Acting on orders received in 2007, and again in 2008, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16, I have used the first two days of my holiday to start to remove the site of our bonfire, and prepare it for grassing over. As Dominique has just got back from a week in Cambridge, on an Archaeology summer school, I was paying particular attention to what I found as I dug out the fire pit. It was my first pit (hereafter Pit 1), and I have to say, I was astonished at the richness it yielded. The most exciting find, to my mind, is this amazing selection of fossilised calamari, thus demonstrating that the people of Cumbria were trading with Venice far earlier than was heretofore thought. I pictured them with a garden fork for scale, as I do not own a geological hammer. (Mrs T, incidentally, facetiously remarked that she thought they were curtain rings. Charlie's theory, that they were gold bangles from the arm of the Young Woman [Tutankhamun's mother] was not supported by the fact that they are not gold. So the calamari hypothesis remains). But that was by no means my only find in Pit 1. Perhaps it is not surprising, given that we are relatively near Hadrian's Wall, and very near the old Roman Road, High Street, that we should have found these carefully shaped bricks, clearly designed for crenelations, or battlements, along the Wall. What is more surprising is finding so many together, and in such good condition. Pit 1 also yielded this intriguing object; my conjecture is that it is a Roman toy catapult. It was found by the battlements, and is remarkably like a modern catapult, but is clearly of great antiquity. I will be sending this to the experts at Vindolanda for further analysis. And then there was this, which I can only take to be an early barber's shaving blade. I imagine it had an ivory handle, or decorative knob on the end, as the handle end is a hollow tube. Clearly it is very old, as more sophisticated tooling has allowed much less coarse blades to be manufactured for such intimate and intricate work. Another extraordinary find was this scimitar. I can only assume that this was brought home as a souvenir from the crusades by a previous occupant of the house; and was, perhaps, banished to the flames of a fire following some domestic dispute (?). It has survived well, and I am carefully cleaning the rust, in the hope of finding some inscription on the blade. I had decided to keep the location of Pit 1 secret, and had indeed installed a guard dog, for obvious reasons. Pit 1 having yielded such treasures, it might have proved tempting to the less scrupulous of my archaeological followers. However, following further discussions with the landowner ("Don't you leave that like a big mess in the garden; I want it turfed over, not left half-finished like so many of your projects...") Pit 1 has now been filled and is not available for further excavation. I will have to ensure that Mrs T does not disappear in the near future, as I understand the police take a dim view of freshly dug pits in such circumstances.
There is a Mr Pickwick who leads a club which travels around the country and has had experience of archaeological situations such as this. A Mr Dickens wrote about it, IIRC.
Like it! In our garden we have unearthed significant quantities of buried fishing net, apparently indestructible! Could be of Viking origin, but probably unwanted 'tools of trade' of the previous owner of our house, a fisherman! This is Orkney after all!
We live about 20 feet from Hadrian's Wall near to the Denton Turret where the A1 joins the A69 but all we find are stones. Perhaps previous residents (like me) did not like calamari
Secretive (eg my wife doesn't know I'm writing this blog)
Mendacious (eg my name isn't really Ben Trovato - that comes from an Italian saying: Se non è vero, è molto ben trovato - if it's not true, it's well found (or made up, as we'd say.))
Superficial (I have an interest in almost everything, and can pass myself off as knowing a lot more than I do...)
Self-deluding (my wife probably does know about this blog by now...)
For the record, my kids aren't really called Antonia, Bernadette, Charlie and Dominique either... It would seem unfair to write about them under their true names, so ABCD seemed a good idea. My wife's not Anna either, but again the AB pattern seemed pleasing.
Wickless Wicker Person
-
Not the greatest Beltane, I'll be honest.
We were all set to go live with the biggest Wicker Person we'd ever built.
The excitement was building.
Suita...
Prayers for the Election of a Holy Pope
-
Here is the beautiful prayer that Card. Burke wrote for the Sacred College
of Cardinals for the Novendiales I kneel before you, 0 Virgin Mother of
God, Our...
Pope Francis: Death of a Tyrant
-
Twelve years of an abusive papacy have ended and the relief among faithful
Catholics is palpable.
The world's media response is to wax lyrical about ...
One pope dies, another comes along
-
Well, he's gone, God rest his soul. And whatever our feelings might be, it
is time now to say with the ancients, *De mortuis, nil nisi bonum*. As I
said...
2025 Registrations Open!
-
Dear Friends and Prospective Pilgrims,
*Chartres sonne*! It's that time again!
We are delighted to invite you to the 43rd Chartres Pilgrimage and the 3...
Pre-1910 Calendar for Week Beginning 24 December
-
*Announcement of the Indulgence, the Holyday and the Feast of Devotion*
+24 *Sunday* Fourth Sunday of Advent, second class. Vigil of the Nativity.
Mass o...
Saint Gabriel
-
The angels call for our veneration and awe as part of God’s creation. Part
of the destructive modernism of the 1970s included advice to Catholic
school t...
Prayer and Reality
-
[image: Image result for kneeling "low Mass"]
"It is not the healthy who need a physician but the sick"
Jesus is supposed to be our Saviour but most of us...
Pilgrimage to Borris, County Carlow
-
Members and friends of the Catholic Heritage Association joined together
this afternoon for a Pilgrimage to Borris, County Carlow, and a Traditional
Latin ...
The Remnant
-
The Remnant from Laurence England on Vimeo.
This was fun to make but its low on humorous content.
For four minutes and and thirty four seconds I got to ...
Never again Charlie, Isaiah and Alfie.
-
The Italian pro-life organisation, Steadfast Onlus, have published a note
on their Facebook page about an event they held today in Rome,
commemorating the ...
Rosary On The Coast At Margate...
-
Following the witness shown in Poland and Ireland recently, a group of lay
people in the UK decided to try and organise a similar day of pilgrimage
and p...
The law is an ass
-
Ealing Council have voted in favour of creating an exclusion zone around
the infamous Marie Stopes abortion clinic in its area. Neither pro-lifers
nor pro-...
Ad Orientem... Please?
-
Last night we went to Mass in the Extraordinary Form at St Charles in Hull.
I am very grateful to Bishop Drainey for allowing this once monthly Mass to
con...
Three thoughts
-
First thought: whatever this Friday brings, don't lose your peace of soul.
Personally, I suspect we can expect the worst. But so what if that happens?
The ...
Palm Sunday
-
Here are recordings of some of the chants you may be singing on Sunday:
>
> Hosanna filio David
> http://gregorian-chant-hymns.com/hymns-2/hosanna-filio.ht...
This blog has now moved
-
Please note that this blog has now moved to: novusmotusoxoniensis.com
Would you please be so kind as to update your links, as this blog will no
longer be ...
Christmas 2015
-
A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!
(Of course, the Baby Jesus didn't arrive until the Crib was blessed
shortly after I photographed the Crib)
HALONG BAY VACATION
-
HALONG BAY, ONE OF THE 7 NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD
*HaLong Bay is northern Vietnam’s biggest attraction*, one of the world
magnificent natural heritage...
That Letter - Update
-
We now have hundreds of signatures on the letter in support of our priests,
thanks to the many bloggers who carried the letter (see here for a list),
and m...
Manual for Spiritual Warfare – Paul Thigpen
-
Manual for Spiritual Warfare Paul Thigpen Tan Books ISBN 9781618906533 ASIN
B00SZDHHJ6 Like it or not, you are at war. This book is excellent. To be
honest...
Changing The World: One Diaper At A Time.
-
*The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor
of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something
m...
-
*CATHOLIC EVIDENCE TRAINING OUTLINES* * Compiled by Maisie Ward*
------------------------------
*No one should attempt to use this book without having ...
Clearing the Decks
-
*To know oneself is a miracle greater than raising the dead. - St Isaac
the Syrian*
Only Christ is the End; everything else is a means...
3 comments:
There is a Mr Pickwick who leads a club which travels around the country and has had experience of archaeological situations such as this. A Mr Dickens wrote about it, IIRC.
Like it! In our garden we have unearthed significant quantities of buried fishing net, apparently indestructible! Could be of Viking origin, but probably unwanted 'tools of trade' of the previous owner of our house, a fisherman! This is Orkney after all!
We live about 20 feet from Hadrian's Wall near to the Denton Turret where the A1 joins the A69 but all we find are stones. Perhaps previous residents (like me) did not like calamari
Post a Comment