First Steps in Archaeology

Two weeks ago, we (Up on the Downs) hosted an introduction course in Archaeology to a handful of members of the public. Interestingly, we found there was quite the demand in this course! The day was led by Andrew Richardson, the outreach and archives manager at Canterbury Archaeology Trust and was held at the amazing Rippledown House in Deal. Before I get to the training, let me just say how great this venue is! They run summer programmes, engaging kids in a number of outdoor, eco-friendly activities. During our training there was a group outside learning archery! The inside of the building was so inspiring and welcoming and they also have a beautiful garden outside, an area where the students can clearly make their mark.

The training explained archaeology as being about the human past (as in, nothing to do with dinosaurs! (that's paleontology)) which is relevant to today as this is how we are able to trace the past. We touched a little bit on the white horse which represents Kent and how there is archaeological evidence from the early Anglo-Saxon era (5th & 6th century) of horses, horse armies and horse archers. As Andrew started discussing chronology (how it's done), he reminded us just how new humans are in the grand scheme of the creation of the universe (image below). This is something that's so easy to forget and really makes you appreciate the grandeur of life, and also helps to understand why archaeologists love what they do! After touching on methods of dating, excavation and recording and stratigraphy, we then headed over to the Anglo-Saxon, active excavation site in Lyminge. Have a peek at the pictures below from the site - I found the entire process absolutely fascinating and being at the site definitely helped put all of our new archaeology knowledge into context!

They were baking fresh cookies for the students & they smelled incredible!

I completely adore just how eco-friendly Rippledown is!!

Our training group

This is what they believe the excavation site in Lyminge looked like in the 7th-century