10,000 years in the life of the river Wandle: excavations at the former Vinamul site, Butter Hill, Wallington

Archaeological excavations alongside the river Wandle in Wallington produced evidence of the environmental history and human exploitation of the area. The recovery of a large assemblage of struck flint provided information on the nature of the prehistoric activities represented, while a detailed environmental archaeological programme permitted an examination of both the local sediment successions and thus an opportunity to reconstruct the environmental history of the site. The site revealed a complex sedimentary sequence deposited in riverine conditions, commencing during the early Holocene (from c 10,000 years before present) and continuing through the late Holocene (c last 3000 years). Large flint nodules were washed by the river onto the site where they were procured and worked by Mesolithic and Bronze Age communities. Potentially usable nodules had been tested, and suitable pieces completely reduced, while the majority of useful flakes and blades had been removed for use elsewhere. Small numbers of retouched pieces, such as scrapers and piercers, indicate that domestic activities took place nearby. By the Saxon period the site had begun to stabilise, although it remained marshy and probably peripheral to habitation. Two pits from this period were excavated, one of which contained an antler pick. A small quantity of cereal grain also suggests that cultivated land lay in the vicinity of the site. During the 19th century a mill race was dug across the site, redirecting water from the river Wandle, which resulted in episodic flooding.

Sub-surface terahertz imaging through uneven surfaces: visualizing Neolithic wall paintings in Çatalhöyük

Pulsed terahertz imaging is being developed as a technique to image obscured mural paintings. Due to significant advances in terahertz technology, portable systems are now capable of operating in unregulated environments and this has prompted their use on archaeological excavations. August 2011 saw the first use of pulsed terahertz imaging at the archaeological site of Çatalhöyük, Turkey, where mural paintings dating from the Neolithic period are continuously being uncovered by archaeologists. In these particular paintings the paint is applied onto an uneven surface, and then covered by an equally uneven surface. Traditional terahertz data analysis has proven unsuccessful at sub-surface imaging of these paintings due to the effect of these uneven surfaces. For the first time, an image processing technique is presented, based around Gaussian beam-mode coupling, which enables the visualization of the obscured painting.

Thin place exhibition

Thin Place is an interdisciplinary project which aims to find connections between the fields of art, archaeology, astrophysics, astrology, alternative therapy, poetry and theology. The nature of this project goes beyond the exhibition and incorporates a symposium, catalogue and education programme which will attempt to dissolve the boundaries that separate fields of knowledge and, in so doing, create a thin place at Oriel Myrddin. The five exhibiting artists and the other contributors to this project have produced work that is concerned with or responds to two particular locations: West Wales and the West of Ireland. In ancient times it was believed that the West was where departed souls easily entered Otherworlds. This is because the delineation between worlds was more permeable along these coasts. Archaeological excavations reveal that West Wales and the West of Ireland were thought by some to be ‘thin places.’ In considering the notion of a ‘thin place’, this exhibition addresses the ways in which we value our relationship with Place, particularly in landscapes where human and non-human relationships are well established.