Tag Archives: Material Culture

The Late Bronze Age in County Durham

One of the things that I really love about archaeology is that there is always something to learn. We might develop areas of specialty, but a single person could never learn it all (in fact, we could never learn it all because so much of archaeology is based on interpretations of evidence and our ideasContinue reading “The Late Bronze Age in County Durham”

Researching Roman Dividers

For the last twelve months I was lucky enough to work as an Assistant Finds Liaison Officer in the Durham Portable Antiquities Scheme office. This was a part-time role supported by the Headley Trust for the first six months and I am grateful that it was extended for another 6 months for one day aContinue reading “Researching Roman Dividers”

Decoration and Colour of Iron Age Glass Beads from Britain

I recently attended the 20th Congress of the International Association for the History of Glass conference in Fribourg, Switzerland and presented a poster on my research. I have included the text and and some of the original images  (due to copyright restrictions, some images have been replaced, see below for alternatives).  Introduction Although a historyContinue reading “Decoration and Colour of Iron Age Glass Beads from Britain”

Glass Beads from a Late Iron Age Mirror Burial

It is extremely rare to find glass beads in British Iron Age burials. This is partially because there are so few burials of human remains that can be attributed to this period. It seems that the practice of burying the deceased in formal graves was not the dominant practice. Instead,     the archaeological record suggestsContinue reading “Glass Beads from a Late Iron Age Mirror Burial”

An Exciting New Iron Age Glass Bead from London

A recently recorded glass bead from the Portable Antiquities Scheme provides valuable insight into how late prehistoric beads were used. LON-041951(Figure 1) is a large translucent blue bead with a number of opaque white spirals that sit on protrusions in the glass. These spirals alternate between single occurrences and pairs along the circumference of theContinue reading “An Exciting New Iron Age Glass Bead from London”