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This year the Research Project of the Year 2012 awards went to Massacre at Fin Cop, featured in CA 255.
Iron Age hillforts are commonly viewed as peaceful — if monumental — settlements, statements of prestige and power rather than military fortifications. But harrowing evidence from a Derbyshire site suggests these communities could come to a tragic end, with women and children massacred during the settlement’s destruction.
Clive Waddington, of Archaeological Research Services, accepted the award:
‘We are delighted to win this award — I feel really honoured, particularly because this was a community project and the award highlights that really great research can be carried out with the help of local communities.’
This has been another great year for archaeological research, with fascinating projects going on all over the country. We have really enjoyed following the latest advances in theory, technology and methodology — and we hope you’ve enjoyed reading about them in CA. The following are the projects which particularly captured the imagination of readers and editors alike in the last 12 months, and were nominated in this category:
(CA 250 — University of Reading)
Rejoining the long-running excavations at Silchester 8 years after our last report, CA learned the investigations had reached a crucial point and the site still had secrets to reveal. Recent investigations have uncovered tantalising clues about the settlement’s pre-Roman past, adding substantially to our picture of how Iron Age Britain became Britannia.
(CA 253 — Oxford University)
Orkney’s Bay of Skaill is best known for being the location of Skara Brae, a Neolithic settlement stunningly-preserved beneath a thick layer of windblown sand. But this is not the only archaeological treasure hidden by the weather; excavations have recently uncovered a massive Norse longhouse 2m below the sand, granting rare insight into the life and death of a major Viking settlement.
(CA 254 — Adam Daubney, Lincs FLO)
Best known to us from the Asterix comics, Toutatis was a Gaulish god and favourite patron of Roman soldiers who identified him with their war deity Mars. Evidence of Toutatis-worship is seen across the Roman Empire, but strangely limited inBritain. Now a new study of 68 finger-rings inscribed with the god’s name seems set to change all this.
(CA 259 — Alasdair Whittle, Alex Bayliss, and Frances Healy/EH)
In October we covered a breakthrough in dating methodology that promised to rewrite our understanding of the early Neolithic. Exciting advances in radiocarbon dating, permitting more secure chronologies and more precise dates than ever before, allowed a fascinating new research project on causewayed enclosures to be carried out.
January 8, 2012 @ 5:09 pm
Fincop was a fantastic project with great community involvement.
January 8, 2012 @ 8:36 pm
An outstanding piece of work involving so many enthusiastic and dedicated local people – an absolute vote winner
January 11, 2012 @ 12:30 pm
My vote goes to the SETTLEMENT UNDER THE SAND! Such a unique location and exceptionally well preserved – definitely deserves to win.
January 15, 2012 @ 12:21 pm
Fin Cop for creative involvement of young people.
January 15, 2012 @ 8:24 pm
Settlement Under the Sand – The landscape of Orkney is decorated with remarkably well preserved sites and still manages to hide gems like this. A link that ties the community to another part in the history of their isles.
January 16, 2012 @ 4:57 pm
Fin Cop gets my vote. This research dig has discovered new and unexpected evidence relating to the Iron Age in Derbyshire. Innovative involvement of children and people of all ages. An absolutely superb presentation of the findings through a filmed re-enactment on site of events by local teenagers, using authentic props and backed by their own original music and poetic composition. Stunning!
January 19, 2012 @ 11:50 pm
Settlement Under the Sand! An amazing site I was lucky enough to have worked on. A fascinating place in a very complex landscape. Amazing!
January 20, 2012 @ 9:52 am
Settlement under the sand! 😀
January 24, 2012 @ 2:39 pm
Fin Cop -fascinating
January 24, 2012 @ 6:20 pm
Silchester!
January 25, 2012 @ 4:57 pm
The Second Radiocarbon revolution gets my vote. This will change the way we think and talk about the past. It is a breakthrough we will still be talking about in 100 years time.
January 26, 2012 @ 12:16 am
Well i go for…the second radiocarbon revolution…just to be different!
January 26, 2012 @ 11:43 am
Silchester!
January 26, 2012 @ 12:02 pm
Silchester!
January 26, 2012 @ 12:37 pm
Silchester – huge and log-running project, consistent enthusiastic leadership, invaluable finds and excellent scholarship!
January 29, 2012 @ 6:11 pm
Silchester people-development and research dig just has to be one of the best….
February 1, 2012 @ 1:45 pm
Settlement under the Sand. It had locals digging, drew in everyone who lived round about and did brilliant tours of the most amazingly preserved archaeology. The smithing ovens, benches and other stone furniture were great.
February 1, 2012 @ 3:16 pm
~I believe Daniel Griffiths is the winner here
February 5, 2012 @ 2:44 pm
Settlement under the Sand:
I did a bit of volunteering with Jane Harrison and David Griffiths on the East Oxford Archaeology project at Bartlemas Chapel. I was very impressed by their efficiency and their skills in organising this quite difficult project all around a still functioning chapel and with a large variety of participants as well. Some exciting finds were made and are being carefully conserved and documented.
I am sure Jane and David’s Orkneys project will be extremely interesting and rewarding; and, especially given the distance too (sadly I can’t volunteer up there!),it deserves enthusiastic support.
February 9, 2012 @ 1:31 pm
Settlement under the sand is my choice!
February 16, 2012 @ 6:35 pm
Please vote for Settlement under the sand, a mammoth effort from a great team over many years, surely deserves to win the award.