Sarre or Bifrons cemetery knife

KAS Curator Andy Ward shares an Anglo-Saxon knife with crisscrossed inlaid gold, silver and copper decoration.

Paleolithic flint tool illustrations by Benjamin Harrison

Today is National Illustration Day and so for this week's #FindsFriday KAS Curator Andy Ward showcases a small sample of the wonderful illustrations of Benjamin Harrison.

#FindsFriday post Fri, 24 Nov 2023

Samian ware from Hartlip Roman villa

Curator Andy Ward highlights another element of the temporary exhibition at Maidstone Museum The Story of the KAS due to finish at the beginning of December.

New gallery opening next year at Maidstone Museum

The Society is providing support towards establishing the Lives in Our Landscape (LiOL) gallery due to launch at Maidstone Museum in Summer 2024.

Posted Tue, 07 Nov 2023

Its #MuseumMonday! As part of our ongoing highlight of objects in our temporary display at Maidstone Museums we are focusing on one of the society's first training excavations.

Posted Mon, 06 Nov 2023

In 1996 a Roman villa at Minster-in-Thanet was identified through aerial photography.

Introduction to Roman pottery workshop with Edward Biddulph

Thank you to Edward Biddulph of Oxford Archaeology for the fantastic Introduction to Roman Pottery workshop yesterday at Marsham St, Maidstone.

Posted Mon, 06 Nov 2023

It's #MuseumMonday and this time Curator Andy Ward showcases a find from the very start of the Kent Archaeological Society!

Posted 30th October 2023

At its inaugural meeting on 14th April 1858, William Bland, Esq., of Hartlip Place, Sittingbourne was thanked for his kind donation of objects found at a Roman Villa on his estate.

A Durham University PhD student has identified a previously unknown assemblage of Palaeolithic handaxes in the archives of the Herne Bay Historical Records Society.

Posted 27th October 2023

The collection includes a previously unknown Ficron handaxe from Canterbury (similar to that found by Archaeology South-East).

Curator Andy Ward shares an iron adze tool recovered during excavations at Lullingstone Park.

Posted 27th October 2023

KAS Curator Andy Ward shares the incredible Elham Pendant.

Posted 23rd October 2023

It's #MuseumMonday and given that our temporary exhibition at Maidstone Museum will be coming to a close in less than two months (to allow for the installation of the new Lives in Our Landscape Gallery), Curator Andy Ward shares some highlight posts of the objects in our exhibition cases.

KAS Curator Andy Ward shares several examples of early medieval weapons featuring inscriptions and inlaid symbols.

Posted 12th October 2023

The Anglo-Saxon or Early Medieval period (410 – 1066 AD) was one bound up in the ideas of the warrior elite. Anglo-Saxon warriors would carry a specific set of weapons depending on their social status.

It's #MuseumMonday! Curator Andy Ward shares the Northfleet Francisca (throwing axe).

Posted 2nd October 2023

KAS Curator Andy Ward and the team from CSI: Sittingbourne share a Unguentarium (perfume bottle).

Posted 22nd September 2023

If you've been following our project at Trosley Court you may remember that last week we lifted a partially intact Unguentarium or perfume bottle! It was quite exciting to help lift this from the soil for the first time in nearly 2000 years.

KAS Curator Andy Ward shares some small blue glass beads recovered during excavations at Trosley Court.

Posted 15th September 2023

This small aqua-blue glass bead was found during our Trosley Court Heritage Project 2023 excavation on Wednesday. Its a beautiful little object that has survived over 2000 years in the earth.

This #MuseumMonday Curator Andy Ward shares photos of the Frankish Cloisonne Rosette-type Brooch.

Posted 4th September 2023

This lovely little object is a Frankish Cloisonne Rosette type Brooch. Modern scholarship has pushed the date of these from c. 480 - 610 AD to c. 520 - 610 AD. Similar objects can be found on swords, but these have filigree borders that are not found on the brooches.

KAS Curator Andy Ward shares a large reconstructed ceramic jar from Cooling.

Posted 1st September 2023

Narrow necked jar, grey ware, sandy feel, with neck cordon no burnish or slip, fine grey quartz. Kiln waste layers ABH/40, cf. Monaghan 3A3.2; 170/190-210/230 AD.

It's #MuseumMonday, and this time we are showcasing an object from the very start of the Society's foundation.

Posted 21st August 2023

This #MuseumMonday Curator Andy Ward shares gaming pieces made from horse teeth from the Ozengell Anglo-Saxon collection.

Posted 14th August 2023

In these posts I hope to showcase some of the objects we have on display at our partner Maidstone Museums as well as objects within our collections that have parallels at other museums.

Curator Andy Ward shares a Bronze Age incense cup found on the Isle of Thanet.

Posted 11th August 2023

It's #FindsFriday so I thought I would post a recent image I took of the #BronzeAge incense cup from the Lord of the Manor excavation undertaken by Trust For Thanet Archaeology and Isle of Thanet Archaeological Society. This small cup dating between c. 1650 and 1400 BCE is decorated with twisted cord patterns.

KAS Curator Andy Ward shares an exceptional Frankish buckle now in the KAS collections at Maidstone Museum.

Posted 6th August 2023

Curator Andy Ward shares a decorated Bronze Age bracelet from Aylesford.

Posted 21st July 2023

It's #FindsFriday and so I thought I would share this wonderful detail image of the incised decoration on one of the #BronzeAge gold bracelets from Aylesford.

Curator Andy Ward shares an intruiging 'collar' from the Ozengell Anglo-Saxon collection.

Posted 4th July 2023

Myself and our new student placement Niamh have been busy cataloging more of the Ozengell Anglo-Saxon collection this week.

KAS Curator Andy Ward shares a 3D model of a large clay loomweight excavated from a Neolithic to Bronze Age site in Faversham.

Posted 21st July 2023

Curator Andy Ward shares some animal bone recovered from the Otford Roman villa site.

Posted 23rd June 2023

It's been an interesting day identifying animal bones on the Otford Roman Villa site. This very large bone is the right humerus of a bovine, probably a cow. You can spot it's the right hand side by looking at the Anterior View (1st image) and seeing the curve from the bottom left to right.