Mine is a cautionary tale of curiosity and the place it can lead you to. My name is Glyn and I work for National Museums Liverpool. I came to this project some 12-16 months ago, and it has hooked me ever since. By education I am a historian and we have always viewed archaeologists with a certain degree of amused disdain. To a historian, comfortable in the ivory towers of academic libraries and offices with central heating and coffee machines, it is almost inexplicable why anybody would wish to spend weeks stood in a muddy hole on a barren windswept part of North Wales or the Outer Hebrides. Some historians, like David Tennant’s Doctor Who, can “point and laugh at archaeologists”.
I should admit that I had participated in a couple of months of a “Dummies Guide to Archaeology” when I was at University so I had a miniscule grasp of it on one level. Besides, I had watched a lot of Time Team down the years which I found to be instructive, entertaining and occasionally hilarious in the way it takes best guesses and runs with them as total historical certainty! However, that was the sum of my archaeological experience when I decided to volunteer to work on the Merseyside Archaeological Society’s Rainford’s Roots project.
With the confidence born of an academic background I downplayed the fact I had never been to Rainford. To be completely upfront I wasn’t entirely sure where Rainford was! I knew absolutely nothing about the existence of late 16th Century yellow ware or 17th century pipe making nor did I have the slightest clue that saggers (kiln furniture) even existed (beyond being the NATO code name for an old Soviet Air to Air missile system!). I didn’t do major research before joining up……actually I did no research at all! To National Museums Liverpool Field Archaeology Unit who host the project my lack of knowledge or experience was irrelevant. I was swiftly invited to join the Rainford’s Roots team, despite being a historian!
I carried out the archaeological activities you don’t see Tony Robinson involve himself with, such as washing, sorting and describing each small sherd of pottery before entering it on a database and photographing it. I learned about Post Medieval clay pipes and pottery and their manufacturing processes from some very patient archaeologists and volunteers who actually knew what they were doing! I have always found these people useful companions in such endeavours.
You are probably saying to yourself “Hang on a minute, wouldn’t trying to rebuild shattered pots drive you to return to being a historian?” Yes, under normal circumstances, it would! However the Rainford’s Roots project circumvents this possibility by having some truly remarkable team bonding. The make up of the team differs from session to session but is usually a mix of university students, keen amateur archaeologists, retired Rainford residents and “Usual Suspects” like me. Everyone is made to feel very welcome and accepted regardless of experience and there is a wonderful camaraderie that makes the whole experience enjoyable. I have made several strong friendships through this unlikely route.
I have even been to Rainford! Rainford, it turns out, is a village just outside St Helens and much to my own disbelief I have actually taken part in digging in Rainford. I was able to enjoy the full “archaeological experience” because on the first day I attended the weather was terrible. I became cold, wet and quite miserable for the pleasure of unearthing the skeleton of an animal that has still not been convincingly identified to my satisfaction! I became wetter still by taking some serious building measurements whilst acrobatically trying not to fall into the strategically placed rosebush! On my second day on site (yes, I did persist with it) it was boiling hot, the trench was making no sense to anyone and just to keep up my skill of putting the “rain” into Rainford, the heavens opened just as I was about to head home.
Has all this made me an archaeologist? No! I can now distinguish between a fragment of 1970s Coke bottle from a piece of 1650’s dark glazed pot and I can sound knowledgeable about the economic import of turf in Southern Lancashire (the “benefits” of aiding with background historical research to the project) but that still leaves me far from being a true archaeologist.
Would I recommend being involved in the Rainford’s Roots project? Yes, absolutely I would because it’s a great experience.
I should admit that I had participated in a couple of months of a “Dummies Guide to Archaeology” when I was at University so I had a miniscule grasp of it on one level. Besides, I had watched a lot of Time Team down the years which I found to be instructive, entertaining and occasionally hilarious in the way it takes best guesses and runs with them as total historical certainty! However, that was the sum of my archaeological experience when I decided to volunteer to work on the Merseyside Archaeological Society’s Rainford’s Roots project.
With the confidence born of an academic background I downplayed the fact I had never been to Rainford. To be completely upfront I wasn’t entirely sure where Rainford was! I knew absolutely nothing about the existence of late 16th Century yellow ware or 17th century pipe making nor did I have the slightest clue that saggers (kiln furniture) even existed (beyond being the NATO code name for an old Soviet Air to Air missile system!). I didn’t do major research before joining up……actually I did no research at all! To National Museums Liverpool Field Archaeology Unit who host the project my lack of knowledge or experience was irrelevant. I was swiftly invited to join the Rainford’s Roots team, despite being a historian!
I carried out the archaeological activities you don’t see Tony Robinson involve himself with, such as washing, sorting and describing each small sherd of pottery before entering it on a database and photographing it. I learned about Post Medieval clay pipes and pottery and their manufacturing processes from some very patient archaeologists and volunteers who actually knew what they were doing! I have always found these people useful companions in such endeavours.
You are probably saying to yourself “Hang on a minute, wouldn’t trying to rebuild shattered pots drive you to return to being a historian?” Yes, under normal circumstances, it would! However the Rainford’s Roots project circumvents this possibility by having some truly remarkable team bonding. The make up of the team differs from session to session but is usually a mix of university students, keen amateur archaeologists, retired Rainford residents and “Usual Suspects” like me. Everyone is made to feel very welcome and accepted regardless of experience and there is a wonderful camaraderie that makes the whole experience enjoyable. I have made several strong friendships through this unlikely route.
I have even been to Rainford! Rainford, it turns out, is a village just outside St Helens and much to my own disbelief I have actually taken part in digging in Rainford. I was able to enjoy the full “archaeological experience” because on the first day I attended the weather was terrible. I became cold, wet and quite miserable for the pleasure of unearthing the skeleton of an animal that has still not been convincingly identified to my satisfaction! I became wetter still by taking some serious building measurements whilst acrobatically trying not to fall into the strategically placed rosebush! On my second day on site (yes, I did persist with it) it was boiling hot, the trench was making no sense to anyone and just to keep up my skill of putting the “rain” into Rainford, the heavens opened just as I was about to head home.
Has all this made me an archaeologist? No! I can now distinguish between a fragment of 1970s Coke bottle from a piece of 1650’s dark glazed pot and I can sound knowledgeable about the economic import of turf in Southern Lancashire (the “benefits” of aiding with background historical research to the project) but that still leaves me far from being a true archaeologist.
Would I recommend being involved in the Rainford’s Roots project? Yes, absolutely I would because it’s a great experience.