Bective excavations Blog

Preliminary Report 2011 Available Here

Bective — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:51:41 +0000

Preliminary report on the third season of archaeological excavations at Bective Abbey, County Meath, 2011 (E4028)

Bective2011

Bective Abbey Project Podcasts

Bective — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:00:29 +0000

After the Party Comes the Paperwork Click this link to stream the podcast online.

To download to your iPod, iPhone, or iTunes, search the word ‘bective’ on the iTunes store in the podcast section.

http://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/bective-abbey-project-podcast/id455910931

The Bective Abbey research excavation is what the Director of the site, Dr Geraldine Stout refers to as ‘Slow’ archaeology. This low-tech traditional excavation is a million miles away from the TV’s Time Team and is in many ways as much a social experiment as it is research project. This series will allow the listener to join in on the discovery of new things about Bective Abbey and it’s surroundings; learn alongside the site’s student volunteers; take a visit to and hear from the experts showcasing many of Meath’s Heritage sites, and most of all listen in on the hard-earned tea breaks, end-of-day pints and on-site ‘craic’.

As the time approaches to close the Bective Abbey Cuttings for another year, this episode will outline the results of the summer project. We will hear from the staff and students about their experience on the site, the highs and the lows, the weather, and most importantly the gossip. The episode will include highlights from the traditional sing-song at the world famous end-of-dig party. Finally, in the days after the excavation we catch up with the Director of the Site, Dr Geraldine Stout, as she begins the laborious paperwork that inevitably follows the project. We will hear about her take on the success of the project and the plans for next year.

This podcast is an action of the County Meath Heritage Plan 2007-2011

supported by Meath County Council.

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think of the podcasts.

Bective Abbey Project Podcasts

Bective — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:24:31 +0000

Time to Bring in the White Coats Click this link to stream the podcast online.

To download to your iPod, iPhone, or iTunes, search the word ‘bective’ on the iTunes store in the podcast section.

http://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/bective-abbey-project-podcast/id455910931

The Bective Abbey research excavation is what the Co-Director of the site, Dr Geraldine Stout refers to as ‘Slow’ archaeology. This low-tech traditional excavation is a million miles away from the TV’s Time Team and is in many ways as much a social experiment as it is research project. This series will allow the listener to join in on the discovery of new things about Bective Abbey and it’s surroundings; learn alongside the site’s student volunteers; take a visit to and hear from the experts showcasing many of Meath’s Heritage sites, and most of all listen in on the hard-earned tea breaks, end-of-day pints and on-site ‘craic’.

A major aspect of the Bective Abbey Project is educating third level student about traditional and more modern archaeological practices. This episode will include portion of lectures from various specialists brought in to lend their knowledge to the various discoveries on the site. We will hear from experts such as the ‘bone woman’, about what the items discovered on the site tell us about the lives of the monks who once lived in Bective Abbey.

This podcast is an action of the County Meath

Heritage Plan 2007-2011 supported by Meath County Council.

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think of the podcasts.

Bective Abbey Project Podcasts

Bective — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 01:00:52 +0000

Diggers On Tour Click this link to stream the podcast online.

To download to your iPod, iPhone, or iTunes, search the word ‘bective’ on the iTunes store in the podcast section.

http://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/bective-abbey-project-podcast/id455910931

In this episode the staff and volunteers go on tour. The episode will include visits to heritage locations in and around County Meath including Trim Castle, Brú na Bóinne and Newgrange. We will also visit the IAFS research excavations at Blackfriary in Trim and learn of their new discoveries.

This podcast is an action of the County Meath

Heritage Plan 2007-2011 supported by Meath County Council.

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think of the podcasts.

After a busy month excavating, Geraldine and Matthew Stout return home to listen to the Bective Abbey Project Podcasts.

Bective Abbey Project Podcasts

Bective — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:00:33 +0000

A Day in the Life of a Digger Click this link to stream the podcast online.

To download to your iPod, iPhone, or iTunes, search the word ‘bective’ on the iTunes store in the podcast section.

http://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/bective-abbey-project-podcast/id455910931

In the first episode we will document a typical day on a research excavation in a rain-prone Ireland. We meet the ‘old school’ archaeologists and new students as they arrive on the site. This episode introduces the feature series’Pièce de résistance, our very own ‘Confession Portaloo’, where the team will be encouraged to share their every experience and perhaps grievance with the microphone in an effort to enhance the comical/social experiment aspect of the dig. A Day in the Life of a Digger will take the listener from the aching muscles in the morning to the all important tea break all the way to ‘down tools’ and a pint at Crockets in Bective village.

This podcast is an action of the County Meath

Heritage Plan 2007-2011 supported by Meath County Council.

Day 20 – A daybreak start and party finish

Bective — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 22:12:56 +0000

We arrived early on site to complete the last bit of planning and to spend some quite time contemplating on what this season had uncovered. Most of the team worked at organising equipment in the cottage and processing the last of the finds. We welcomed some last minute visitors including Loreto Guinan, Heritage officer for County Meath and Marie Bourke, keeper of the National Gallery with her husband Barry. Marie also proved to be a great goal- keeper after lunch when we had our soccer match. The Office of Public Works came to backfill our site and we are very grateful to them for that. In the evening we had a wonderful barbecue at nearby Bective Mill organised by a great friend of the project, Oliver Delany. There was plenty of ceol and craic with specially penned songs from both Oisin and Noel. Have a listen to these on the Bective Abbey project podcasts. The co-directors would like to thank the team for an excellent season. Roll on 2012!

Excavation crew take their last look into cutting H.

Last minute recording.

Jordan (standing centre) cuts her farewell cake before moving on to a prehistoric excavation in Cyprus. Loreto Guinan (sitting centre) visits the site on the final day. Loreto is the Heritage Officer for Meath County Council.

Countdown to podcast – 4 days

Bective — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:02:48 +0000

Day 19 – The final countdown

Bective — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 13:42:33 +0000

Noel and rob take out the core of the tower revealing the drain running beneath it.

The 2011 excavation at Bective abbey told us a great deal about the building sequence in the south precinct. The oldest building we have uncovered this season is the south- west corner of a well-built masonry structure with a paved drain running through it into a yard. There is evidence for intense burning inside this building suggesting that it may have been for industrial use or that it may have burnt down. In it we found a range of medieval pottery, local and French with textile, bronze and oyster shells. This building stood next to an open-sided, slate-roofed barn with oak uprights where the Cistercian community stored their cereal, ploughs and kiln. Some of the cereal found its way into the outside drain. The monastic community constructed another masonry building to the west, which cut through kiln waste. Subsequently, a number of compartments were added including a square building, possibly a garderobe and a circular entrance passage.

At the end of the day the survey tapes were removed and final record photos were taken. This photo shows the curved building in Cutting H.

A complex sequence of buildings was revealed in Cutting H.

The drain lies below (and therefore predates) the burnt layers associated with the post-pad supported, open-sided farm shed.

The east face of Cutting H lies beneath charcoal layers and predates the buildings on the right.

The drain is badly damaged north of the tower. Here it can be seen passing beneath the building just revealed in the north section face.

Finds

Bective — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 13:24:05 +0000

Lorna Lacey took photographs of the finds from the excavation, here is a sample.

Animal bones washed and set out to dry.

Stone molding.

Spout from a medieval jug.

Medieval pottery typical of the ware found at Bective Abbey.

Decorated medieval pot sherd.

Floor tile.

Floor tile showing a griffin rampant. This motif seems to be new to Ireland.

Badly degraded silver coin from the curved tower in Cutting J (top). This is probably a silver penny of Henry III (1247–72) like this well preserved example from England (bottom).

A sherd of medieval French pottery.

Countdown to Podcast – 5 days

Bective — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 12:25:02 +0000

The first of four Bective Abbey Project Podcasts airs Friday night, 12 August. The podcasts are produced by Nóra Stout and funded by Meath County Council.