A Standard for Pottery Studies in Archaeology

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Has now been published, click here to download a pdf copy.

This document was compiled by the three period-specific pottery study groups (PCRG, SGRP, MPRG) grant aided by Historic England with the aim of creating the first, comprehensive, inclusive standard for working with pottery from archaeological excavations. The Standard is intended for use in all types of archaeological project, including those run by community groups, professional contractors and research institutions.

The Standard covers the various stages of an archaeological project from planning and data collection through to report writing and archiving, with the intention of informing not only pottery specialists but also those who manage and monitor projects.

The Windmills and Watermills of Wirral: A Historical Survey

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By Rowan Patel. Pbk 263 pages – 220 illustrations. Countywise Ltd 2016. ISBN 9781910352106. Click here to download a synopsis. Available directly from the author Rowan Patel (rowangp@yahoo.co.uk) for £19.95 + £3.50 P&P.

Gorse Stacks – 2000 Years of Quarrying and Waste Disposal in Chester

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By Richard Cuttler, Sam Hepburn, Chris Hewitson and Kristina Krawiec.  iii+197 pages. Oxford: Archaeopress. (BAR Brit Ser 563)  2012. ISBN 9781407310015. ISBN 978140731001538.00.
The site of Delamere Street lies just outside the north gate of  Roman and medieval Chester and in recent years has been subject to intensive investigation as part of the Gorse Stacks development. This publication represents the culmination of the investigations carried out by Birmingham Archaeology during 2006 and 2008.
The excavation produced evidence for another probable Roman legionary, G(aius)
V[al(erius] | Pud[ens] | Maceia (tribu), who inscribed his name on the base of  an orange ware jar (from Holt?) before it was fired in the late first or early second century. delamerestreet_r_graffito_g4_web

The nomen Valerius is frequent in Italy and southern Gaul and is typical of legionaries in the early empire, including Roman Inscriptions of Britain 1,  478?80, 539, 541 and 542 from Chester. The cognomen Pudens is also common, again including L(ucius) Valerius Pud[ens] from Chester (RIB 1, 542).  (After R Tomlin, pages 65?6).

Mapping the Medieval City: Space, Place and Identity in Chester c 1200 – 1600

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By Catherine Clarke. University of Wales Press 2011.

This ground-breaking volume brings together contributions from scholars across a range of disciplines (including literary studies, history, geography and archaeology) to investigate questions of space, place and identity in the medieval city. Using Chester as a case study ? with attention to its location on the border between England and Wales, its rich multilingual culture and surviving material fabric? the essays seek to recover the experience and understanding of the urban space by individuals and groups within the medieval city, and to offer new readings from the vantage point of twenty-first century disciplinary and theoretical perspectives.

Normal price £48; exclusive 20% discount for members (£38.40, plus £ p&p).  Download an order form here.
For more on this project,  see   www.medievalchester.ac.uk.

Conference to celebrate 30 years of World Heritage site status for Stonehenge and Avebury

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This conference will be held on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th November 2016, click here for more information

Recent Roman discoveries in NW Wales

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CAS lecture by David Hopewell (Gwynedd Archaeological Trust/Ymddiriedolaeth Archaeolegol Gwynedd) on Saturday 3rd December 2016 at 2:30pm in the Lecture Theatre of the Grosvenor Museum.  For more information visit our lecture programme page

A Standard for Pottery Studies in Archaeology

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has just been published, click  here for more information and access to a pdf version of the document

BBC Earth website article: Great Orme Bronze Age copper mines

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Click here to download this interesting article which uses some information from an interview with Alan Williams

Repairs and improvements to the Propylaeum will commence 22 February 2016

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Extensive investigations, archaeological excavations and surveys were commissioned by Cheshire West and Chester Council to inform the programme of repairs and restoration for the structure. The proposals have been designed in full by Ramboll Structural Engineers in consultation with Historic England.  Scheduled Monument and Listed Building Consent have been secured to implement the proposals.

The work will extend over several months with anticipated completion in late summer 2016. The work will be phased to minimise disruption during the construction process. it is hoped that the entrance will remain open for the majority of the works.  There will be short periods of time when the entrance will be closed for public safety, during which the exit will be utilised as an entrance and exit as per previous times when the entrance has been closed off.

Click here to read further information about this work.

2015 Dissertation Prize Awarded

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The Chester Archaeological Society is pleased to announce that David James Laverty has been awarded the Society’s dissertation prize for 2015 for his dissertation “The Search for Mithras in Roman Britain: A Reassessment of the Archaeological Evidence”.

The Society offers an annual prize of £100 to students in the Department of History and Archaeology at Chester University for the best final year archaeology dissertation, preferably on a local subject.  The winner is invited to submit an edited version of the dissertation for publication in the Society’s Journal.

Click  here to read a synopsis of this dissertation.

For more information please read our  Grants & Awards page.