Mark Allen, Director and founder of AAL

Having been volunteered to write a blog post on why Lincoln is such a good place to come and work it took me back to my first few days in the city back in 1997 (blimey, 20 years ago!).

I had just finished work on a pipeline and had my contract extended, with accommodation thrown in at Lincoln. Despite having previously lived in Nottinghamshire (the county immediately to the west of Lincolnshire) I had no idea where Lincoln was! I soon tracked it down, booked my train ticket and headed there. At the station I was picked up by my then employer and taken to the accommodation, where I had to wait until the owner was tracked down to a local hostelry where he was slightly the worse for wear. Welcome to Lincoln I thought…

At the time the University had not yet begun its major programme of expansion and Lincoln was not in very good shape. On my first evening I randomly ended up in a rather rough pub that did not do food, so ate some out of date stale crisps, drank a beer and retired for the night on a very empty stomach vowing to leave this place as soon as possible.

Now I realise this is not exactly winning you over, but bear with me….

In the next few years the University (in fact Lincoln has two) oversaw a major programme of expansion which also saw significant investment in the city by retailers, restaurants, and of course pubs: got to cater for the increase in thirsty students. Almost overnight the city was transformed into a vibrant place to be, whilst retaining its sense of character and heritage.

Lincoln Cathedral – it’s pretty darn magnificent

The city is absolutely dominated by the Cathedral and to a lesser extent the castle, and these are located in the picturesque Bailgate area at the top of the hill (Lincolnshire is not flat!), which is steeped in Roman and later history. The Newport Arch is the only complete Roman gateway that you can still drive through. The quirky character of the city really shines through. Where else can you see the largest Steampunk festival in Europe one weekend and the next the famous clog and morris dancing festival (not to be missed!).

Steampunk in progress

This year Lincoln has been voted by university students as the cheapest place in the UK to live, and with its friendly vibe, really gets its hooks into you when you spend some time here. It is not quite on the tourist trail as is, say York, so you don’t get the heaving crowds in the summer, which is also nice.

So to summarise, come to Lincoln! It really is a great place, we have a top team of ultra-friendly people, and it’s cheap! Despite my initial foreboding, being here 20 years almost to the day, I cannot think of a better place to be.

By Richard Brennan, Project Archaeologist

As with all great archaeological discoveries this story begins with the final product, the 100% excavated feature in all of its glory, something uniquely special. You can see a large hole dug into the ground with a longer and shallow shaft continuing to the west (and some painted sticks for decoration)!

The mystery feature

If at first look you excitedly whispered to yourself that this is obviously an Iron Age corn dryer or some kind of oven or even a kiln, then, like us, you are unfortunately mistaken. On the surface, the feature appeared to have a flue-like wing (to transfer heat) continuing to the west and a possible oval wing (to dry grain or bake ceramics) to the east. If it was a corn dryer or oven then one would expect accompanying integral structural components, to you know, house the feature, store the goods, and keep out animals and what not. Our Go Pro shot of the immediate surrounding area shows no evidence for any post holes or beam slots. So just what did we have here if not an oven, kiln or corn dryer structure?

GoPro shot of the feature

We half sectioned the “flue” wing and quarter sectioned across the “oven”. I worked on the “flue” and south facing section and my colleague in the north facing section of the pit. It quickly became apparent that our feature was probably neither a corn dryer nor oven nor kiln, and in fact most likely a large waste pit, with some sort of raking channel…I know, right.

So why do I think this? Well, there was no baked lining to the feature (the clay geology if baked would appear a reddish orange colour). The feature contained

• Fragments of dark reddish orange ceramic building material (CBM)
• Sherds of mid Iron Age dark greyish brown pottery
• Discarded fragments of burnt and unburnt animal bone
• Fragments of animal bone with patterns of rings etched into the bone
• Occasional iron objects
• Very occasional copper alloy materials.
• Fragments of slag

The vast majority of the finds were heavily worn, fragmented and obviously discarded away as broken pieces of rubbish within the remnants of the charcoal deposits. Lastly, the stratigraphy of the waste pit indicates a possible prolonged use and that it was open for some time as phase after phase of dumping had been taking place. Had it been a corn dryer or oven we might expect a single dump event as its use came to an end.

Although all this is still speculation until the expert reviews come through, what at first we thought might have turned out to be an Iron Age corn dryer, oven or even possible kiln is probably ‘just’ a waste pit.

As a special treat for July we have an extra Find of the Month! This one is particularly exciting as it’s a rather nice example of a medieval ankle boot. It was found in thick clay on a site in Lincoln’s Brayford Wharf East, where the waterlogged conditions are ideal for preserving leather.

The boot dates to between the 12^th and 14^th centuries and is made of goatskin with a cowhide sole. It laces up at the side and the straps would originally have fastened using a metal buckle. At 25cm long, it probably equates to a modern-day size 3 or 4, taking into account the extremely pointed sole!

You can watch this and other videos of our work on our youtube channel.