Posts by Cate Davies
LAMAS 61st Annual Conference
The LAMAS (London and Middlesex Archaeology Society) annual conference will be a hybrid event again this year – in person at the Museum of London Docklands, with an option watch the lectures online. It takes place on Saturday 15th March, and tickets are now available here. Harry Platts will be presenting the results of PCA…
Read MoreDigging the Cotswolds
PCA Warwick have just started work on a site on the outskirts of a popular tourist town in the Cotswolds, and it’s already looking promising! The team are currently getting a handle on which of the features are real and which not but already they have uncovered worked bone pins, a glass bead and Romano-British…
Read MoreIron Age antler pick
This week’s #FindsFriday is an antler pick, a tool most commonly associated with the Neolithic period, where they were used to quarry stone and dig the ground for the construction of monuments like Stonehenge. However, this example from Suffolk was found in a pit alongside late Iron Age pottery. In the Neolithic period, antler picks…
Read MoreWorld Book Day
It’s World Book Day! For today only, get 20% off all our publications. Our monograph series offers in-depth accounts of major excavations, while our Occasional Papers explore smaller projects and thematic connections across sites. Looking for something more accessible? Our fully illustrated booklets bring discoveries to life in a visually engaging way. Shop here: https://test.pre-construct.com/publications/…
Read MoreFind of the Week
Here’s Timothy, from the team working at the Tower of London, with a medieval gunstone – what a place to find one! This roughly shaped stone projectile was probably destined for a cannon, but since bore sizes varied, it would have been finished to fit the chosen gun. Gunstones were a vital part of medieval…
Read MoreSecular and Religious History Through Time
Last December Eric Parry Architects hosted a seminar on collaborative work between archaeologists and architects featuring. Joe Brooks gave a talk with Jessica Bryan from MOLA called ‘Secular and Religious History Through Time’, on the history and archaeology of 50 & 120 Fenchurch Street. . PCA’s 2015 excavations at 116-120 Fenchurch Street revealed a complex…
Read MoreBehind the scenes at the Tower of London!
Our team had the privilege of visiting the Byward Tower to admire these fabulous medieval wall paintings. On the right, Archangel St Michael holds scales tipped by mischievous little demons, while Mary and John the Baptist stand to the left of what was once a dramatic Crucifixion scene. Centuries later, a Tudor fireplace – complete with a…
Read MoreHappy Lunar New Year!
This Chinese fire-breathing lion from Bermondsey Square is a very rare find! Dating to the 18th-century, the stoneware figurine’s design includes a spiral-patterned mane, green and honey-yellow glazes, and a hollow body, thought to hold incense. When lit, smoke emerges from its mouth to transform it into a fire-breathing lion. Possibly made in Fujian or Guangdong,…
Read MoreCoins of Cunobelin
For this week’s #FindsFriday we have two fantastic coins of Cunobelin, dating to around AD 8-41. The gold coin is a Cunobelinus Wild type quarter stater, depicting an ear of corn on one side and a horse on the other. Gold’s resistance to corrosion has helped preserve it, despite 2,000 years underground. The bronze coin…
Read MoreA Painted Dog’s Baculum
Former PCA employee Ellen Green has made the press with her PhD research on a bone assemblage found during 2015 excavations at a significant PCA site in Ewell, Surrey. Ellen has identified a remarkable Roman artefact: a 2,000-year-old dog’s penis bone (baculum) painted with red ochre. Ellen said “This is the only example I could…
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