Epiacum Archives - Page 8 of 9

The day started with an ominous sign. The Northumberland/Cumbrian hills were wearing clouds as the day started…

Rain was most definitely on the way. Before the volunteers and Archeology students started to break up the wall we had one or two final preparations – marking the features that were obvious so that the removal team could see them at a glance…

as the clouds swirled overhead and the drizzle started…

The walls had been visually inspected and then again with a metal detector – the crosses mark metal readings. The markings relate to defined and specific positions on the wall. Each face has a letter and then divided into 5 meter sections so that finds can be precisely located and reconstructed. Each section of the wall weighs about 16 tons.

As the demolition team gets to work the rain starts in earnest

That penetrating rain that only the North of England can produce.

But the wall falls…

And the finds start..

And then came the last find of the day…

What is believed to be an Amphora neck shard…

We didn’t expect to make much progress today but a large portion of the wall fell and some brilliant finds were made.

I am now drying some of the teams boots (I live close by) over the stove…

whilst the kitchen does its stuff and feeds the workers

An amazing, if a tad damp, first day…

At the end of this day as the clouds (and the rain) head away over the hills a job well done…

In this series:

Overview of the project:

Day 1 – Operation Jericho: The wall starts to fall… new finds Read More »

Jul 29 2018

Want to be part of the team but live too far away? How to be a virtual team member of Epiacum…

Epiacum / By David Wilkinson

Would you love to be part of the Epiacum Heritage team but live too far away?

Roman Ship

Fear not, here’s how you can help Epiacum Heritage and be involved at a very real level no matter where you live. Distance is no object to being part of our team.

Distance is no problem

We are building a virtual team who will be central to the projects and will be on the inside when it come to communications, information and involvement.

Become a virtual member of the Epiacum Volunteers Team

Be a vital member of the Epiacum Volunteers Team (Known as the 2nd Nervians – see here for the history https://epiacumheritage.org/get-involved/volunteering/the-second-nervians/)

Whilst we are building a team of awesome volunteers to be involved in the archaeology at Epiacum, we need virtual help too. We need people who can help us with:

Writing (blogs, articles, promotions, adverts)
Design (graphics, infographics, images etc.)
Finding potential sponsors and partners online
Getting information online for our activities
Fund raising
Communications and newsletters
and so much more

Be a virtual member of the 2nd Nervian! — Be a virtual member of the 2nd Nervian

As a virtual member of the 2nd Nervians you will have insider only access to the discussions, volunteer only information and access to reports, photographs and videos not available to the general public about the archaeology of this site and region.

Don’t wait – sign up today before all the volunteer places are taken

So what are you waiting for? The Roman’s didn’t let distance get in the way of their ambitions and you don’t need to either…

Volunteer today…

Want to be part of the team but live too far away? How to be a virtual team member of Epiacum… Read More »

Stewart Ainsworth enthusiastic landscape archaeologist

Apr 16 2018

Bring The Past Alive: A Weekend Master Class With Time Team’s Stewart Ainsworth

Activities, Epiacum / By David Wilkinson

Imagine spending an entire weekend with Time Team’s

Stewart Ainsworth

Learning How to Decode the Landscape

What do you see?

Look at the photograph above. Our previous students will be tell you that with ease they can see a Roman neighbourhood or settlement known as a Vicus, Roman, iron age and medieval roads and mines and buildings – all in the above photograph.

Stewart Ainsworth enthusiastic landscape archaeologist

Stewart Ainsworth (ex Time Team) enthusing about the Epiacum historic Landscape

By the end of the weekend you, too, will be able to spot and interpret historical and archaeological features that you previously had no idea were there.

Evidence of a Roman Bath House

Evidence of a Roman Bath House – we even know when it was built – without excavating! The clues are in the landscape

Imagine going out and being able to spot hidden archaeological and historical features in the landscape with ease.

Fields, hills and the countryside will take on a completely different meaning for you, as you see historical and archaeological features and aspects others can’t see as you learn to interpret the landscape like an archaeologist

eastern ramparts

You will spend the entire weekend learning the tools, techniques and tricks of expert landscape archaeologists direct from Stewart and another professional archaeologist.

Aerial view of Whitley Castle fort

Not only that, but you will do so in the stunning unspoilt vista of the North Pennines, in an area with more than 8,500 years of history and archaeology to practise on. You will learn to piece together the stories of everything from Bronze Age miners and travellers, Iron Age villagers, Roman legions, through medieval to Victorian farmers to the present day.

Every age and era has left its mark on the landscape, you just need to know what to look for…

You will be expertly guided to unravel its secrets by Time Team’s Stewart Ainsworth in a small class. Lessons that will transform your appreciation of any landscape.

No longer will fields be fields and bumps be bumps, as you learn how to interpret the landscape. Transform walks and drives in the country. Spot archaeological and historical features you never knew were there.

Parade square

Parade square and medieval farming, buildings and evidence of iron age settlement and Mesolithic activity … if you know what you are looking for…

Only 4 places left

ACT NOW

Numbers

1 Place £227.00 GBP2 Places £454.00 GBP3 Places £681.00 GBP

contact usNOW before your place goes to someone else…

Bring The Past Alive: A Weekend Master Class With Time Team’s Stewart Ainsworth Read More »

Apr 7 2018

Epiacum Questions: Why were the Romans called ‘Romans’ and not ‘Italians’?

Epiacum / By David Wilkinson

In a new series of posts we thought that we would answer questions about topics connected to Epiacum and the surrounding area. Whilst we are starting with a question about the Romans the whole site around Epiacum Fort contains a lot more history and archeology than just the period the Romans were in the area. In fact there have been finds of Mesolithic (Middle stone-age circa 8,000 – 4,000 BCE*) worked flint believed to be from around 6,000 BCE on the site. So the whole site has evidence of human habitation for more than the last 8,000 years! More of this in later posts.

Why were the Romans called ‘Romans’ and not ‘Italians’?

Italy

Italy didn’t actually become a unified country until 1861 when a collection of states and regions were brought together as the Kingdom of Italy. The process of unification took some time and was started in 1815.

Whilst the lower peninsula of what is now known as Italy was known is the Peninsula Italia as long ago as the first Romans (people from the City of Rome) as long about as 1,000 BCE the name only referred to the land mass not the people.

The Latins

Peninsula Italia was populated by a number of what are known as Italic Tribes and one of these was known as the Latins from Latium, which is the area around the River Tiber where Rome was situated and where the Latin language gets its name from.

It is believed that the Latins migrated to this area during the late Bronze Age (about 1200 – 900 BCE) from further east. The Latins remained a distinct tribe or collection of families until around 753 BCE when Rome (known then as Roma) was founded and started to develop as a city.

Rome started to become powerful around 600BCE and was formed into a Republic in 509BCE. It was around this time (750’s – 600 BCE) that the Latins who lived in Rome became known as Romans.

As you can see the identity as an Italian (from Italy) was not to happen for another 2,614 years!

Rome like many other countries was originally a small kingdom from 753 BCE until 509 BCE when the Roman monarchy was overthrown and the last king of the Romans, the unpopular Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was exiled during a political revolution.

Why the Romans are called Romans

The point of all of this is that the mind-set or thinking of the day was not around the idea of countries and nations but rather tribal regions and home cities / towns and villages. Essentially the identification of an individual or family was based on their ‘home’ tribe. Even though the Romans controlled huge tracts of land and sea, their identity was based on their ‘home’ – the city of Rome.

* BCE means Before the Common Era which is the same time as BC – Before Christ

Epiacum Questions: Why were the Romans called ‘Romans’ and not ‘Italians’? Read More »

May 20 2017

Diamond Day at our sell-out conference

Activities, Epiacum / By Yvonne Conchie

Over 100 people joined Professor Stewart Ainsworth and the Epiacum team to hear a host of learned talks about the history of the Whitley Castle landscape from prehistory to today.

Jean Lunn started things off with her first hand account of taking part in the 1957 excavations of the granary and ramparts. She presented Epiacum with a 2.4kg piece of galena (lead ore) which was found at the time, and has since traveled to (and returned from) Australia! We are hoping to get Jean’s permission to reproduce her account, and to make it available on this website soon.

Next came the irrepressible Paul Frodsham, revisiting the heat of summer 2015 and the “important” finds from the Altogether Archaeology dig of the Kirkhaugh Cairn. This burial mound is on the opposite side of the valley to Epiacum, and predates it by 2,500 years. He told how the great-great-grandsons of the chap who found the embossed gold hair tress during the 1930s dig, astonishingly found its partner. Both gold adornments are soon to be displayed in the Great North Museum.

Professor Stewart Ainsworth, joined us from the University of Chester to guide us through the archaeological research he has undertaken so far at Epiacum. Covering geophysics, magnetometry, field walking and LIDAR (LIght Detecting And Ranging – essentially a laser aerial photograph), he shed light on what he suspects lies beneath the turf, and what the next steps are to see if he is correct! If you want to take part in these excavations or Stewart’s forthcoming masterclass weekend – join the Friends of Epiacum to be one of the first in line for the opportunities!

During the lunch break, delegates browsed displays showing the watercolour excavation plans of the 1957 excavations, and also a cabinet containing the best finds from more recent molehill surveys: glass and jet beads, pottery and iron, plus the bronze dolphin found at the site of the bath-house.

After lunch, Alastair Robertson moved is on to the medieval landscape, and the summer shielings in the upper reaches of the farmstead. He raised a number of intriguing questions about how people lived on the site, and whether the 16-21 houses there could be the remains of a more permanent village.

Peter Ryder FRS, compared the remaining bastle houses found on the farmstead – and showed how these defensible farm buildings had evolved over the years as the farmers’ needs and situations changed. More information on the Whitlow and Whitley Castle bastles can be found in his paper on Whitlow 3, and on the Northumberland pages of the Gatehouse Gazeteer website.

Finally Pete Jackson, from Nenthead Mines, explained how the mineral mining was the attraction for the settlements here. However it is incredibly difficult to identify ancient mines, as most sites have been revisited by later generations who have continued quarrying and so destroyed any evidence. He demonstrated how educated the miners were by showing us graffiti of a “dromedary” dated 1794 – marked on the wall of one of the mine tunnels.

After a short Q&A session, the event was rounded off by Elaine Edgar, Director of Epiacum Heritage and on whose farm Epiacum lies, whetting the audience’s appetites for the summer season of events, including field excavations and a landscape masterclass with Prof Ainsworth. She also announced our new Heritage Lottery Fund success – the Epiacum POP (Planning Our Partnerships) project.

Diamond Day at our sell-out conference Read More »