When most people think of archaeological excavations, tangible artefacts such as pottery and coins spring to mind. Also of importance, yet often overlooked, are plant remains, such as cereal grains and seeds, and the remains of wood and charcoal. These can survive by mineralisation, charring or waterlogging, and are vital for archaeological study as they…
Tag: Leicester Cathedral Revealed
Leicester Cathedral Revealed – The Living Churchyard
We have talked a lot about the remarkable archaeological discoveries from Leicester Cathedral. About the Roman cellar ‘shrine’ and the altar stone, and about the thousand medieval and post-medieval burials, and we will talk about them further as new information comes from the analysis of the archaeological material and the human remains. Meanwhile, the assessment…
Leicester Cathedral Revealed –Roman pottery discoveries
During the excavations at Leicester Cathedral, a total of 5,540 sherds of Roman pottery were recovered dating from the beginning of Roman Leicester during the 1st century, through to the 4th century and the end of the Roman town. The pottery has all been assessed to determine how it can contribute to our understanding of…
Leicester Cathedral Revealed – Animal Bone Discoveries
In our latest blog from the Leicester Cathedral Revealed project, Environmental Supervisor William Johnson-Moss, tells us about the assessment of the animal bones and what they tell us about life in Leicester in the past. During the excavations at Leicester Cathedral a total of 10,516 fragments of animal bone were recovered. These came from features…
Leicester Cathedral Revealed – St Martin’s and the 1645 Siege of Leicester
Our team are nearing the end of their assessment of the archaeological material from the Leicester Cathedral Revealed excavation and will soon have lots of new information to share with us. In the meantime, excavation director Mathew Morris, takes a moment to reflect on the anniversary of one of the most violent events in the…
Leicester Cathedral Revealed – The story is in the stratigraphic sequence
Saying it’s been a wet winter is an understatement! It’s been terrible for archaeological excavations, with flooded sites, high water tables and mud, glorious mud! For Leicester Cathedral Uncovered, this has been a bit of a blessing, with staff, rained off other projects, devoting a considerable amount of their winter cleaning the skeletons from the…
Leicester Cathedral Revealed – Discovering more about John Wilson Ottey (1810 – 1851)
Over a year ago, we learnt about John Wilson Ottey (1810-1851) and uncovered what historical records can tell us about his life. John Ottey, one of a few of the named dead excavated from Leicester Cathedral, is well documented in newspapers for his youthful indiscretions. However, his death, many years later, marked him as a…
Leicester Cathedral Revealed – Leicester Uncovered
It’s been a while since we posted about the archaeology at Leicester Cathedral. The digging is now done and the project has moved into its post-excavation phase, and the Cathedral has reopened its doors to the public again. This is a good time, then, to resume our regular posts on the archaeological discoveries. In this…
Leicester Cathedral Revealed – a Roman shrine beneath the Cathedral?
Well, we have finished our excavation at Leicester Cathedral. It has been a long project, starting a year and a half ago in October 2021, and although it was a modest sized area, the dig has produced a remarkable amount of archaeological information which will allow us to tell the story of an area of…
Leicester Cathedral Revealed – A Curious Case of a Lead Coffin
Updated 18/10/2023. We have another exciting update from Leicester Cathedral. Project archaeologist, Amber Furmage, tells us more about the excavation of our first lead coffin and a newly named individual, Edward Entwistle Wilkinson (1796-1846). The coffin, recently found in the middle of the excavation area, was interred in one of the final burial rows in…
Leicester Cathedral Revealed – The Romans are coming!
Today is ULAS’s last day in 2022 digging at Leicester Cathedral, we will be back in the New Year to wrap up the excavation by mid-February if all goes to plan. Whilst the team shuts down the site for the Christmas break, excavation director Mathew Morris reveals some of the latest discoveries from the site….
Leicester Cathedral Revealed – The story so far
Our dig team has now been on site at Leicester Cathedral for over a year! This has included nine months of excavation within the footprint of the new Heritage Learning Centre as well as monitoring of other groundwork both inside and outside the Cathedral. Archaeological work is due to continue for another couple of months…
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