This week’s Editor’s Pick comes from Emma Payne of CSI: Sittingbourne, a very exciting community archaeology project (the ‘CSI’ stands for ‘Conservation Science Investigation’). You can read more about the project here, and follow the CSI blog here.
The artefacts here come from from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery site located in Sittingbourne, Kent. Emma writes:
This burial ground was excavated in late 2008 by Canterbury Archaeological Trust before the development of the site. The site dates to the 6th and 7th centuries AD and consists of 227 graves and 2 cremation urns; over 2500 objects were recovered, including jewellery and weaponry. However, because of the acidity of the soil, with the exception of those contained within the cremation urns, no human bones have survived. Furthermore, the land had formerly been used as brickfields; this involved disturbing and removing the soil, and so when the graves were finally discovered in 2008 they were found to be rather shallow and some objects were damaged. The site was a completely unexpected discovery and to deal with the conservation of the large number of finds CSI: Sittingbourne was set up. This is a community project established by local conservator Dana Goodburn-Brown in partnership with Sittingbourne Heritage Museum, Canterbury Archaeological Trust, and AMTeC Co-op; funded by Kent County Council, Marstens Brewery and Tesco. The project has enabled local people to become directly involved with the conservation of the objects under the supervision and guidance of professional and student conservators.
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- Cremation urn.
You can also visit the CSI Exhibition from 10am-5pm Mondays-Saturdays, details here.