archaeology

 The two winners of this month’s double whammy competition are:

 The potter’s tool from Lambeth (L54/80). With a wheel at one end and a toothed edge the other this tool was used to create the decorative features on ceramics. It is made from iron and was thought to be lost for several years. However, as always, it turned up eventually last year. It was then rediscovered last month during the LAARC VIP project and nominated for the competition.

 The second winner is this superb post med lead alloy spoon. Found at Cutler Street near Bishopsgate, it bears the inscription “Remember the Poore”. Who would have owned it remains a mystery and one has to wonder whether they really did remember the poor when using it…

For more information about either of these sites visit LAARC’s online catalogue and search for the sitecode

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

  This month there’s a double whammy! As so many cool finds are resurfacing during the LAARC VIP project, we’ve a VIP objects special: 6 candidates, 2 winners.

1) A Roman Cheese Press made from ceramic and found in 1973’s Borough High Street Excavations (106BHS73)

2) A pewter tankard from Cutler Street (CUT73), with an inscription from a tavern in Bethnal Green

3) A plaque from Dean’s Yard, Westminster Abbey, (WAM75) originally from a knife cleaner

 4) Medieval Scissors from Baynards Castle (BC72)

5) Iron Potter’s Tool from Lambeth (L54/80)

6) Lead Spoon from Cutler Street, with the inscription “Remember the Poore”

 To vote for your TWO favourite objects click Here

To find out more about the excavations visit the LAARC catalogue

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

This month’s winner with an incredible 100% of votes, goes to the fabulous fragment of Roman painted wall plaster from Lime Street excavations in 1983 (IME83)

Roman walls were usually decorated with large panels, within which were individual images of people, fruit, flowers or whatever the householder wanted on their wall. Colours were created using various pigments and on occasions we find chunks of wall, that have two or three layers of painted plaster, where they’ve redecorated their room!

In 2007, new excavations in Lime Street discovered more fantastic wall plaster fragments, some of the best ever found in the country. Both excavations shed light on Roman interior decoration. Changing Rooms, eat your heart out!

For more information about IME83 visit LAARC’s online catalogue and search for IME83

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

 Every month, LAARC volunteers choose 3 objects from the collections to enter our object of the month competition. This month we’ve three excellent objects:

The first object this month is from Dominant House and is an incredible large fragment of Roman painted wall plaster (DMT88)

The second is a fine medieval crucible from Sans Walk, St James Row (SNS87)

The third item is from Westminster Station excavations and is a post medieval ceramic watering can (WUS92)

Click Here To Vote

You can also view and find out more information about the objects on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laarc/sets/72157604281666414/

Finally to find out more about the sites they’re from visit our online catalogue:

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

Happy voting!

If you want to let us know exactly why you voted for an object, you can leave a comment below.

The winning object for August’s second chance / lucky loser month is this lovely leather purse from Trig Lane (TL74 <426>)

It is the front of a two piece purse, cut from deerskin and decorated with stitching in the form of two circular panels with two undulating lines on each side of the stitch. There’s also a horizontal slit cut below the top edge with four further slots beneath this, which would have had drawstrings threaded through.

Every month, LAARC volunteers choose 3 objects from the collections to enter our object of the month competition. This time round, we’re running a special “Lucky Loser!” month, where three previous 2nd place objects get a second chance to win gold and enter December’s Object of The Year Competition.

 The first object this month was originally nominated in January and is a leather purse from Trig Lane (TL74)

The second was first selected in May and is the Hebrew inscripted Delftware plate from Mitre Street (MIR84)

The third item is up for the second month in a row and is the biscuitware figurine from Hibernia Wharf (HIB79)

Click Here to vote

You can also view and find out more information about the objects on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laarc/sets/72157604281666414/

Finally to find out more about the sites they’re from visit our online catalogue:

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

Happy voting!

If you want to let us know exactly why you voted for an object, you can leave a comment below.

 This month’s winning object goes to the rather nice bone plaque from Dunster Court excavations of 1988. (MCT88)The carved plaque depicts a griffin and it’s use is uncertain. However, it may have  been mounted on a box or furniture. To find out more about the excavation, visit the LAARC’s online catalogue and search for MCT88. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

Each month LAARC runs an Object Of The Month competition. Three artefacts are taken from the archive’s stores and put up for public vote to decide which goes on display in the Archive’s temporary exhibition case.

Competitions take place during the final week of each month. The winning object for this month will be announced on Friday 8th August.

July’s candidates selected by LAARC volunteers are:

1) A silver Roman Coin dating from the reign of Vespasian from Lime St (LIM83)

2) A bone plaque depicting a griffin from Dunster Court (MCT88)

3) A biscuitware figurine of a potter from Hibernia Wharf (HIB79)

Click Here to vote

You can also view and find out more information about the objects on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laarc/sets/72157604281666414/

Finally to find out more about the sites they’re from visit our online catalogue:

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

Happy voting!

If you want to let us know exactly why you voted for an object, you can leave a comment below.

If you haven’t already seen the Museum of London Archaeology (MoLAS) videos on YouTube, check them out soon!

There’s on-site excavation videos from the dig that produced the ‘Prittlewell King of Bling‘:

• Gold buckle
• Prittlewell on-site video: ‘Coptic’ Bowl
• Archaeological finds including folding stool in west chamber
• Excavation finds including in situ copper vessels and chamber walls

It’s that time of year again -National Archaeology Week runs from July 12 – 20, 2008.  (Yes, that’s longer than a normal week, but time works differently in archaeology!)

To celebrate this Olympic year, Museum of London is hosting a weekend of family activities, tours and talks looking at games and sports throughout history. Find out more about the National Archaeology Week(end) events at the Museum of London on July 19 and 29.

If you’re interested in archaeology and have been watching BBC’s new show Bonekickers, you might be interested in how Bonekickers compares to real-life archaeology from the point of view of one of our osteologists (bone people).