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Helen Geake answers questions on archaeology and history submitted by Time Team members on Patreon.You'll hear about the items archaeologists take home from a site, the features that are crucial for an archaeological drawing and you'll learn how you can still be an archaeologist without digging in a trench.There's also Helen's Find, where Helen brings a historical object to your attention. You can see the one mentioned in today's episode at the following link:https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/500107

Helen also mentioned her pond, lined with rocks from archaeological digs right across the country. Here's what it looks like!

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steve

Hair was also added to both as a binder. My grandfather was a plasterer, and used to make decorative plaster by hand throwing, a skill that has pretty much disappeared now. Still gagging to find out what is going on with Orkney. Another great podcast. I am a big fan

Peter Carter

Enjoyed your description of Archaeological Drawings. I was a friend of Hazel Martindale, I remember watching her drawing a flint, she would see things that were almost not there, certainly she showed me how the drawing was so much more useful than photography. (she also was the artist who drew Captain Pugwash for TV)

Wessex-Wyvern

That mace head is utterly stunning. The quality of the workmanship reminds me of Langdale axe heads. I'm interested in what the PAS records about the stone. I wonder how Alan Saville came to his suggestion of its type and possible provenance. To my eyes, it reminds me of rocks loosely termed "metapelite" meaning a fine grained sedimentary rock that has undergone low-grade metamorphism. There are many examples of this across the British Isles, although the ones I know about are Palaeozoic in age rather than Teriary. I would love to know more! Is anyone here able to enlighten me?

Carole Foster

You could say coins were the first "printing press"...

Kathy Carlson

Thank you--and I love that pond, Helen!! I also collect rocks from everywhere, which will confuse archaeologists in the future when they unearth my old log cabin, full of stones.

Pauline

Maces are still in use today as ceremonial objects for mayors and such. I used to think they were a relic from the days when somebody like a mayor had a bodyguard armed with a mace. Perhaps though they have been used to denote a VIP since the Stone Age. Could it really be a tradition that has lasted 4-5000 years?

John Matthew IV

And why did they not make the leap from making coins to printing things on paper, of some sort?

Jane McCormack

I too love your pond Helen! I agree that it appears to be a metamorphic rock formed from silica and mud on the ocean floor. Under loads of heat and pressure the silica-rich water soaks the muck and creates a super hard rock. It's jasper, a microcrystalline form of quartz. Impurities will create the color, so the green is possibly from manganese? Another thought is the hole being hour glass shaped... Other mace heads seem to have full holes in them. Could this one have been unfinished?

Teresa Rutledge

Thank you for sharing the picture of the 'mace-head'. I agree it is beautiful. That banding is wonderful.

Dyana Mason

I learn so much from these podcasts! For example: the technical skill and knowledge to be expert in the archaeological disciplines - so fascinating!!