The project is part of Collusion’s SHAPE Hub programme. With thanks to funding from University of Cambridge Department of Archaeology, Cambridge Collections Connections Communities (CCC) and the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
Check out the installation at Everyspace, March Library 18th April to 15th May. Entry is free and the installation is open during normal library opening hours. Fen to Fire was created by digital artist Guy Schofield with the Cambridge Archaeological Unit and pupils from Cromwell Community College.
Fen to Fire brings to life the Must Farm pile-dwelling settlement, showing activity from construction to destruction. Each run-through is different with varied activities, events, weather and camera angles while the seasons change over time. The cause of the site’s fiery demise can also vary.
Fen to Fire is part of @incollusion.bsky.social SHAPE Hub programme with thanks to funding from @cam-archaeology.bsky.social @camglamresearch.bsky.social and the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
Visitors can experience the full installation, comprising the main digital artwork alongside interpretation and behind-the-scenes films offering a window into both the Bronze Age world and the creative process behind the work.
Using 3D modelling and motion capture Fen to Fire imagines what life might have been like 3,000 years ago at this amazing site. Located at Everyspace, March Library between 18th April to 15th May, entry is free and the installation is open during normal library opening hours.
We are excited to announce the launch of Fen to Fire, a living reconstruction of the Late Bronze Age Must Farm pile-dwelling settlement that we’ve worked to create with digital artist Guy Schofield and pupils from Cromwell Community College in Chatteris.
Front cover of the book
@cambridgearch.bsky.social Head of Finds Dr Emily Banfield has published a chapter "And Say the Animal Responded?" in the new edited volume "Beast and Human: Case Studies for Northern Europe from Prehistoric to Early Modern Times"
Read more: www.arch.cam.ac.uk/news/and-say...
The handle CAU wasn't available so we have always had our display name as Cambridge Archaeological Unit
We are the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, which carries out development-led archaeological work. The Department of Archaeology is the teaching, research and academic Department which has been ranked. We are part of the Department but our focus is on excavations rather than teaching.
Thanks for the tag, it's @cam-archaeology.bsky.social for the Department (we're part of the Dept, but don't want to be taking their very well deserved credit!)
Containing only a handful of small pottery fragments, consistent with Neolithic fragments, it is hoped more accurate dating can be carried out on charcoal recovered from samples.
Excavations at Needingworth Quarry, Cambridgeshire discovered this probable Neolithic house. Measuring roughly 10m by 7m and composed of both narrow beam-slots and postholes, its architecture broadly matches other known structures from the UK.
Happy to share more information once it has been analysed and written up in post-excavation.
We might be able to dig out another interesting discovery tomorrow...
Nothing more satisfying than capturing this on a nice sheet of crisp permatrace!
This photograph of the section from a slot through the archaeology of a Middle Bronze Age enclosure from Needingworth Quarry shows the fascinating sequence that has built up over its lifetime. A sharp 6H pencil was required for its drawing!
The test pit shows the topsoil, medieval/post-medieval flooding in thick alluvial clays, layers deposited when the area was covered by a late prehistoric lake, a thin band of black organic material from rising groundwater levels and preserved buried soils from the prehistoric land surface.
It’s always satisfying to work with good stratigraphy as this section of deposits, representing a sequence where the landscape is dipping into a hollow, from Needingworth Quarry highlights. Understanding this profile provides vital information that helps to unpick the story of a site and landscape.
This cask cant, a part of a multi-board cask head, was discovered at Needingworth Quarry, Cambridgeshire and featured incised merchant’s marks and a burnt/branded probable cooper’s mark. The cant was made from a slow grown local oak that was felled after AD 1606.
Excavations at Needingworth Quarry, Cambridgeshire have revealed areas of prehistoric hoofprints. Identifiable as the hoofprints were pressed through a dark organic silt into the pale deposit underneath they date to between the Late Bronze Age and Late Iron Age and are thought to be bovid.
This corner of a ditch was tied into the Middle Bronze Age field systems at Needingworth Quarry, Cambridgeshire. Bounding a field this ditch marked the edge of the system with unenclosed land, potentially used as pasture during prehistory, opening up beyond.
A Middle Bronze Age dirk/rapier was discovered during test-pitting at Needingworth Quarry, Cambridgeshire. Found at the edge of a field system where the landscape was dropping off into a wet and marshy area, its location is consistent with Bronze Age deposition practices.
This prehistoric watering hole contained a large deposit of animal bone, consisting of 530 pieces weighing over 20kg. Discovered at Needingworth Quarry, Cambridgeshire evidence suggests the feature had been associated with the processing of animal products, a process that required standing water.
This cluster of pits from Needingworth Quarry, Cambridgeshire produced no finds, meaning they couldn’t be easily dated during the excavation. Likely prehistoric, based on the surrounding archaeology, the pits highlight how challenging interpreting sites can be in the field.
Excavations at the Brice Aggregates Needingworth Quarry, Cambridgeshire uncovered this prehistoric pit well that contained a log ladder. At one end of the ladder a length of side branch had been left intact and placed downwards with the branch acting as a strut to support the foot of the ladder.
If you’re interested in archaeology a lot of our publications are available free to download from the University of Cambridge’s Apollo Repository, including the Must Farm pile-dwelling settlement volumes. Volume I has nearly reached 18,000 downloads! doi.org/10.17863/CAM...
One of our most exciting discoveries was the amazing Trumpington Cross. Made from gold and garnets it dates to the late 7th century AD and was found with the skeleton of a female buried on top of a bed. Find out more in the free book Riversides available online: doi.org/10.17863/CAM...
It’s that time of year when archaeological sites are haunted by a terrifying spectre. If you head visit a site, be sure to keep an eye out for a ghostly sheet that can appear to provide shade for photos.
There's been a number of finds over the years that have been very tempting as the basis for a tattoo but I've always resisted... so far!
