From prehistoric arrowheads, to a very important early medieval drain, we’ve made some truly groundbreaking archaeological discoveries this year…
This year, DigVentures has busy been helping nearly 14,000 people from communities all over the world to dig deeper into the incredible heritage of the UK! From the Cotswolds to North Ayrshire, we’ve seen prehistoric promontory forts, early medieval monasteries, Tudor castles and more, but we’ve managed to narrow down our BEST finds of 2022 into this handy list, just for you.
1. A two-sided grave marker from early medieval Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne (Northumberland) This September, we returned to Lindisfarne for our 7th year of digging on this small tidal island. While today Lindisfarne is a remote island with a small population, in the early medieval it was the religious powerhouse of the Kingdom of Northumbria. Over the past seven years, it’s been our mission to track down archaeological evidence of the island’s original monastery, established in AD635. Over the years, we’ve encountered evidence of the people who lived on the island around the time of the famed Viking raids. Including, inscribed grave markers called namestones. This year, Julie found a rare double-sided namestone, one of only two ever found on the island!
2. A tiny Roman surprise
Lindisfarne (Northumberland) They say all roads lead to Rome, but who knew that applied to archaeology too? Towards the end of our dig at Lindisfarne this year, Alex and Mary uncovered something very unexpected while investigating what we believed to be an early medieval wall in our main trench. This tiny piece of imported Roman Samian ware is challenging our understanding of Lindisfarne’s historical trade networks, and just goes to show that even the smallest artefacts can have the biggest impact.
3. Possibly the cutest piece of Samian ware ever?
Driffield (East Yorkshire) Continuing with the Samian theme, this might just be our most favourite bit of Roman pottery ever. This August we headed out to East Yorkshire to investigate some of the earliest Roman settlement north of the humber. While there, Liz uncovered this stunning piece of decorated Samian, complete with an adorable image of a running dog. Samian ware (also known as Terra Sigillata), was fancy Roman tableware. Personally, if we rocked up to a dinner party complete with canine-themed tableware, we’d totally be here for it.
4. The remains of ancient houses in a Welsh promontory fort
Caerfai (Pembrokeshire) This year we returned to Caerfai Promontory Fort near St Davids in Pembrokeshire for a second season of digging. With impressive views and even more impressive ramparts, this site is basically a dream for anyone with a penchant for the prehistoric. This year, we dug deeper into the story of this site (haha), and what we uncovered left us grinning from ear to ear. What do you get when you mix a round wall, a hearth and a scattering of burnt bone and pottery? A roundhouse!
5. A bit of early medieval plumbing
Lindisfarne (Northumberland) Archaeologists quite often get very excited about strange things, like very old drains, for instance. This drain in particular really made our day. This stone-lined gully might well be our very first definitive piece of structural evidence for Lindisfarne’s iconic early medieval monastery. The very same one that was attacked by the Vikings. How do we know this? Well, this drain has been cut into by an 11th century lime-kiln, so we know for sure that it pre-dates this time period. But, is it really part of the monastery? One thing’s for certain, that drain is first on our ‘to dig’ list for our 2023 season…
6. An underground peek at a lost Tudor garden in the grounds of Sudeley Castle
Sudeley Castle (Gloucestershire) Sudeley Castle is a beautiful site with a rich history, but what many people don’t realise is that the lovely Tudor gardens were way larger than they might appear today. Hidden under a field beyond the ha-ha lies the remains of an expansive Tudor garden that played host to some of history’s most famous monarchs. Henry VIII, Richard III, Charles I – you name them, they’ve probably paid a visit. This year, alongside excavations, we had a look underground using geophysics. The results seem to show a lovely collection of possible paths and flowerbeds that make up that lost Tudor garden. We can’t wait to head back next year and take another look!
7. Someone’s lost shoe
Soulton Hall (Shropshire) Our thoughts go out to the poor soul who lost their shoe in the moat at Soulton Hall hundreds of years ago. Their loss, however, is our gain! Aneurin uncovered the leather sole of the medieval shoe during our excavation this August, perfectly preserved due to the anaerobic conditions of the moat. You can even see where it was stitched to the upper part of the shoe!
8. An ancient arrowhead in the Yorkshire Moors
Moorsholm (Yorkshire) This year we trekked into the North York Moors to investigate a prehistoric village hidden amongst the heather. Despite the frost and the snow, the team kept on digging. Abi found this beautiful little Bronze Age arrow head, which is probably around 3500 years old. It’s a beautiful example of craftsmanship, being nearly translucent, and is solid evidence that people were living and hunting in and around the site.
9. An Iron Age metalworking crucible
Caerfai (Pembrokeshire) Jo uncovered this Iron Age crucible in the bottom of a hearth on our promontory fort dig! When you find a crucible, you can be sure you have some sort of industrial activity. They’re used to hold metals so they can be melted at very high temperatures. Evidence for metalworking is a classic feature on an archaeologist’s “things I really, really want to find” list, so naturally we were super excited when we saw this one!
10. A finds room surprise
Lindisfarne (Northumberland) Archaeology isn’t just reserved for the trenches, sometimes some of our best discoveries happen in the finds room! Like this incredible fishbone necklace found clustered around the neck of a skeleton from the cemetery area of the site. We think these tiny salmon bones might have even made up a set of prayer beads, which could make them Britain’s earliest known example! Gold star to eagle-eyed Venturer Lesley, who spotted this in the finds room.
So there we have it! It’s always hard to narrow down an amazing year of archaeology into just ten finds, but we’ve managed to curb our excitement for now. Thank you so much to our incredible community. Whether you joined us online or in-person, none of this would be possible without all of your support.
We can’t wait to head back out into the field this summer and see what other amazing artefacts, features and surveys we come away with. Fancy joining us? Take a look at our 2023 Dig Calendar today and see what archaeology you can help uncover!
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Written by Georgina Cole
Ginny is a Community Archaeologist with DigVentures and Durham University graduate. She has a passion for speaking to the public and she especially loves gender archaeology and forensics. In keeping with archaeological tradition, when she isn’t in the trenches you can often find her grabbing a pint at the local pub!
Comments (1)
How fascinating and inspiring to see all the artefacts which have been discovered this year. I would love to find a dig nearby which i could join.