Welcome to the first major instalment of the blog that will follow the Lyminge Archaeology project! We’ve had a very busy few weeks since hearing that we’ve been granted AHRC funding for three years’ work within the village, continuing our excavations of Lyminge’s Anglo-Saxon monastic origins. The team has come together to begin organising the excavations that will be held this summer, further geophysical survey has been done (I’ll be posting about this later in the week) and things are falling into place for what looks to be a great summer of archaeology in Lyminge – although we predict it might be a bit wet!
On Monday 9th July key members of the Lyminge team and representatives from the village attended the British Archaeology Awards, held at the British Museum, London.
L-R: Helen Harrington (Finds Supervisor), Alexandra Knox (Project Assistant), Rosemary Piddock (local volunteer), Dr Gabor Thomas (Project Director), Neil Mullins (campsite owner and staunch supporter of the excavations) and Richard Chubb (Lyminge Parish Councillor)
Competition was stiff, with some extremely interesting and diverse projects nominated for the six categories. The Lyminge project came away with a ‘highly commended’ certificate in the category of ‘Best Archaeological Project’, a great achievement to round off the first three years of excavations. We’re all incredibly proud of the hard work that has been put in by everyone involved – staff, students and volunteers alike.
Our Project director, Dr Gabor Thomas, shows off our hard-earned certificate
The atmosphere was relaxed and very enjoyable, with plenty of discussion at the wine reception about past, present and future projects among all the nominees. As well as some familiar faces from television (see below!) we were treated to an awards ceremony compered by none other than Loyd Grossman, who presented nominations and awards from all areas of the archaeological profession. It is clear that new discoveries and finds are being made in all periods of British history at the moment, and we are proud to be able to say that Lyminge is a big part of this.
The British Archaeology Awards 2012 reception
Community-involved projects such as the Lyminge excavations were well represented, and the nearby project ‘A Town Unearthed: Folkestone before 1500’ was highly commended in the Community Archaeology project category. Academic projects, developer-funded archaeology and voluntary groups were all recognised, as well as nominations for archaeology in the media, recent publications and innovation in research and technology.
Helen, Rosemary and Richard meet Francis Pryor and Phil Harding from Channel 4's Time Team
Many people were asking about the exciting future for the project now that we have managed to secure three years of AHRC funding, and we spread the word about the excavations that are taking place on Tayne Field from the 22nd July to 2nd September 2012.
Our hard work from the last three seasons of excavation is recognised
Enjoying the wine reception
It’s onwards and upwards for the project now: here’s hoping that at the next awards in two years’ time we will be winning the category!
We’ll be updating the blog regularly, following the progress of the excavations this summer and over the next few years. We hope you’ll join us here to keep up with the discoveries!