East Riding Archaeological Society

Members only event

Please come and join us for our 2017 Christmas Party at the Traveller's Rest in Beverley.

Fridaythorpe, Fimber, Wetwang Archaeological Project (FFWAP) is a practical archaeology investigation group formed and chaired by Alison Spencer and partnered by the Roman Roads Research Association. Their first excavation, overseen by James Lyall, has just started and runs until 17^th September which will be an Open Day.

As a result of a contact originally made with Kelly Wainwright via ERAS’s membership of the East Riding Cultural Partnership, (ERCP) we were able to test the new resistivity meter at Burton Constable Hall during National Archaeology Fortnight. Kelly arranged for us to put up our gazebo at the front of the house, to display our handling collection of flint tools, animal bone, pottery etc. and to talk to visitors about archaeology. (See photos on back and front covers)  It was a great success and several people signed up as new ERAS members. As always, we found that the animal bone collection was the children’s favourite, followed closely by the flint tools, whilst the pottery dating was the parents’ favourite. 

Which types of pottery do you study?

I mostly study Iron Age and Roman pottery but I am often sent mixed groups of ceramics: it is important to be able to recognise ceramics and archaeological finds of all periods. A key skill is to spot what you are confident reporting on and when you need to bring in another specialist with more detailed knowledge.

The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Pickering is known for its Medieval wall paintings, one of the most complete sets in Britain. Kate Giles gave us an excellent and lively talk on the wall paintings and donated her lecturer fee to the restoration fund. Any errors in this article, written up from my notes, should be attributed to myself, as editor.