At Past to Present Archaeology we want archaeology to be enjoyed by everyone. Through our focused research and our exceptional training, learn and be a part of our growing community of budding field archaeologists by helping us bring archaeology from the past to the present.
Join our medieval and prehistoric quest in the beautiful country of Georgia excavating medieval buildings, Bronze Age graves and Palaeolithic caves
Discover prehistoric societies in West Suffolk and explore how people first settled, how they buried their dead, hunted for food and exchanged exotic goods
Whether you want to learn how to survey, become an excavator or study the finds of our prehistoric and historic past, our Archaeology of Leicestershire Project is for you
Authors: Lara Cook, Project Archaeologist, and Tom Clayton, Project Archaeologist With our field school at Grace Dieu Priory set to begin in July, we thought it would be a nice idea to give you all a bit more information about the history of the priory and the surrounding estate. The foundation of Grace Dieu Priory…
Author: Lara Cook, Project Archaeologist Our Youtube Channel! If you haven’t already seen it, we’re now on YouTube! Through our channel you’ll have the opportunity to learn about many interesting topics and have all your archaeological questions answered. Videos will include how-to tutorials, Q&As, videos from sites we’re working on, and more! Our first video…
Author: Ruth Tipton, Project Archaeologist Roman Library found in Cologne It’s World Book Day and what better way to celebrate than to talk about an entire library! And not just any library-the earliest known library found in Germany to date. Back in 2017, archaeologists excavating near Antoniter church (a Protestant church in the centre of…
Fancy some light reading on our Prehistoric Suffolk project? Head over to Suffolk Heritage for an article written by our Project Supervisor, Hazel Taylor! www.heritagesuffolk.wordpress.com/2022/02/04/west-suffolk-prehistoric-landscapes-project/
Author: Mattie Bennett, Project Archaeologist Field Surveying and Field Surveyors Field survey, or Landscape archaeology, is the way in which archaeologists are able to assess the geography of an area to examine whether it is a viable site to excavate. There are a multiplicity of ways in which this can be undertaken, here we are…
Author: Lara Cook, Project Archaeologist Roundhouses Roundhouses were structures that were built throughout the UK during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The first example of these structures being built in the UK was found in South West Scotland, and dates to the later 3rd millennium BC. Roundhouses were constructed out of timber posts…
Author: Ruth Tipton, Trainee Archaeologist Wassailing Perhaps somewhat unsurprising but drinking has played an important role in celebrating Christmas for a very long time. There are numerous different festive drinking customs but the one we’re going to focus on is ‘wassailing’. Wassailing is traditionally a twelfth night tradition that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times. The custom…
Author: Ruth Tipton, Trainee Archaeologist Grubenhaus A Grubenhaus (which derives from the German words grube [pit] and haus [house]) is a type of sunken floor building that was built in many parts of northern Europe between the 5th and 12th centuries. They are almost entirely exclusive to Anglo-Saxon settlements, though it is not uncommon to…
Author: Ruth Tipton, Trainee Archaeologist To give a brief summary to a fascinating pastime, mumming is a practice similar to carolling in which amateur players visit houses and pubs to perform short plays. It is unknown where exactly the practice originated although some link it to the Roman feast of Kalends-a festival which celebrated the…
Author: Ruth Tipton, Trainee Archaeologist Just imagine it. You’ve picked out a beautiful tree, the smell of pine slowly filling the room. In the kitchen, a loved one is creating a delicious smorgasbord of mince pies and mulled wine. You gather the children to help decorate the tree. Grasping hands reach into The Box. Lights.…
An Archaeologist in Training: Prehistoric Suffolk at Past to Present Archaeology The past year and a half in the world of public archaeology has had its fair share of challenges, with coronavirus thoroughly putting the brakes on community-led projects. Freshly graduated in the class of 2021, this summer I found myself thrust into the world…
The Prehistoric Suffolk Project: Excavation Notes We have published our excavation notes for our Prehistoric Suffolk project! Check out some of our participants and team’s work, including finds and project activities. Excavation Notes
Have you read the Arkeonews article featuring us yet? Read Article Here
Prehistoric Suffolk: archaeology for the community We have recently started a new research initiative to investigate the peoples of the Bronze Age in Western Suffolk. Our research site possesses numerous Bronze Age ring ditches that are visible as crop marks in aerial photography. Our long-term initiative is to run community excavations on the site to…
Have you read the BBC Leicestershire article featuring us yet? Read Article Here
Have you read the Melton Times article featuring us yet? Read Article Here
Did you see us in the iNews newspaper? See below our featured article in iNews newspaper!
We are pleased to announce the commencement of our latest project for Summer 2021: The West Suffolk Prehistoric Landscape Project, on a journey to discover more of Britain during the Bronze Age. Delving into Britain’s Bronze Age, often deemed the ‘great period of change’, we are working to provide further evidence and research into discovering…
Following on from our successful geophysics survey, we decided to target specific areas of interest from the possible new settlement site that we discovered. We did this by digging four test pits which gave us some surprising results!
Following on from our successful geophysical surveying of selected fields of our Scalford Project, we would like to thank everyone who donated and in particular Allen Archaeology for undertaking the geophysical survey. We are happy to announce that we have now post the results of our survey!! We fulfilled our project aim of uncovering the…
It’s with great excitement that we announce the commencement of our first major crowdfunding campaign to raise support to undertake geophysical survey across Scalford, Leicestershire, where a number of ancient landscapes have been recognised. The uncovering ancient peoples of Leicestershire project is our crowdfunding campaign to generate support to undertake geophysics around the village of…
It is with great regret that due to the current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided to cancel our summer field school at Manglisi for 2020. Instead we have taken the decision to reschedule for next summer, 2021. If you have already paid for summer 2020, we will contact you regarding a full refund.
