Castle Hill Community Dig Blog 2: A successful first week…

The first thing to say is, we have archaeology, lots of archaeology. Last Thursday, in thick fog I supervised the digger machining open the three trenches that we will be investigating over the next couple of weeks. This is a tense moment. Before you break ground, you have no idea what you’re going to find…

Castle Hill Community Dig Blog 1: A bit of background

Hi everyone, welcome to the first blog for the Castle Hill Community Excavation. Over the next couple of weeks we will be posting updates here and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ulasnews) to keep you up to date with what we are finding. First, a little bit about what we will be doing. What is happening? Leicester City…

New dig will explore story of Castle Hill

University of Leicester Archaeological Services will be working with Leicester City Council to explore an enigmatic monument in one of the city’s Country Parks. The ancient monument at the heart of Leicester’s Castle Hill Country Park is due to be investigated later this month as part of a community archaeological project. Leicester City Council and…

Injured soldiers work with ULAS staff in unique Cypriot archaeological project

UK Forces personnel, who have been injured mentally or physically on operations or in other circumstances, join university students and staff at ancient Roman harbour. A unique collaboration between archaeologists and injured Service personnel sees them pitted in a race against time to discover the secrets of an ancient Roman harbour in Cyprus before they…

Bronze Age barrow and Anglo-Saxon cemetery discovered at Rothley, Leicestershire

ULAS project investigates how different generations have re-used ancient sacred places. Archaeologists from the University of Leicester have recently excavated a Bronze Age barrow and Anglo-Saxon cemetery under former allotments at Rothley in Leicestershire. The project has offered a rare opportunity to investigate how different generations have re-used ancient sacred places, with Iron Age and…

Rare discovery of late Roman official buried in Leicester

Archaeologists from ULAS have recently excavated a late Roman cemetery at Western Road in Leicester’s West End. Amongst the eighty-three skeletons recorded by the team, one burial is proving to be very exciting. The simple grave in question had been dug into mudstone on the west bank of the River Soar, to the south-west of…

Free history day at Jewry Wall Museum this Sunday 10th July

This year’s Festival of Archaeology kicks off with an exciting free family friendly event at Jewry Wall Museum in Leicester called ‘Bringing Our Past To Life’ on Sunday July 10th (11am-4pm). The event draws on the tradition of popular events at the Museum in the late 1980’s and 90’s that are fondly remembered by many…

Bradgate Park excavations to be revealed at archaeology discovery day

Free public event to explore new findings at popular attraction on Sunday 3 July. Members of the public are invited to learn about the latest archaeological discoveries being made by our University’s Archaeology fieldschool at Bradgate Park, Leicestershire, during a free family Open Day on Sunday 3 July between 11.00am – 4.00pm. Academics, professional archaeologists and students…

New discoveries made at Jewry Wall Museum

ULAS archaeologists discover more hidden history at Jewry Wall Roman Baths. Archaeologists from the University of Leicester have uncovered a wealth of history hidden beneath the earth around the Jewry Wall Museum. The team from ULAS, led by Gavin Speed, has already unearthed Roman walls, pottery and human remains during exploratory work at the popular…

Archaeologists digitally reconstruct King Richard III’s grave

Archaeologists from the University of Leicester have used sophisticated photogrammetry software to create an interactive digital model of King Richard III’s grave. The fully rotatable computer model, created by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) shows the king’s remains in-situ as they were found during the 2012 archaeological excavation. Using photographs taken during the project,…

Herculaneum: Past Perfect, Future Conditional

LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETY presents on THURSDAY 10th MARCH, 7.30PM at NEW WALK MUSEUM, LEICESTER THE W. ALAN NORTH MEMORIAL LECTURE 2016 “HERCULANEUM: PAST PERFECT, FUTURE CONDITIONAL” A lecture by PROFESSOR ANDREW WALLACE-HADRILL University of Cambridge Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, OBE, FBA, FSA is Professor of Roman Studies and Director of Research in the Faculty…