Archeology Research Group Minutes - 5th October 2024

Minutes of the Archaeology Research Group (ARG) meeting held online on the 5th October 2024

Archaeology Research Group meeting minutes

Date of Meeting: 5th October 2024

Meeting Time: 10am – 12 noon, held via MS Teams

Meeting starts: 10.05am

Meeting finishes: 11.43am

Attending: Keith Parfitt (KP), Anne Sassin (AS), Clive Drew (CD), Andy Ward (AW), Kevin Fromings (KF)

Apologies: Richard Taylor (RT), Chris Blair-Myers (CBM), Alexander Read (AR), Grace Conium (GC)

1.     Welcome

A.     KP Welcomed the meeting at 10:05am. Modern technology worked well

2.     Acceptance of the Minutes of 27th April 2024 – Accepted via email and uploaded to the KAS website; AW now has access to do this directly.

3.     Conferences

A.     Forum 2025; Current Challenges facing archaeology in Kent

B.     Conference 2024

                                          i.     9th November 2024; venue booked and Speaker highlight for Gerald and Kevin released, waiting on remaining abstracts. Tickets currently at 34 sold!

                                         ii.     Currently at 34 tickets sold out of 80.

                                       iii.     Confirm with speakers happiness to be recorded & Archiving

C.     2025; Metal detecting and archaeology

                                          i.     Form circulated to Metal Detectorists about what detectorists know about Archaeologists & Vice-a-versa.

                                         ii.     Overall impression is that both camps know very little about how each group works.

                                       iii.     Short talks supplemented by displays in line with Dover Museum Roadshow; suggested talks:

1.     LEGISE on Field Recording; system they have had in place for a number of years.

2.     FLO

3.     Detecting on an archaeological site & Archaeologists on detecting permissions

4.     Displays from local groups & Detecting groups

Potential Venue:

5.     Maidstone Museum or Aylesford Priory. One room at Aylesford holds 120 people with break out room, earlier booking would be best. Maidstone Museum has a new events and community officer (Erika Balban) who would be very happy to liaise and host at the museum.

Branding:

6.     LEGISE & KAS joint Conference

Comments:

Anne fed back concern from some volunteers about pricing of conferences. Fieldwork conference is set at £15.00 for KAS members and £20.00 for non-members. Place Names conference set at £15.00 for both. Prices are always considered taking into account venue hire, number of seats etc.

D.     Other Events

                                          i.     KAS Zoom Talks

1.     Fully booked until May 2025

2.     AS happy to add Darent Valley Landscape topics to 2025/2026 schedule.

3.     CD has raised suggestion of Recording System talks

4.     Budgets

A.     Budget approved.

B.     Up to £1000, beyond subject to Trustee agreement.

C.     AS raised issue of joint CBA South East / KAS Conference profit payment – This is to be paid at the next payment run.

5.     Grant Applications and Payments

A.    Sedgebrook (Plaxtol) Roman Villa Pottery Illustration

                                          i.     KT observed that the membership does not appear to have illustrative members anymore. AW did raise we have Student Placement and could do the drawing in house, but that wider education is needed.

6.     Sub-Research Groups Update

A.     Pottery:

                                          i.     CD & CBM have pulled together information regarding an Italian Study which has pulled together 23,000 Roman pottery forms.

                                         ii.     Discussions also happening with Ed Biddulph and the Roman Pottery Studies Group.

                                       iii.     CD has also talked to Historic England about their former project unifying studies code. Things to likely gather pace next year.

                                       iv.     Beneficial for local societies to have a rudimentary understanding of common pottery types which a reference collection would help with.

7.     Fieldwork Projects

A.     Lees Court

                                          i.     KP reported the society had a good year in 2024. Cleared two chunks of the large ring ditch, with 2.6m depth in places. Confirmed ditch construction of pits with baulk removed to form segments. Comparable with Stonehenge ditch suggesting further at Neolithic date.  Over 30 sherds of decorated Neolithic Mortlake Ware (3300 – 2700 BC) from the middle fills of the ditch. Struck flints in ‘nests’ found at multiple levels in the floor of the ditch.

                                         ii.     Late cremations from 2023: Two successive cremation events at a point where the ditch had mostly filled up and was only a meter or so deep on the south-east side. Radiocarbon dating of Charcoal: 1610 – 1425 BC, placing it in Very late Early Bronze Age or Early Middle Bronze Age. Hints at revisiting of mound over 1000 years after its construction.

                                       iii.     Cremation deposit from 2024: Found on the opposite side of the cremations from last year. Louise Jessop (Volunteer) is fairly confident in saying they are animal teeth being recovered rather than human. Needs to be finalised by Osteologist.

                                       iv.     Holy Grove Barrow: Ditch put across outer ditch of upstanding barrow; mostly produced late Bronze Age pottery from hill wash.

                                         v.     2025: Plans to investigate upstanding barrow in the woodland on the other side of the valley.

                                       vi.     Stringman’s Farm History Study: Set up this year, led by Corrine (PhD in History and Theology) to research both Stringman’s Farm and Woods Court Farm. Auxiliary unit activity in the surrounding area, platoon leader for nearest unit lived at Stringman’s Farm; hideout nearby.

                                      vii.     Flint being catalogued by AW and volunteer with Barry Bishop scheduled to carry out the flint report.

B.     Trosley Court

                                          i.     Members were unsure exactly why Trosley had been cancelled. Feedback would have been preferred for a fuller explanation.

                                         ii.     Tenant farmer has apparently placed a fence and wildflowers down the length of the bridleway.

                                       iii.     Finds archive from 2023 and 2022 being catalogued by a volunteer Dr John Hawthorn.

C.     Lympne Roman Pharos

                                          i.     Supported SHAL on the site. DAG joined in on a few days. The site is incredibly important and requires a high level of excavation and management oversite.

                                         ii.     1.85m wall, made of mortared stone found which must pre-date the coins found in a bit beneath it dating from c. 275 AD onwards.

                                       iii.     Large probable Lime-Kiln feature likely of Late Medieval – Post Medieval date.

                                       iv.     Metalwork being recorded by AW and coins by David Holman and Dr Sam Moorhead.

                                         v.     Report to be put together by RT in 2025 with suspension of digging activities during ’25.

8.     Any Other Business

A.     Kent Downs Heritage at Risk Project – To be raised next time.

B.     Ozengell & Minster (Abby Farm) Villa publications – In conversation with Thanet Trust.

C.     Sedgebrook Villa Publication – ongoing, ideally due by c. 2025.

D.     Lenham Hoard Sold at Auction: Split up at auction and sold individually. THE LENHAM HOARD OF IRON AGE GOLD STATERS... | Noonans Mayfair & The Lenham Hoard of Iron Age Coins: Foreword | Noonans Mayfair

E.     Gold Stater – Requesting coin through Accessions Panel.

F.     Museum Accreditation – Ongoing process, Constitution needs loading on the Charity Commission website; Rebecca Fletcher (deputy manager) is in communication with the commission (apparently there are 15 days following AGM to submit). Eligibility questionnaire is prepared and will be uploaded to Arts Council England when approve – Confirmed that deadline for uploading constitution to Charity Commission was 31st October 2024; constitution uploaded before this and awaiting approval by Commission.

G.     Collection Management System; ongoing with two options being considered subject to costing; Axiell Collections and System Simulation. Requires funding and trustee approval to move forward. An in-house bespoke option is also being considered.

H.    Nominations for new members to be sent.

9.     Next Meeting Date – January TBC