Dig

A week into the new excavation at Richard III's gravesite, archaeology interns have uncovered some medieval artifacts, the dig team says.

Last year, archaeologists found the battle-bruised skeleton of the British monarch under a parking lot in Leicester, England, among the buried ruins of the lost Grey Friars church. An expanded four-week dig kicked off at the site on July 1 so that the team could further investigate the church, with a special focus on the choir area, where Richard's body was discovered.

The University of Leicester team has recruited student interns for the project. So far, they have unearthed medieval pottery fragments while removing ground layers at the site. Read more.

[chasing-yesterdays]

Medieval chimney pot from 14th-century Oxford, England.

Source

[nathanflis-art]

MY WEBSITE: Objects

[larsdatter]

Ceramics from medieval Persia

A Kind of Alchemy: Medieval Persian Ceramics is scheduled for display at the Frick Art & Historical Center in Pittsburgh through June 15, 2013.

This exhibition provides a beautiful and fascinating look at the diversity of ceramics made in ancient Persia (what is now present-day Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan). Produced for both the luxury and middle-class markets, these vessels, bowls, pitchers, and bottles reflect numerous cultural and artistic influences and an aesthetic sensibility that seems startling modern. From 10th-century splashware, buffware, and slip-painted ware to lusterware and 14th-century fritware, the objects illustrate the influence of Chinese porcelains, as well as typical Islamic abstraction, calligraphy, and imagery inspired by forms in nature. The works exemplify the sophistication of an urban culture that prospered from the Silk Road trade between the far and near east, and beyond to Europe. The Frick has a history of staging beautiful exhibitions of artistically important ethnographic material, and this show will be a visual delight. It also provides an opportunity to connect the influence of Islamic and Moorish design to interior decoration and decorative arts in the collections at Clayton and The Frick Art Museum.