posted 2 Feb 2012 15:00 by Paul Brayford
Head of Communications & Marketing (full-time, £28-30,000)
Membership Development Officer (full-time, £23-26,000)
Events Officer (part-time, £21,000)
Information Officer (full-time, £22,000)
The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) wishes to appoint three new members of staff to improve the communication and marketing of the CBA's work, and to take forward a membership drive in line with the CBA's strategy for 'Making Archaeology Matter'. We also have an open vacancy for a full-time Information Officer.
All posts will be based at the CBA's headquarters in the historic city of York and are offered with an attractive employee benefit package including a 10% employer contribution to pensions and 24 days annual leave (pro rata for part-time posts) with additional days at Christmas/New Year and at some bank holidays.
Further details and applications forms for each post are available at www.britarch.ac.uk/cba/jobs and queries should be directed to Dr Mike Heyworth MBE, CBA Director, St Mary's House, 66 Bootham, York YO30 7BZ, tel 01904 671417, email director@britarch.ac.uk. The closing date for applications is 6pm on 20th
February 2012 (6pm on 9th February for the Information Officer post). |
posted 23 Jan 2012 12:27 by Paul Brayford
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posted 3 Nov 2011 14:03 by Paul Brayford
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updated 3 Nov 2011 14:06
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Leeds City Museums need your help to save the West Yorkshire Hoard.
The Friends of Leeds City Museums and the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society have joined forces to help save this unique and amazing treasure for the city of Leeds.
The story so far:
Discovered by a metal detectorist, the West Yorkshire Hoard is made up of seven objects, six of these being items of exquisite gold jewellery dating from 7th to 11th centuries. The first five gold objects were found in 2008, and an additional gold ring and spindle whorl were found in 2009 in the same spot. The most spectacular of the finds is a large complete gold ring with a lozenge-shaped bezel set with a garnet gem. It was made to be displayed as a sign of great wealth and status and is in near perfect condition
These spectacular objects have been classed as ‘Treasure’ under the Treasure Act (1996) and they are currently housed in The British Museum with the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Why does the money need raising so quickly?
The objects have been valued at £171,310 and Leeds Museums and Galleries have been offered first refusal to purchase the hoard as the local museum service. If they fail to raise the funds the objects may be sold at auction, and will more than likely end up in a private collection and be lost from the public sphere. The deadline is 15th November to pay for the hoard.
So far the Friends of Leeds City Museums, The Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society and The Art Fund have each awarded a grant towards the purchase of these items. But there are just two weeks to raise the rest of the money to ensure that this spectacular treasure is saved for the people of Leeds and beyond.
The Friends of Leeds City Museums are working with the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society in running an appeal to raise the additional funds needed to purchase the hoard. The CBA Yorkshire trustees will be discussing a donation at their next meeting. Can you help raise the money by donating too? |
posted 30 Oct 2011 03:14 by Paul Brayford
Voluntary and community organisations in York and North Yorkshire can access free advice and guidance on funding issues from their local Funding Adviser.
 Funding Advisers provide the following support:
• Assistance with searching for sources of funding
• Guidance with writing quality funding applications
• Project planning and development
• Developing a funding strategy
• Advice on financial sustainability issues.
The Funding Advice Network also runs a series of courses to help voluntary and community organisations get to grips with funding and fundraising. We have enquired and these courses are open to any voluntary and community organisation, not just those in York and North Yorkshire.
There is also a conference at York Racecourse on Friday 18 November on "Funding Landscapes - Mapping the future of voluntary sector funding". There are a small number of free tickets available to voluntary organisations with an annual income of less than £30,000. |
posted 1 Sep 2011 06:23 by Paul Brayford
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updated 1 Sep 2011 06:34
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10 September 2011 – 15 January 2012
The discovery of the Vale of York Viking Hoard is one of the most exciting archaeological stories of recent times. It was found in January 2007 by David and Andrew Whelan in a field in the Vale of York, within the Harrogate District.
As part of a creative new relationship with the British Museum and York Museums Trust, the Vale of York Viking Hoard is coming on loan to the Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate, in the exhibition Hester Cox: Artist’s Impression, A Printmaker’s Response to the Vale of York Viking Hoard.
The bulk of the hoard was packed inside a single silver-gilt cup. The finders did not unpack the cup
and kept the find intact, which has allowed the maximum amount of information to be recovered about the story of the hoard. The coins in the hoard can be used to date its burial accurately to AD 927 or 928.
Following its discovery conservators and curators at the British Museum painstakingly excavated and researched the contents of the cup, revealing a mixture of complete and fragmentary gold and silver jewellery, coins and ingots.
The entire find was extremely well preserved and is made up of objects from as far afield as central Asia in the East and Ireland in the West, as well as Russia, Scandinavia and the Frankish Empire. It includes 617 silver coins, 65 other silver objects and a gold arm ring.
The hoard was declared Treasure under the Treasure Act 1996 and has been acquired through a unique partnership between the York Museums Trust and the British Museum. The funds were raised with the substantial and generous support of the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), the independent charity The Art Fund and the British Museum Challenge Fund.
Nearly a quarter of the funds were raised through a public appeal with many generous donations from Yorkshire institutions and individuals, including the Friends of Harrogate District Museums and the British Museum Friends. Additional money was raised to cover conservation costs.
North Yorkshire printmaker Hester Cox was supported by Chrysalis Arts as part of the Extending Practice/Celebrating Place scheme, designed to encourage the career development of North Yorkshire's visual artists.
This enabled Hester to gain privileged access to the Hoard at the Yorkshire Museum and the British Museum. Hester has created a new set of prints inspired by the Hoard. She said, "My printmaking always involves layering, and I like the idea that my work offers a starting point for different stories. I think that the Vale of York Hoard does the same thing, with all of its layers of connections to history and mystery."
The Mercer Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm and Sundays 2- 5pm (Closes 4pm November – March)
Admission is FREE.
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posted 1 Sep 2011 03:32 by Paul Brayford
This course
will be of interest to anyone wishing to learn more about the range of Medieval
sites in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire.
We will visit 5 sites with extensive Medieval remains, including monasteries,
churches and castles, and will develop skills in reading and dating
architecture. We will also consider how
archaeological investigations have helped interpret the sites and their use in
the Medieval period.
First session:
Roche Abbey, Sunday 25 September 2011, 11am
– 3pm
Meeting in
the car park at Roche Abbey
Dates of
subsequent sessions are as follows:
9 October, 23 October, 6 November, 20 November
These
sessions may have variable start / finish times dependent upon the opening
times of the sites we are visiting.
Subject to
access arrangements other proposed sites to visit include:
• The twin castles and church at Bradfield
• The town defences and castle at Castleton
• The village and church at Bakewell or Hathersage
• The monastic range and landscape at Roystone
The final
arrangements for the other site visits will be provided on the first session.
Course Fee: £63 full fee, £3 if on
means-tested benefits
To book a
place contact the WEA Sheffield Learning Centre on (0114) 242 3609
and leave your name, address, telephone number and email address.
On previous
courses we have organised car sharing to ensure all learners can easily access
the various venues, and this has worked well.
When you contact the centre please indicate whether you 1) are willing
to offer lifts to other learners
2) need a lift to the various sites
3) are happy to make your own way to the sites. |
posted 24 Aug 2011 05:15 by Paul Brayford
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updated 24 Aug 2011 05:41
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Update from David Wandless, Chair of Pontefract and District Archaeology Society (PontArch), on the excavations being carried out on the site of Pontefract General Infirmary.
We are now nearly half way through our excavation of the north aspect of the Friary site. The dig is really alive with people both experienced, graduates and new members digging for the first time. There is a real positive buzz on the site with everybody really enjoying what is becoming a most interesting dig. Most days we are averaging around 17 diggers. From next week we will be digging from Monday to Saturday and having Sunday as a day of rest.
Janet McNaught and my wife Anne with help from some new members have begun washing our finds in the cottage on Southgate. We have made the big front room and side room available and it is a hive of activity with find trays lined up in rows with a range of medieval pottery, clay pipe stems and bowls as well as metal objects, fragments of floor tiles, ecclesiastical glass and other finds yet to be unravelled!
Simon Tomson our Site Director commented that;
‘Within the rubble we have recovered architectural carved stone, a collonete (small column) section, whitewashed wall stone, stone mouldings (probably from windows)’
In respect of the other finds he commented further saying;
‘We have also found plain and painted window glass, a number of glazed floor tile fragments of both black and white finish. It is tempting to imagine a chequerboard black and white church floor reflecting the black and white habit and cowl worn by the Blackfriars!!’
Medieval painted window glass
‘We have also identified local sandstone and imported limestone roofing slabs, all drilled for fixing pegs.’
Breaking News Today (Wed 24 Aug 2011)
As the excavation progresses Simon believes we may well have identified a substantial robbed out wall. Its orientation northward suggests that this may be the north wall of the church. Given its proximity to the back street which is now Southgate this is entirely likely as it gives access for the public to attend friary services.
Young Archaeologists Club site visit
The overall extent of the dig which is nearly 30metres in length and 6 metres in width.
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posted 19 Aug 2011 02:39 by Paul Brayford
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updated 19 Aug 2011 03:15
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The story of John Robert Mortimer (1825-1911) encompasses both the beginnings of archaeology as a scientific study and the details of a life lived entirely in one small corner of the East Riding of Yorkshire. During the second half of the nineteenth century archaeology made the transition from antiquarian pursuit to fledgling academic discipline. Mortimer, a corn merchant from Driffield, was of central importance, laying many of the foundations on which the subject came to be built. He devoted most of his adult life to the systematic and careful examination of large numbers of prehistoric burial mounds and other ancient features on the Yorkshire Wolds, eventually becoming a nationally recognised authority on the subject. Self-educated, his techniques became those used by modern archaeologists, his collection of artefacts and his writings still providing an invaluable resource for understanding the county’s prehistoric past. Yet his story has never before been told, his importance as a leading and pioneering archaeologist little known. This comprehensive account of his life helps to explain why this should be. It presents Mortimer as a nationally important archaeologist using his researches to understand the lives of prehistoric peoples, his view, widely held today, that by understanding the past we understand ourselves.
Stephen Harrison, BA, MPhil, PhD, was born in the East Riding of Yorkshire and has spent much of his life living and working in the county. Since the 1970s he has researched, lectured and written widely on the archaeology and history of the region. For him, as for Mortimer, archaeology, especially that of the East Riding, has been a lifelong passion. His account of J.R. Mortimer’s life is the result of years of study and intimate acquaintance with the man, his life and his work.
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posted 11 Aug 2011 08:17 by Paul Brayford
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updated 19 Aug 2011 03:13
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posted 11 Aug 2011 05:18 by Paul Brayford
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updated 11 Aug 2011 05:52
]
Update from David Wandless, Chair of Pontefract and District Archaeology Society (PontArch), on the excavations being carried out on the site of Pontefract General Infirmary.
"We are now half way through week 3 of our 10 week excavation of the north aspect of the friary site.
In the photograph you can see our Site Director Simon Tomson in discussion with the digger driver as we clear approx. 30 m in length by 7m in width and about 1m in depth.
Simon believes that the first level that we will reach, having removed the C18th/C19th improved agricultural land [which we are now clear was used for growing liquorice], will be the demolition layer of the friary buildings after the dissolution of the monasteries.
We have stepped the site to ensure stability of the soil and are digging down to expose the first level. You can clearly see a change in the soil with clear indications of heating of limestone/sandstone and mortar is also evident.
There is an increasing range of finds including only medieval pottery from the C12th to the C15th.
Human remains i.e. skull fragments and human bone are also present in this layer. These may be Civil War burials dated to 1648 of casualties who have got into the line of fire. These burials may well be cut into the friary demolition layers.
There are also indications of rubble from the friary demolition. Cut into this rubble are the remains of trenches on a north to south alignment which were used for the harvesting of liquorice roots which continued to be harvested in the Friarwood area of Pontefract until 1910.
As I am sure many of you will have seen and heard Calendar went out on Tuesday 9th and on Wednesday morning Radio Leeds did a good slot which is available on BBC iplayer. On Thursday there will also be a piece on the BBC web site along with photos of the dig courtesy of Jim Goodwin.
During the next two weeks we anticipate beginning to expose this demolition layer and have a clearer view as to whether this does represent a Civil War burial ground or not.
So this is proving to be a very interesting site and we look forward to some less back breaking archaeology."
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