What are some things you have found? Bliss (9)
Most of the things I’ve found have been other people’s rubbish – broken pottery, bricks, tiles, animal bones and that sort of thing. I have found some good stuff though – a complete medieval leather shoe, a Neolithic flint scraper, Roman coins, a Bronze Age burial urn.
I worked on a Roman cemetery where one of the people had been buried with their shoes – all that was left were the hobnails, still lying in the shape of a pair of boots. I reckoned they were about a size 7.
I did also find a toy Ankylosaurus on a factory site in Sheffield. So when someone asks the question ‘Have you found a dinosaur’ I can actually say ‘Yes!’ and hand them a plastic one. It’s more fun than having to explain that we don’t do dinosaurs. Again.
More questions answered by Ian Milsted
I live near Pontefract in Yorkshire. Recently near where I live some builders making houses found a grave with Roman soldiers in. My grandad was talking to one of the builders and he said they still had their armour on. Did this happen often? Charlotte Wilson (9)
This does sound unusual as armour was normally re-used or recycled, although there are a few examples of this practice in Roman Britain. It sounds like a remarkable […]
What do you do when you find artefacts?! Do you put them in a museum, sell them in an auction, or just keep the items? Rukiye Shahla Babaoglu (9)
Hi Rukiye, The artefacts we find are carefully cleaned and catalogued, before being sent to specialists to study. These specialists can include people who are experts in particular […]
My 10yr old daughter wants to be an archaeologist and is mad keen on history. Can you recommend any books for someone her age? Oliver Marshall
There are loads of good books about archaeology for young people. A good general starting point is The Usborne Introduction to Archaeology by Abigail Wheatley It has loads […]