1 of 2 #inktober2021 28)Crispy. The 101 Airborne trained on #salisburyplain in WW2. We excavated the camp site of one of their units - ‘Easy Company’ the so-called #bandofbrothers in 2019. The topmost layer had lots of crisp packets - some pre-decimalisation!!
#inktober2021 27)Spark. Striking a lump of marcasite (natural iron ore) with flint causes sparks & thus enables fire. We found two nodules placed with a 7thC burial on #salisburyplain this summer - one on the pelvis. part of a double burial and, we think, this was a young female.
#inktober2021 24)Extinct. In 1806 the archaeologist William Cunnington travelled over #salisburyplain sites lamenting the extinction of the large flocks of bustards. Thanks to the Great Bustard group they are back. Another famous archaeologist wears a bustard feather in his hat..
#inktober2021 22) OPEN. William Cunnington & daughter leave a now-open tumulus. He opened many such #salisburyplain barrows with finds now in @WiltshireMuseum or @SalisburyMuseum. He was told to ‘ride out or die’ by his doctor - the first case of Well-being through #archaeology ?
#inktober2021 21)FUZZY. Winnipeg the bear cub on #salisburyplain in 1914. A mascot of the Canadian Army was donated to London zoo where she became v popular - including with a certain Christopher Robin who named his teddy bear after her. And the rest is history. #winniethepooh
#inktober2021 20) SPROUT. On top of the Silk Hill barrows on #salisburyplain are a collection of bee orchids. The barrows conserved a while ago - the grassland has recolonised the mound repairs. The sprouting of orchids on the tumuli shows nature’s power to recover if we let it.
#inktober2021 19) Loop. A simple item but prophetic. A loop of silver, a ring found in a 7th C burial near Larkhill on #salisburyplain this year. Like tweezers, beads or combs - the design has stayed the same over millennia. As it was silver we declared this item as treasure.
#inktober2021 17) Collide. The Oscar winning movie ‘1917’ was largely filmed on #salisburyplain. One scene sees a German aircraft collide with a French barn.The set was so realistic that swallows nested in it (two broods). The sites were assessed for archaeology beforehand too.
#inktober2021 16 Compass. The Medieval moral compass as shown on a 15th C wall painting in Imber Church, #salisburyplain. The sin of avarice as the greedy chap with his bags of gold is led to hell by demons (one looking suspiciously like Micky Mouse). Our Month in the Country’
#inktober2021 14) TICK. We are not short of these on #salisburyplain! Cautionary tale - a friend of mine from Historic England got bitten by one during monument inspections. Luckily he noticed the bullseye rash so headed of Limes disease. Stay safe out there! #archaeology
#inktober2021 10) Pick. An excavation token placed on site by Pitt-Rivers. Colt Hoare left some at Snail Down on #salisburyplain. None came from our dig at Nether Avon or Barrow clump. If you want to learn more about the work of Pitt-Rivers - read @theAliceRoberts ‘Ancestors’
#inktober2021 9) pressure. For years we have been testing the effects of ground PRESSURE of military vehicles on archaeology. In so doing we uncovered this ‘deviant burial’ of the 6/7th C - even though some bones were quite shallow none were crushed. Barrow clump, #salisburyplain
#inktober2021 8 - Watch. Excavated on the site of the WW1 horse (later human) hospital at Fargo on #salisburyplain - but what was ‘Zero hour’? Prophetic to think of the power these watches had in front line trenches - held in an officer’s trembling hands before a dawn attack
#inktober2021 7) Fan. A Listed Barracks with FANlight window at Tidworth. Built at the start of the 20thC with an alphabetic quality to aid navigation - Aliwal, Bhurtpore, Candahar, Delhi etc. All very Empire! This is just one of hundreds of MOD listings. #salisburyplain @SaynerK
#inktober2021 6) Spirit. An ANZORA bottle found in a WW1 Aus trench on #salisburyplain. Actually a viola scented hair tonic but an RLC chef on site said they could make booze from it! Those that had the brew made from tinned fruit on a certain Time Team in 2012 won’t doubt it..
#inktober2021 5) #raven.May 878, the #salisburyplain escarpment (probably!) - The Battle of Ethandun and the Great Viking Army unfurls the Raven Banner. But where is the evidence for battle? Read more about Vikings in River Kings by @CatJarman. In search of Alfred @mayavision
#inktober2021 4) #knot . The famous ‘Staffordshire Knot’ here on a WW1 headstone at Tidworth, #salisburyplain. During the campaign in Afghan I sent updates on SPTA archaeology to a good friend who was in theatre. He’s now an archaeologist but has this symbol close to his heart
