A Murder of Crows

Today I made a flying visit to English Heritage's office in York to see the Regional Science Advisor and my good friend, Dr. Andy Hammon.  Before becoming a faceless bureaucrat Andy was once an archaeo-zoologist, so I hoped he'd be able to identify the bird type in the animal grave.

As a reminder, here is the bone assemblage recovered from pit fill (105).  Only about half of the small pit was within the test-pit, so we recovered only a partial assemblage.

It was fortuitous that on the day that I visited Andy, his colleague Dr. Eva Fairnell was in the process of cataloguing a collection of animal and bird skeletons and we had a lot of reference skeletons to hand.  My prediction that it was a pit full of pigeons was quickly demolished when Andy identified the bones as belonging to Corvids, with a single rogue amphibian bone in the mix.  The family Corvidae includes, rooks, crows, jackdaws, magpies and jays. The reference collection helped us narrow the bones down further to rooks/crows or jackdaws. Also, the bones were all from individuals that were not quite fully grown ("sub-adult").  Here is Andy's catalogue of the bones.

Juvenile jackdaw/rook/crow

MNI = 4

4 x left carpometacarpus

1 x right carpometacarpus

4 x left tarsometatarsus

2 x right tarsometatarsus

1 x right ulna

1 x left ulna

1 x pelvis

Assorted cranial and mandible fragments

1 x amphibian femur

Interestingly, one of my suspicions about the group was confirmed: there was more than one bird in the pit.  MNI = 4 refers to the "Minimum Number of Individuals" present in the assemblage.  In this case there were 4 left carpometacarpus or wing bones, meaning that there were at least four birds in the pit.

So, how to interpret four crows in a pit?  Three possible interpretations spring to mind: 1) A pet burial 2) Food disposal 2) Vermin disposal

1) Pet burial - These features are common in the back gardens of houses from the 19th to 21st Centuries.  I suspect that most readers will have planted at least one beloved pet in their back garden, myself included (sadly, these are quite often disturbed by archaeologists).  Crows, rooks, and especially jackdaws were often kept as pets, however I find it difficult to believe that four such pets would die and be buried at the same time.  Also, the stratigraphic sequence suggests that this pit probably pre-dated the construction of the row of townhouses along Acomb Road, so it was not dug in a backgarden at all.  More likely, in the mid 19th Century, this was a bit of agricultural land or open ground outside the core of Holgate village. 

2) Food disposal - The American euphemism for humiliation notwithstanding, crows were sometimes eaten even into the 20th century, and apparently remain a delicacy in Lithuania to this day.  This reminds me of the nursery rhyme containing the line "Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie".  Sometimes clear evidence for butchery can be found on animal bones, or the assemblage can consist of the choicest cuts of meat.  Neither is true of this assemblage.  In fact, the bones present in the pit were predominantly the upper parts of the skeleton, and we may presume that the un-excavated half of the pit contained the lower portions.  The suggestion is that the birds were buried whole and therefore not the remains of a meal.

3) Vermin disposal - Corvids can be opportunistic predators and scavengers and may well have been considered vermin by the agricultural/horticultural workers in the vicinity, and disposed of when the opportunity arose.  The fact that the crows were all sub-adult and disposed of together possibly supports this.  

I think on balance, that a brood of young crows was killed as vermin and disposed of in the pit at a time when the land was in agricultural use.  Not long afterwards, in the late 19th Century, the village of Holgate expanded across the site and I can only presume that this probably commonplace rural practice was replaced by a more urban sensitivity that most of us would be familiar with today.  

I should point out that I really like crows.

Stratigraphy!

Here I present the stratigraphic (Harris) matrix for the test-pit, the bane of many an archaeologist's life, but too useful a tool to ignore.  I will attempt to explain to the lay person as concisely as possible, but I fear I may not be up to the job really.  I won't hold it against you if you abandon this blog post now.

Anyway, here goes... a matrix is a graphical representation of the sequence of the deposits that we found in the archaeological test-pit.  Each number represents a single context or event.  Most 'events' are the deposition of layers of soil, however 'events' such as the digging of the animal grave and the foundation slot are also given context numbers, to distinguish them from the filling-in 'events' of those features.  Deposits (or events/contexts) lower down on the matrix are earlier than deposits higher up.  Deposits shown on the same level probably occurred at roughly the same time , but may not have, and the sequence of deposits doesn't give any clues about which is earlier or later.

This stratigraphic matrix is a relatively simple one, but the same system is used for much larger and complex archaeological sites.  Once this has been constructed the information about the dates of the finds from each deposit/context is added.  With these two sources of information we can construct a general sequence of events for the site.  

It is also a good way to test some ideas and interpretations about the deposits.  For example, while the animal grave was being dug I thought that it might date from the 18th Century or earlier since it pre-dated the 19th Century garden and looked like it might relate to the farm in the vicinity.  No datable finds came from the grave to indicate when it was dug, however my 18th Century interpretation must be wrong, because we can see two layers pre-dating the grave both contained 19th Century pottery types.  Put simply, unless we are to believe in time-machines, something can't be put in the ground BEFORE it is invented.

Some events in this matrix probably took place very quickly, for example the animal grave 106/105 was probably dug and filled in within a very short space of time.  Other events, on the other hand, took place over a long time: deposit 109 probably formed over millenia by a continuous process of soil eroding down the hillside and intermittently being mixed up by ploughing.  This deposit contained only a single small fragment of Roman tile, which doesn't help much when trying to determine how long the deposit took to be laid down.

The next stage of the analytical process involves constructing an interpretive narrative that incorporates all the strands of information that we have discovered.  In other words we write a nice story...

109- colluvium

Possible Roman tile.

Welcome home...

Catriona has kindly gifted us one of her jars. Here it will live for another 150 years!

105 -animal grave fill

100- unstratified finds

103- fill of structural slot

101 - The Plastic Age

Context 101 The Plastic Age - This was the topsoil and turf layer in the garden, and therefore the most recently laid down deposit. Here are some of the finds from the layer:

This is an assortment of late 19th Century and 20th Century pottery, flowerpot fragments, window and bottle glass, roof slate, and a clay pipe fragment. Also in the layer was this more modern assemblage of finds:

Here we see some much more modern finds. I would suggest that overall this is a typical late 20th Century garden soil finds assemblage; it contains flowerpot fragments, clothes peg and hanger fragments, a children's toy (dated 2010), chocolate bar wrappers (dated 1989), and evidence of a sneaky back-garden smoke break in the form of cigarette cellophane wrappers! The date of any deposit is generally indicated by the find with the latest date, in this case the toy car dated 2010. In this case however the car was probably lost and trampled into the topsoil. This demostrates how a deposit can be constantly "re-worked", and shows that the garden topsoil has probably been acquiring finds from the late 19th Century to the present day. Earthworms have an important role in the movement of such objects around in the soil; Charles Darwin wrote a paper on the subject in the 19th Century.

One feature of late 20th and 21st Century finds assemblages that will make it extremely easy to date by future archaeologists will be the huge amount of plastic rubbish.  I suspect that late 21st Century assemblages will not contain any where near as much plastic as it becomes much more costly to produce.

Cataloging.....the happy detective.

Magnifying glass....check, copious amounts of text books and laptop open...check, piles and piles of broken bits of unidentifiable stuff...check!

Now making sense if it. I am finding this part really fun, I much prefer this to being cold, wet and digging huge holes.

Just a fraction of the haul:

102

Samian ware is a fine earthenware pottery, reddish-brown or black in colour, found in large quantities on Roman sites.

[named after the island of Samos, source of a reddish-coloured earth resembling terra sigillata, similar to the earth from which the pottery was made]

107

Find 108

Flow blue pottery:

Flowing Blue was first made in Staffordshire England about 1825. While cobalt blue underglaze could withstand the heat of the kilns, many glazes containing lead oxide provided characteristic flow blue wares its characteristic depth of colour and brilliance.

Colours Flowing

The stone china base of Flowing, Flow, or Flown Blue differed from the soft-based pottery base lighter-toned china. The flowing colour was produced by the reaction of volatile chlorides upon ceramic colours. The colours and designs are applied to the pottery surface are exposed to a chlorinated atmosphere in the kiln and the vapors cause the colour to spread and blur--thus flow blue.

The Bristol-style glazed jar fragment:

The Bristol-style glazed bottles were developed by the Powell family in Bristol in 1835. The texture of the ware was coarse to moderately coarse. The ware was characterized by a buff-coloured fabric and a clear, glossy glaze. The upper part of the vessel was dipped in an iron oxide glaze, producing a caramel colour on the upper part of the vessel. The most common vessel forms were beverage bottles and preserve/condiment jars.

The hall (or haul) of treasure.

Finds dating from the Roman period to the 21st Century.

Finds processing commences.....

We're separating out the brick and tile from all the other finds. The brick and tile (CBM) was then counted and weighed before discarding. The other finds will be washed and an attempt at identification will occur!

Final thoughts or ode to an archaeologist..

Duncan said yesterday that I was essentially an archaeologist in training. I have given this much thought over the past 12 hours. I thought on it twice in the night when I awoke in pain, rubbing ibuprofen into my sore muscles.

So, what has my training taught me? I'd like to discuss tools. Being my father's daughter in this respect, I feel it is necessary to begin here.
The spade.
I can see how some people may name their spade or be overly possessive. There are many 'spade' considerations, I can dig with ease, yet can I throw soil forward with it? It's light enough to wield above my head in a 1.5m pit, yet is it short enough to turn round and throw the soil out over into the sky above. So many reasons to love one's spade! I became attached to one of Duncan's spades! I'll call him Leonard.

Trowel.
Love it, but it needs to be pointed enough to flick a 'find' out, not too sharp as to scratch it (or yourself as my bleeding fingers will tell you) and flat enough on one side to scrape a nice flat area. Love a good trowel me!

The bad of archaeology..
Being a novice, I clearly fell into the trap of 'student archaeology behaviour'. This caused much amusement to Fran, who snorted away at my frowned upon 'poor site' etiquette. Never have I seen Duncan's brow furrow as much as when I stuck a bit of soggy green board down and sat in the middle of the pit. Bad archeology behavior. Bad! Also it is very naughty to dig down to the next level. But if something juicy is sticking out of the ground, practically winking at me, how do you control yourself. How?!! I know Duncan, you just do.

Bad behavior aside, I enjoyed my training. Not expecting a good trainee award or a star but hope I was passable in places. But anyone who knows me (I'm sorry for you) knows the tools are the thing. Give me a fab spade, a big fat headed matic and a perfect trowel and I'm away!

So, my hat goes off to you archeologists. You dig like demons, producing tonnes (literally) of soil, you crouch down on your haunches (which burns so badly!) for hours. You draw natty detailed sketches, record like CSI and to top it off, with your bleeding, calloused, chillblained fingers, have to fill the damn thing back in again!

So hats off to you. This is where my training ends.

Other moments from the day....

Thanks to all the parents and children. Felicity, Natasha, Fran(tastic), Amelia and Joanne for being fabulous mums! Beba, Jet and Min for looking stylish whilst clambering through mud. Sloane for his love of tools...and mud, kit and Rudi for enthusiasm, lleweylln for his muscles, Ed for his lovely smile, Nathaniel for being a lovely grey bear, Charlie for his on site assessments and health and safety updates, and finally ....AJ and Noah for attempting archaoelogy as Batman and Robin. ;)

After-dark backfilling - Less fun than it looks!

After a full day where we hit the natural sand at a depth of about 1.5m, and recording the section in the last light of the day, we had to backfill the trench.  My real job intrudes tomorrow, and I don't have the luxury of a leisurely backfill.  Heigh-ho.  I think we might have broken Maggie.

Less fun than it looks!

Anyone recognise this?

Approx 6cm in length, clear glass with 'HGB 2' on the base. It has a red, thick, paste-like lining. It would have had a screw cap at some point. Could it be a drug bottle? Any thoughts welcome.

Mosaic

The finished mosaic. Thanks for all of your effort. This contains pre-19th century soil, authentic!

Roughly 1.4m down, feels like we've possibly hit a natural. Give it to 2m? Time's running out!

Cut our losses??

Pre 19th century approx 1m down. Still hitting hill wash.....

Features so far....

Pet grave (bird), slot foundation for a wooden shed and a plant pit.

0.6 of a metre down, still in the 19th century. Keep on going!

Something interesting??

Another find

First bit of possible Roman pottery Samian ware.

First finds...

A fragment of Bridgewood pottery.

Arty kids....

Noah and Jet are starting their bowls. The mosaic is underway....beautiful Beba!

And we're off.....

Duncan explaining what his young archaeologists need to do.

A friend and neighbour has kindly shared what she and her husband unearthed six doors down.

When digging a flat area in the garden, they came across 46 of the bottles photographed below. Their detective skills and research has show they were possibly water/gin bottles of German origin made from 1700s to the beginning of the 20th century.

Why 46 gin bottles in their garden?? Although a party pad it may have been (for it remains that way), the more likely story they think, is that the area was used for livestock and the bottles created a rise in ground temperature.

I wonder if anything similar lurks in our pit?

Thank you Catriona for sharing your finds.

De-turfing

On a sunny and warm Sunday afternoon I set to work preparing the garden for tomorrow's fun.  In consultation with the owners of the garden we agreed the best placement for the test-pit. 

The garden is a narrow one, so there wasn't much debate!  One potential obstacle is drains and other services, so we looked for man-holes and drains in the vicinity.  

After that I laid out the trench, measuring 1.5m by 1m.  At this stage the youngsters were in the house and therefore missed a no-doubt gripping lecture on geometric principles and the hypotenuse of a right triangle (1.414m for a 1m x 1m square, since you ask).

De-turfing was a simple enough affair with my trusty Lidl spade, during which the first finds were recovered (See Maggie's post).  A nice assemblage of lost toys, sweet wrappers, flower pot fragments, a clothes peg spring, 19th/20th Century pottery fragments and brick rubble was soon collected; all good evidence of use of the space as a garden (no surprises there).

I also dug an exploratory slot at one end of the test-pit to get some handle on how deep the deposits were likely to be and to make sure there were no nasty surprises like electical cables.  Beneath the topsoil and turf was a deposit of orangy brown gravelly sand from which I recovered some brick and a post-medieval pottery fragment.  

Beneath that, at a depth of 0.45m, was a very cobbly orangy brown clay and sand deposit.  The geology of the area is very similar, being made up of glacial moraine deposits, but it was clear that this was a disturbed deposit and therefore potentially archaeological.  

Initial signs look extremely promising and I can't wait to get stuck into it with the children and parents tomorrow!

Until then...

Preparation begins....

Duncan de-turfing the test pit. No dead bodies yet! We have been fortunate enough to find this plastic treasure so far!

Recreating the owl mosaic

Duncan assures me there were NO neon/ fluro dyes used in the production of Roman mosaic tiles. More's the pity! Prep for large mosaic ready, children will be able to glue in the squares to complete the huge tile! I plan to ask each individual child to make leaves or birds (depending on ability) that will be cut out and added to the final tile.

Managing expectations

For our initial Holgate Garden Archaeology/Art Project test pit, this is what I hope we find:

This is what we will probably find:

Time to start managing expectations.

HGAP

Holgate Garden Archaeology Project = H-GAP.  Do you see what I did there...?

Demographics in archaeology?
No?
OK, no more puns.

Virtual Vessels

I have 'virtually' turned my pot, fired it and prep done for the images. Now, how do I do the rest?!

I'm sure I'll get there. Quicker to make a real one!

Tooling up

Starting to tool up for the inaugural test-pit of the Holgate Garden Archaeology/Art Project.  I'm doing the archaeology and Maggie's supervising the art.  I'm off to the shed to dig out as many small child-sized trowels I can find.  Getting excited!

Bring the past to life.

Duncan is getting ready for the dig, and I'm busy preparing the art side of the project. We will be running three separate activities. The first will be to lay a large piece of paper next to the dig and the children will record the findings as they arrive. We will be looking at typical pottery that may be found, the children will recreate their own paper pots and paper plates using visual stimulus. We will be using a pottery app to also make some fun pots on the iPad! Lastly we will be creating a large mosaic. This will consist of one shared mosaic tile of an owl (see attached) and surrounded by the children's own creations. Watch this space!