This week has been really interesting for me as I have not only been able to work in different departments but also, have had the opportunity to work with archaeological artefacts. On Wednesday and Thursday I spent some time in the Finds Office which deals with objects discovered on site. On Wednesday I washed a very large amount of objects from an excavation in Kent. Although the process may sound laborious, I found it really fascinating. Transforming clods of what just looked like dirt into fragments of Roman pottery or animal bones was an incredible experience. It’s amazing to think that so many of these items lie beneath our feet without our knowledge.
The finds objects also have to be marked with ink, which is an extremely messy process! As most pens aren’t up to this challenge, you have to use a pot of ink and a sort of quill in order to mark them. Still, this process isn’t even completely successful; a lot of the items begin to erode when scratched with the nib of the pen. During my time with finds, I have also learnt that I am obsessed with worked flint. Out of all of the objects I handled, this was by far my favourite; I love its texture and the semi-translucent appearance. If it was up to me, I would mark and catalogue flint all day, every day. Instead, I am looking forward to trying out different things next week and possibly discovering another new favourite thing!
By Hannah Lamarque