Ice age Journeys Update

We have had an update on the progress of the Ice Age Journeys project along with the plans for fieldwork in September. 

Ice Age Journeys has won a Heritage Lottery Fund grant for a collaborative partnership between the Late Upper Palaeolithic sites at Farndon Fields, Creswell Crags and Bradgate Park. These areas reveal the lives of the first colonisers of the East Midlands at the end of the Ice Age 14,000 years ago.

We’ll be mapping the Ice Age landscape, following the clues left by people who moved into and through our region.  Over the winter we’ll have a series of talks and be creating a new web-site.  But, to kick off in September, we’ll be conducting some fieldwork – in a new field which extends the known distribution of the Ice Age flints.  We’ll be using augering and test-pitting to investigate the stratigraphy in this field, and, if we’re lucky, hit undisturbed deposits containing flints.  Later in the autumn, we’re hoping to do some more fieldwalking.

September Fieldwork programme

12th – 14th - fieldwork

?15th          - young people ‘taster’ session – if it can be arranged

17th -21st   -  fieldwork

22nd           - fieldwork and public open day

24-25th       - final recording and completion

Further information available soon – or contact John Miller, Ian Ross or Daryl Garton.

In addition, on Sunday 9th September, James Dilley will be demonstrating flint-knapping in Sconce & Devon Park between 10.30-4pm.  

Plans for the next couple of months.

A quick update on plans.

We are somewhat better organised than usual and so have plenty to look forward to over the rest of the summer as far as both Wednesday nights and fieldwork are concerned.

Looking at Wednesday nights first, this is the schedule going forward to the beginning of the autumn:

Wednesday 25th July - Launching the Parish Boundaries Project
Wednesday 8th August - Farndon Village Walk
Wednesday 22nd August - Ice Age Insights Update/Plans - Daryl Garton
Wednesday 29th August -  Business Meeting
Wednesday 12th September - Talk: Magdelanian Personal Ornamentation - Izzie Wisher
Wednesday 26th September - Wrap up of 2018 Ancaster Excavations
Wednesday 10th October - Talk: Excavations at Flag Fen and Must Farm - Richard Tyndall

In addition I am hoping to book a Saturday at the hall in October where we can lay out all the pottery from Ancaster and get some expert opinion on it with the aim of building a better understanding of the nature and dating of the site.

As far as field work goes, we will be continuing to excavate at Ancaster into the autumn. So far the following dates are confirmed:

Friday 27th July
Saturday 28th July
Thursday 2nd August (only 1 day this week)
Thursday 9th August
Friday 10th August

There will be further digging in September but this will ned to be organised with the start of field work at Farndon Fields in mind as we expect to be starting test pitting and other field work there in September.