Sussex Archaeological Society visits the Pitt Rivers Museum

Public engagement, as previously mentioned, is a central element of the Excavating Pitt-Rivers project. In June Carlotta went to Lewes and presented the projects initial findings on Pitt-Rivers' time in Sussex and visited Mount Caburn with the Sussex Archaeological Society. On Saturday (19th October), as a follow up to this visit, the project invited the society to the Pitt Rivers Museum.  

Dan Hicks giving an introductory lecture to members of Sussex Archaeological Society 
at the Pitt Rivers Museum

The day began with an introductory talk by Dan Hicks who updated the society on our progress over the past couple of months. After lunch, which included excellent discussion on the theme of the day, we were able to show the group a selection of the material collected in Sussex. The material we had on display was from two of the key sites in Sussex (Mount Caburn and Cissbury) and included flint implements, ceramic sherds, fragments of metal, and four examples of Pitt-Rivers' experimental work at Cissbury. We asked the group to look at the material in a different way to expected; instead of looking at the objects as examples of archaeological artefacts we wanted to look at them as a source of information about Pitt-Rivers. This demonstrated the importance of using the artefacts within the founding collection as an important source of information when studying his early archaeological work. 

Four members of Sussex Archaeological Society examining a selection of material excavated by General Pitt-Rivers from Mount Caburn and Cissbury.

An example of the documentation that is on the objects that Pitt-Rivers collected during his time in Sussex. Almost every single object from Mount Caburn has a label similar to this attached, it typically records the date and location from which it was excavated. In this case the label for 1884.137.41 .7 reads 'MOUNT CABURN SEPT 1877 Upper Rampart interior slope'.

The day was a great success and we hope that Sussex Archaeological Society found it as useful and enjoyable as the project team. We look forward to our next visit from Yorkshire Archaeological Society on the 4th November. 

Talk to Yorkshire Archaeological Society

On Saturday (22nd June) Carlotta gave a talk to the Yorkshire Archaeological Society in Leeds. The talk focussed on the work that the project has completed on the Yorkshire material and highlighted the importance of the time that Pitt-Rivers spent working in Yorkshire. Yorkshire appears to have influenced Pitt-Rivers work considerably and it is a great shame that we know so little about his early work in 1867. We hope to build upon our existing knowledge as the project moves into a more research based phase.

One of the three rags collected by Pitt-Rivers from St. Helen's Well (PRM 1884.140.331 .1).

The society were incredibly friendly and provided great nuggets of information. One particularly interesting piece of information was about the three tied rags, from St. Helen's Well, that we have in our collection. St Helen's Well was, and by some still is still, known for its healing powers. People would leave rags tied to a near by tree or drop coins or stones into the well - they would then take a sip of the water. The idea was that the illness would pass from the person into the object and they would be cured.
The information and local knowledge that the project gained from the talk in Leeds really emphasised why it is so important to communicate with local societies. We look forward to our talks in London and Surrey in the near future.

Out and about...

The town hall in Lewes - formerly the Star Inn where Pitt-Rivers stayed whilst excavating Mount Caburn in 1877-78.

As part of our public engagement programme, for the Excavating Pitt-Rivers project, Carlotta Gardner gave a talk to the Sussex Archaeological Society in Lewes on Saturday (8th June). It was an excellent opportunity to inform the society, with which Pitt-Rivers worked, about the project and our results from cataloguing and researching the archaeological material excavated by the General from Sussex which is held at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.

The Sussex Archaeological Society on top of Mount Caburn

After the Talk a group of us went on a small field trip up Mount Caburn, where Pitt-Rivers excavated in 1877-78. The weather was perfect and we were able to see for miles around. As mentioned in a previous post Pitt-Rivers spent a considerable amount of time in Sussex studying and excavating a number of 'camps'. Mount Caburn was of particular interest to Pitt-Rivers and the Museum holds approximately 3,900 objects from his excavations there. In a letter to George Rolleston he described having to walk up the mount in order to be there before 8 am to set things up. Walking from Lewes would have taken around 30-40 minutes.

The walk up Mount Caburn (from Glynde)

Overall it was a wonderful day out and the Society were incredibly friendly and welcoming. We look forward to their visit to Oxford, to look at the Sussex collections, in October.

Panoramic view from the top of Mount Caburn.

Pitt-Rivers in Kent - public lecture

image: "Sections of Caesar's Camp or Castle Hill, near Folkestone", from Pitt-Rivers 1883. Excavations at Caesar's Camp near Folkestone, conducted in June and July 1878. Archaeologia 47(2): 429-465.

As the first of the public lectures for the Excavating Pitt-Rivers project, Dan Hicks will be introducing  the project, and speaking about the General's excavations in Kent, at an event on 21 February. The talk is hosted by A Town Unearthed - a community archaeology programme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Details are below. For further details, please email townunearthed@canterbury.ac.uk

Thursday 21 February, 7pm-8.30pm
Exhibition Talk: Excavating Pitt-Rivers - Pitt-Rivers in Kent.
Dr Dan Hicks, Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford
University Centre Folkestone, Mill Bay, Folkestone. CT20 1JG.

More details on the Town Unearthed project are here - www.atownunearthed.co.uk