Wessex Archaeology

Have you heard of our pioneering social prescribing project to improve people’s well-being in Salisbury? When you think of mental health, archaeology might not be the first thing that comes to mind, but as many who work in the sector know, it has huge potential for creating human connection and improving well-being. 🤝 Over the past three years GPs, schools and support organisations have been able to refer individuals to our Well-City project. Alongside ArtCare UK, The Salisbury Museum and Wiltshire Creative, we’ve engaged the local community in a series of creative workshops inspired by the city’s history and objects from our archive, from photography to sketching. 🎨 🔗 To find out what we got up to and the impact the project has had, check out the Well-City symposium coming up this September: https://ow.ly/3vua50SSvGA

Want to help make archaeology more inclusive, fair and respectful? 💪 The Supply Chain Sustainability School offers free learning materials through their Fairness, Inclusion & Respect Programme. Our Finds Processor, Jasmine, has done the programme and had this to say: "It really made me think about things I’d never considered before! There are a wide range of topics such as wellbeing, sustainability, right to work and modern slavery, which were really eye opening. I especially enjoyed the modules on sustainability in the workplace." ♻️ To find out more: supplychainschool.co.uk #FIR #Inclusion #Diversity

🎉We are thrilled to share that the Southsea Coastal Scheme in Portsmouth has received the Environment Agency’s Flood and Coast Excellence Award in the Climate Resilient Places category. A huge congratulations to everyone involved Coastal Partners, Volker Stevin Contracting Ltd., Boskalis Westminster Ltd., Royal HaskoningDHV and Idadesign. 🌊 Our work, in conjunction with Historic England and Portsmouth City Council, involved monitoring the instalment of new sea defences and recording any finds or structures this may uncover. This section of the scheme encompasses the nationally important Long Curtain moat, King’s Bastion and Spur Redoubt designed by military engineer to King Charles II, Sir Bernard de Gomme. 🏰 Interestingly, a revetment wall which appears to have formed part of the 18th century sea defences was uncovered and we were able to advise on its preservation going forward. Our finds were largely from the 19th and 20th century and included glass bottles, sherds of pottery and a Victorian bell. 🔗Read more about the project and our findings here: https://ow.ly/LBh350SSfkj

How did this woolly rhinoceros meet its end and what has it got to do with #MarineWeek exactly? 🌊🦏 Thanks to rising sea levels, what now forms part of the seabed around the UK is actually ‘submerged landscape’ and it still contains evidence of our Palaeolithic ancestors. Dredging vessels often come across artefacts from this ancient landscape and that's where the 'Marine Aggregate Industry Archaeological Protocol' comes in. It's an on-going initiative that helps us preserve and identify some amazing finds. In 2007, our experts examined a bumper crop of finds off the East Anglian coast that included Paleolithic hand axes, a tooth from a woolly mammoth and the bones of a woolly rhinoceros with some unusual striations. Had it been hunted by humans or succumbed to a carnivore? Analysis from London's Natural History Museum concluded that the gouges found on its shoulder blade were consistent with hyena chew marks, a gruesome but not uncommon fate for these megafauna. 🔗 Read more in a brilliant story map from our graphics team: https://ow.ly/7JS250SPecO

Did you see our team on BBC news last night? 👀 BBC Points West joined us at HMP Erlestoke to find out more about the discoveries from 'Digging for Erlestoke', our community project with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. This broken Mesolithic blade was 1 of 34 artefacts #FoundInTheGround during excavations. The site has long been a known location for Mesolithic activity after an initial dig way back in 1964, thanks to its proximity to a freshwater spring. 💧 Just look how tiny this find is, it could easily have been overlooked but thanks to the painstaking efforts of our archeologists and 8 men from HMP Erlestoke, these amazing pieces of history can help build a better picture of Mesolithic Britain. 📺 Watch here: https://ow.ly/iIt450SQeWW 🔗 Read more about Digging for Erlestoke here: https://ow.ly/1i5E50R7wkg

Using recent excavations as a guide, our illustrator Will Foster created this gorgeous 3D rendering of Pendinas Iron Age hillfort and its busy coastal community for the newest issue of Current Archaeology magazine. 🌊🛖 This reconstruction was commissioned by the CBHC / RCAHMW and Heneb: Clwyd-Powys Archaeology as part of The National Lottery Heritage Fund project to celebrate one of the largest hillforts in Wales. Read more on the Current Archaeology website.👇 🔗 https://ow.ly/v28C50SMW3I

📢 Are you looking for a new challenge this year? Come and join our fantastic fieldwork team! We are recruiting Fieldwork Supervisors and Fieldwork Project Officers at our Sheffield office with flexible working supported. This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic individual with fieldwork experience to lead our archaeological teams on a variety of projects. You’ll enjoy building collaborative relationships with colleagues and share our commitment to staff wellbeing. Whether you are looking to advance your career or embrace a new challenge, there will be significant opportunity to hone your skills. Fieldwork Supervisor £28,066 - £31,453 Project Officer - Fieldwork £31,019 - £35,984 Interested? Apply by 2nd August. For all the details, benefits and how to apply just follow the link: https://ow.ly/haBo50SJPsI

Although Digging for Erlestoke didn’t win the The Council for British Archaeology Marsh Award for Community Archaeology Project of the Year, we were so proud to be shortlisted and for the project to be recognised. Congratulations to everyone shortlisted and to the winners! Interested in finding out more about Digging for Erlestoke? It was created in partnership with HMP Erlestoke and supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund , it’s a community dig with a difference, designed to give the men taking part, and wider prison community, access to archaeology. You can read more about it here https://ow.ly/azOA50SCrTf

We have been a proud partner of Well-City (along with ArtCareUK, The Salisbury Museum and Wiltshire Creative) since it began 3 years ago. Well-City Salisbury is a partnership project with The National Lottery Heritage Fund that supports people with mental health needs in the Salisbury area by fostering connection – to the arts, to heritage, to our local area, to the landscape and to each other. Now, the Well-City team are getting ready to host an exhibition and symposium to mark the end of this extraordinary three-year cross sector partnership, celebrate the achievements of participants and explore the question 'what makes a Well-City?' Find out more about the project and how to take part in the symposium on the Well-City website 👇 https://lnkd.in/e7f6KAWd

40 years of archaeological research at your fingertips, Wessex Archaeology’s #OpenLibrary is LIVE. 🥂 Tens of thousands of hours of specialist research Over 500 experts from osteologists to numismatists 230 archaeological and built heritage sites and counting 155 reports 75 books (some of which are out print) and one site with some very unique Bronze Age Mortuary rites. Did we mention zero paywalls? We have created this free online library to ensure our research is available to as many people as possible, and another stride in our journey to become net zero by 2030. The digital-first research platform also incorporates a more sustainable local print-on-demand service for those wanting to buy a print publication. From Seabed prehistory to the Industrial Revolution, our experts have created an invaluable resource for understanding Britain’s archaeological record. A diverse range of topics and archaeological disciplines feature in the library, conducted by 100s of specialists in archaeological fieldwork, marine archaeology, geophysics, geoarchaeology, built heritage and many finds and period specialisms. Whether you’re a seasoned academic or just starting your journey, delve into the findings of some of the most important archaeological sites in Britain from the last 40 years now! ⬇️ 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ebCr_yi3 Thank you to all of the amazing experts who have contributed to this research- you know who you are!