An Archaeologist in Barcelona

just got back from a short break in Barcelona -

http://www.barcelonaturisme.com

Fab…  apart from the joy of Gaudi and other modernist architecture …  the Museum of Contemporary Art!    there is a cracking ticket to get you into the museums

Barcelona Arqueoticket -

A journey through history

The Multi-ticket offers you free entry to the five museums in Barcelona with archaeological collections.
Are you familiar with the origin of our daily habits? Do you know what the essence of our society is? Arqueoticket will provide you with the answer to these and other questions.

When you visit these 5 museums, you will travel back into the past of our civilisation and of other civilisations, gaining a greater understanding of the present:

* Where can the most exclusive jewellery in Barcelona be found? At the Museu d’Aqueologia de Catalunya you will find surprisingly modern necklaces which were used as ornaments in pre-history. You can also see the very latest in Greek and Roman earrings…

* When did we first begin to tattoo ourselves? Decorating the body with tattoos was a common practice in pre-Hispanic America. This custom was related with religious or magic rituals… You will find it at the Museu Barbier-Mueller d’Art Precolombí de Barcelona.

* Is piercing a modern practice? Gods, men, women and animals had piercings in ancient Egypt. At the Museu Egipci de Barcelona you will discover how modern this ancient civilisation was.

* How long has packaging existed? Some of the amphorae preserved in the Museu d’Història de la Ciutat de Barcelona have inscriptions painted on the base of the neck or the handles. They are distant ancestors of today’s logos, and they provided information about the producer, the type of wine…

* How long has the all-seeing eye existed? Since time immemorial, the eye painted on the prow of a boat is the eye which sees all, warding off any danger that might be encountered. At the Museu Marítim de Barcelona you will discover a rich vein of maritime traditions and customs.

So go there…  enjoy…  and eat, walk, eat, walk, see, visit…  and have fun!

This one was a fave…  the excavations beneath the museum…  and the huge Roman walls, still standing with towers, over 5 stories tall!

the museum:  Museu d’Història de la Ciutat

has an exhibitions which is cutting edge …  looking at archaeology in a modern urban city..

http://www.arqueologiabarcelona.cat/multimedia/index_ca.php

BAJR leaves the IFA - a sad day.

It is with great thought and advice that I prepared the following statement for the IFA council and read an extend version on Wednesday 16th 2008 in London.
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I have always honestly believed in all the ideals and principals of the IFA, even if I have often disagreed with the exact implementation or directions of certain aspects. However, at this point in time, the potential for me to reconcile my own ideals with this has been compromised by some recent and not so recent events, comments and actions.

I began to doubt my effectiveness as a Council member due to a growing sense of background conflict (in certain areas) that whether real or perceived was affecting the work that was required in what is an important post.

I have no desire to undermine the valuable work that is taking place now, and stress this is a personal decision, the full reasons for which I do not intend to make public, and I therefore wish to continue to support the IFA in all aspects of its work where my assistance will be seen as appropriate and an understanding of working towards a common goal are agreed.

I felt that, although I wished to be a part of the new and exciting directions that archaeology in general must take and having received a trust from people who voted me onto the Council to represent them within the IFA ( my greatest regret), I had no other option than to resign from both the IFA Council and (for the present time) the IFA –a decision I have not taken lightly.

I have a great respect for members and colleagues in the IFA, and wish them the best for the challenges that lie ahead. BAJR will continue to unilaterally support (in its’ small way) active initiatives designed to move the profession forward.

I will continue to give my wholehearted support to the Diggers Forum and other initiatives. It is also my intention to continue as an external participant, in the creation of an ethics committee, that should both strengthen the profession and prevent some damaging disciplinary cases. I also wish to work to ensure and encourage a more proactive approach when dealing with matters relating to ongoing archaeology projects, as it has become clear that action after the matter, is very much a ‘closing the stable door after the horse has bolted’ situation, and leads only to conflict, rather than resolution.

This has been a troubling decision to make, but I hope a brave one. BAJR has always been an independent voice, based on the thoughts of the many, from Digger to Director and Curator to Consultant. I do hope you will understand my motives, and apologies again to those who may feel let down.

David

When the Rat is in Bed with an Elephant

A cryptic comment I know!   But as I said today to a group of people..

“When a mouse shares the same bed as an elephant, the mouse never sleeps peacefully…  and I would like some peace thank you”

What are you talking about Mr BAJR I hear you ask??  Well at the moment I am trying to come to terms with a quite large decision I made today…  Once I have worked it all out, I can say more.  But put it this way, I feel like I have just got divorced.  A feleing of both loss and freedom..  all rolled into one…  

ps…   I am not divorced!   And  I look forward to seeing Maggie in a few hours..  to hold me hand and assure me I did the only thing I could do.

<sigh>   My one regret is that I feel like I have let many people down..  <sigh>

 

hey ho!

Cousland days 8 and 9

Well the last couple of days held various excitements!   And of course it all happens at the end!!   Trenches 4 and 5 came down onto the robbed remains of the Residence ..  a much more comfortable place than the tiny castle.  And pottery, glass and other artefacts were recovered..  that strangely seemed to show the structure was still there in the mid 18^th century.   (see below)

 

 

 

    A check of Roy’s 1755 map, does indeed show a structure coming off at right angles from the walled garden!  Now, we also looked at the base of the walled garden, and lo and behold, it is made of sandstone, with limestone starting about ½ way up…  this relates to the demolition of the castle…  using the stone from the castle to build the wall…    then quarrying out the bedrock outcrop it sits on to get more stone…  hence…  end wall of castle is no more…  as poor Ross found out as he descended into a clay filled hole! 

 

 The Geophysics also came up with some interesting anomalies on the last day!   Such is life!    Perhaps we can get back in and investigate?  

 

 

 

  The finds are now being processed…  plans drawn, records digitised, documents searched, etc etc….     and a short report will be made in June…  though now we expect the project to last around 2 years..  culminating in a book.

 

 The final day was in a blizzard!   And backfilling is no fun at the best of times…  made worse by the cruel reality that turf being relaid is much harder when they are frozen blocks of ice!

 There are so many people to thanks for the project…  the People of Cousland, the YACs, the people who helped or offered equipment, the EAFS and the Scottish Detector Club, Louise Yeoman and George Haggerty, many many people…  but a big thanks to a few individuals…  Sheena for everything!   Marshall for allowing us in his field  -  and thanks for the help at the end…  !  Never to be forgotten!   And to Michael and David  Dalrymple for permissions too.    To all…   this has been a superb project, and I am so proud of us all, for starting to uncover the real and fascinating story of Cousland!  

 See you all soon!

   That’s all Folks…   for now anyway.!   Its back in October.

 

Cousland Big Dig : day 7

Working in a COusland going down and down…  working in a Cousland.. 

The tune whistles through my head!  Fortuantely not the Chris Rea tune that somebody has now tried to place there! 

 

Trench 4 does indeed strike lucky (ish)  and finds the robber trench of the rear wall of the House ( a later addition to the castle)  where Mary Queen of Scots is taken after the Battle of Carberry!)  however, it is becoming clear that the entire area is covered in a thick layer of redeposited natural and clay…  and that what was once a rocky out crop has been turned into a quarry for the walls of the walled garden. 

In teh image below you can see the mass of white…  whcih is indeed ( in technical terms) a bleeding great big hole!  Somebody stole our castle!

More interesting though is the material in the dump…  it contains early 18th C pottery and some Kiln furniture…  which suggests it comes from the pottery site we investigated in November..   More signs of a massive industrial scale piece of work!

So that means the geofizz is correct..

The HLF turn up as well…  and we should be proud that they saw this as a model for Our Heritage Grants…  impressed by the commitment…  impressed by the range of skills people learn, from drawing to survey, from photography to research…  and the range of people involved…   it has been shown to be a great success…  and tommorrow is out BIG open day!    Pray for sun! 

 

Cousland Big Dig : day 6

Right…  where are we!

Oh yes…  scraping down and down onto an orangy clayey silt!

Trenches 1 and 3 and now returfed - though why oh why does the turf not fit!  we end up with enough left over to turf another trench!

Trench 2 (the castle trench) continues down, with a plaintive cry of, the castle wall, must be here somewhere!  A mound of rubble fragments seems to come from a later collapse.  Hard Hats on everyone!

Trenches 4 and 5 are opened to cope with the numbers of people now on site..  aged 4 - 82… 

We are starting to get a feeling that the 1700s saw a MASSIVE bit of demolition and even the removal of all teh bedrock that the castle sat on!  …  This is what its all about!

 

 

Cousland Big Dig : day 5

WEll, I get to catch up with the paperwork!  and plans, and finds and photos!  YE archaeology is more than just digging holes.

 The Historian Louise Yeoman came to teh village to share her research, and teach people where to find information.

 Our two big stories are the Ruthvens/Gowries  and the part that Cousland played in Scottish History..  quite a bit it seems!

Mary Queen of Scots is one (as I talked about in a previous post…  and the Gowrie Conspiricy..

Although the Gowrie conspiracy is shrouded in mystery, three solutions have been proposed. Firstly, that Gowrie and his brother lured King James (at that time king only of Scotland) to Gowrie House for the purpose of either murdering or kidnapping him, that James paid a surprise visit to Gowrie House with the intention of murdering the two Ruthvens, or that the events were the outcome of an unpremeditated brawl between the king and the earl, or his brother.  It took place on the 5th August 1600, and signaled a collapse of the family fortune.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ruthven,_3rd_Earl_of_Gowrie

 We also learned about the Rizzio murder, where our man from Cousland appears in a nightdress + full armour.. and the witch hunts, where it seems the unfortunate women were held within the castle walls - before execution.

Dark times…  we hope to at least be able to show where the buildings were, and a date for teh construction of each structure..  we are carrying out detailed building recording as well.

 Looks like a cold day for day 6! 

Cousland Big Dig : day 4

WEll it was time to fill in trenches 1 and 3 in some severe weather…  but at least I have found that my body is stil up to the task of shoveling spoil and returfing! 

We opened up the castle trench, and have uncovered a rubble layer that stops sharply along a line.  This could represent collapse inside the castle prior to the wall being robbed..  At least we know we should find a castle.  See the picture below!

 

 Wednesday is a day of rest!  and the Historian will come in to explain the history behind the place.

Cousland Big Dig day 3

Our Historian Louise Yeoman has been working tirelessly, and on Wednesday will be presenting findings to the group, as well as showing them how to study documentary evidence.  One amazing fact that she has pointed us to is that Mary Queen of Scots mounted her horse near to Carberry Hill East Lothian. in 1547 after the non-battle of Carberry and surrendered to the Confederate Lords (of which Lord Ruthven was a major player - even involved in the murder of Rizzio) where she was taken and held at near by Cousland Castle over night where they decided her fate.  

With this evidence, we now know the castle was still standing, and that the larger structure that we are now examining was standing at this time, and with luck, we should have the lower rooms mapped out for the open day on Saturday..  this will allow us to point to the place where this event in Scottish (and UK) history actually took place..    tell you what!   I love Community Archaeology!

The kids from teh village and all teh others are working hard, and the day was pleasant, made better when the first evidence of the collapsed castle wall started to appear!  

Lets hope that day 4 (april the 1st) does not make a fool of us!

 better than Stonehenge!