Bamburgh Research Project
@brparchaeology.bsky.social
Independent archaeological research project and field school in Northumberland. Join us in researching an amazing site that has archaeology form the late Bronze Age to the present day.
Alice has been working outside the shell midden, investigating a strange light patch of soil that abuts the #medieval ditch fill.
Minty is planning the area around the #medieval shell midden. See how she gets her line of sight right over each square? That is to make sure that any weird perspective doesn't show up in the drawing. We want a perfectly vertical view of the soil and stones!
We LOVE LOVE LOVE hosting the YAC winners every summer! Thanks to @yac-cba.bsky.social for letting us share this site with the next generation of archaeologists! ☺️
YAC@yac-cba.bsky.social · yesterday📢New on the YAC blog: young archaeologists Amelia, Aiden and Ania tell us about their exciting day digging at Bamburgh Castle with @brparchaeology.bsky.social as part of this year's Dig It! competition! 👉https://www.yac-uk.org/blog/dig-diaries-2026-bamburgh-castle/ 🧵1/2
With a rainy morning, we're gathered round to listen to the updated Bowl Hole (burial ground) findings from Director Graeme.
A post-medieval brooch pin was found in the newly-exposed area next to the blocked medieval entryway. It seems rather recent, but suggests there is still plenty to be found as we continue to excavate searching for the medieval platform.
Weekly Round-up: We've finally made it to the #medieval throughout the trench! bamburghresearchproject.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/w...
Weekly Round-up: Now Come the Artefacts
We had a very busy week, so apologies for the lack of blog updates. We’ve finally made it through the modern and Victorian rubbish to sealed archaeology! Our enviro team began flotation, both…
bamburghresearchproject.wordpress.com
Amanda is breaking up the clumps of soil in the flotation tank to release any burnt seeds or artefacts. #environmentalarchaeology
Worked #flint from our midden! Very chunky, and unfinished, but there are ripples that show it was partially knapped (right).
A fragment of a #medieval bone comb came out of the shell midden (rubbish deposit)! You can see it broke off where the rivet would be. It's not decorated, so we can't get more specific dating, but here's hoping there's still more to be found!
The Victorian postern gate split stairs are on top of the #medieval wall foundations between the folly and 13th/14thC extant wall! You can see the massive stones continue from left to right sloping upwards, one even appearing at the split!
Director @graemeyoung.bsky.social explains how to use the Electronic Distance Measure (EDM) to locate crucial points in the trench including our #medieval small finds!
Oliver has been excavating a curious area in front of the Victorian folly sondage, where we hope we have caught the curve of the #medieval ditch!
Amanda is finally trying her hand at #archaeologicalexcavation after years of supporting our project behind the scenes! She is looking to uncover a pebble path we think runs between the castle and the #medieval ditch.
We LOVED having our Young Archaeologists’ Club Dig It! contest winners join us at Bamburgh Castle yesterday! bamburghresearchproject.wordpress.com/2026/07/25/y...
YAC Dig It! Day 2026
It’s one of our favourite parts of the season: we got to host some of the winners of the Young Archaeologists’ Club yearly Dig It! contest! Amelia, Aiden, and Ania (yes, we noticed and …
bamburghresearchproject.wordpress.com
Iron almost always comes out of the ground looking like a burnt chicken tender, and sometimes it’s really difficult to tell what the original object was. Usually it turns out to be a handle, key, nail, or blade. This is giving off handle energy!
Bianca is excavating one of our ditch sondages in the SE corner! #archaeologicalexcavation #medieval
Week 1 round-up: chasing the #medieval ditch! bamburghresearchproject.wordpress.com/2026/07/25/w...
Weekly Round-up: Ditch-craft
Our first week of the season was blessed by wonderful weather (if a bit hot), so we made great progress in the trenches, finds washing, and enviro sorting. Regarding the latter two, the students in…
bamburghresearchproject.wordpress.com
#EnvironmentalArchaeology Supervisor George is leading the students in sorting the light fraction (stuff that got trapped in the mesh) of a sample! They use tweezers to separate all of the different materials.
It's a beautiful day by the North Sea! Some washed #finds are drying in the glorious sun up here at the windmill.
We've found some fragments of a salt-glazed #stoneware #gingerbeer #bottle as we expanded the trench by the earlier medieval formerly-blocked entryway near St. Oswald's Gate! It was manufactured by John Mackay and Co. sometime after 1904 and would have had a brown neck and mouth.
Enviro results from Romano-British roundhouse! bamburghresearchproject.wordpress.com/2026/07/22/n...
Not-So-Wayback (Yet Simultaneously Still Quite Wayback) Wednesday
*KLAXON* Romano-British Finds from Old Trench 3! In 2020, with covid and lockdown, we were unable to run the field school for one final season in Trench 3. Instead, we contracted commercial archaeo…
bamburghresearchproject.wordpress.com
Fresh from the Wash: You know we can't resist talking about #claypipes whenever we get the chance! #pipebowls bamburghresearchproject.wordpress.com/2026/07/21/f...
Fresh from the Wash: Pipe Bowls
No, you’re not seeing double: we’ve got two clay pipe bowls with the same maker’s mark! …Or do we? Both of these clay tobacco pipe bowls, likely from the mid to late 19th ce…
bamburghresearchproject.wordpress.com
Olha cleans the sondage in front of the Victorian folly wall, as we make our way down a level. This likely later embellishment is parallel to a 13th-14thC #medieval wall in the outworks, and between them lies a foundation of massive flagstones from an earlier range.
This is George the Newt, who unfortunately has been evicted from our trench (where the #medieval ditch is located) to a nice moist, grassy area. Zuri broke the news gently and provided transport. He understood. (House-warming gifts are encouraged.)
