Happy #FindsFriday! This week, we’ve got lovely, if somewhat degraded, decorated Samian ware sherds recovered during excavations in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Originating in La Graufesenque, France, these sherds are Flavian in form and date from 70 – 110 AD.
#TeamCFA has a classic flinty #FindsFriday for you this week – a lovely late Neolithic to early Bronze Age flint scraper. Found in North Yorkshire, this disc scraper was made out of one thick flint flake. The mottled black you can see across part of its surface is the result of having been burnt.
We’re staying close to home for this #FindsFriday with these two fragments of Roman-era Derbyshire ware pottery found by #TeamCFA in Yorkshire. Produced between the 2nd and 4th centuries, Derbyshire ware travelled far and wide - it's been recorded on sites across central and northern Britain.
It's a beautiful morning to be opening archaeological trial trenches in Nottinghamshire! We're investigating potential historic field systems and agricultural activity, which geophysical survey suggests may be medieval in origin.
#FindsFriday! Check out these Bronze Age perforated cobbles, which were likely components from a larger piece of equipment and served as weights or flywheels for something like a drill.
Excavation nearly finished! We're investigating two intersecting ditches - if one was dug after the other, we could see differences in the soils (colour, composition, etc.). If they were filled in at the same time, the soils should match. What do you think: does one ditch look newer than the other?
CFA is an industry leader in green energy and we regularly work on renewable energy projects, including, among others, wind farms, solar farms, and battery energy storage systems.
Working together, we can help make the future look more green!
It’s #FindsFriday! This week we have a fantastic Iron Age Saddle Quern recovered during excavations in West Yorkshire.
This #FindsFriday is a celebration of sherds! (and bones, CBM, and a little iron nail...) We've got all sorts of pots here - different fabrics (the clay material), sherd fragments from different parts of pots (did you catch sight of any rims and bases?), and all kinds of shapes and sizes of vessels.
This week’s #FindsFriday is a classic – a Romano-British copper alloy brooch recovered during CFA’s excavations for the HS2 project in Northamptonshire.
Happy #FindsFriday! This week, we have a magnificent #medieval jar to share, recovered during excavations of an abandoned moat in Buckinghamshire. Across the whole site, 276 sherds of 11th- to 13th-century pottery were found.
CFA's employee photo competition had a great month in December, with lots of exciting and creative entries to meet our theme of 'Framed!'. The winner was Joe, one of our heritage consultants, with this great shot entitled 'Abandoned Quarry'.
We’ve got with these fantastic clay pipes for #FindsFriday, recovered during excavations of The Great Sea Serpent in Edinburgh. The pipe second from the top has a moulded shield decoration on one side of the bowl, while the bottom two pipes show stamped initials.
#FindsFriday! This Roman ring came from a site in Northamptonshire. Although absent in our example, these kinds of rings were often set with a gemstone. The stones were carved with images depicting a large range of topics, from portraits to gods to natural symbols, and were popular and valuable.
After a rainy weekend, #TeamCFA is back on site - and very excited to see what treasures we'll dig up at the end of this rainbow!
If you were out on site with us, what would your dream archaeological discovery be?
We're proud to share that one of our own #TeamCFA members, Josh T., has been elected as a committee member of the CIfA Finds Group! In this role, Josh will help support the group officers in shaping and reviewing standards and guidance relating to artefactual finds work in commercial archaeology.
We have a ‘fasten-ating’ one for you… I hope we’re not ‘clasping’ at straws for #FindsFriday! These copper alloy brooches show how the settlement enclosures we excavated in Northampton are Iron Age - Romano-British in date and give us an exciting insight into the lives of the people who lived there!
CFA's November staff photo competition wrapped up last week, and we're very proud to announce the winner as Graeme with this stunning black and white shot of Dunfermline Abbey! Congrats, Graeme! 🙌📸
#PhotographyCompetition
#TeamCFA is busily working across the UK, making the best of the daylight while we have it! We're still in the early stages of this Derbyshire excavation, but the surrounding area has evidence of human activity from the Mesolithic to the post-medieval period and we're excited to see what we find!
In 2014 CFA excavated a farmstead near Maryport Roman Fort which showed signs of influence from the fort through an unusual pottery collection and evidence of intensified agricultural practices.
https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue61/7/full-text.html
Four Middle Bronze Age roundhouses were excavated in 2004 at Drumyocher, Aberdeenshire. The roundhouses lay in a row, forming an unenclosed settlement, and featured interesting architectural elements such as paved entrances and long porch structures.
In 2003, CFA’s archaeologists explored the social history of 19th-century farm workers and their families at two terraced cottages, known as Jack’s Houses in Midlothian. Read more about this site, and the cottages' occupants, at https://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/sair/article/view/2064
This #25in25, we’re revisiting East Renfrewshire in 2002, where we excavated a palisaded enclosure which was dated to the early medieval period. This is exciting because ‘palisaded enclosures’ have been around since the Late Bronze Age, but ours proves that they continued into the historic period.
Today is World Menopause Day, which aims to break taboos and improve health and wellbeing by raising awareness about the symptoms of menopause and the support options available.
https://themenopausecharity.org/information-and-support/ask-the-experts-trusted-answers-to-your-menopause-questions/
To kick off our site retrospective celebrating our 25th anniversary, we’re going all the way to the year 2000, when the newly established CFA Archaeology Ltd undertook an excavation at Ballypriorbeg, Northern Ireland and discovered two Bronze Age roundhouses, one of which was complete! #CFA25
CFA Archaeology is proud and excited to announce that we are turning 25 on 1st November 2025! As we celebrate our 25th anniversary over the next few weeks, we’re going to take the opportunity to look back on the history of the company and some of our favourite projects. Watch this space for more!
We are #hiring! #TeamCFA has a busy autumn ahead, with excavations scheduled across the UK. From prehistoric settlements to a medieval city centre, we have a wide variety of sites which would interest any archaeologist!
To find out more, visit our website: https://www.cfa-archaeology.co.uk/careers
The winner of the September #CFAPhotoCompetition was Frances, with this fab photo. Our theme was "An Ode to Spade (and other things)", and we think she nailed it! We love the beautiful piece of worked flint she found, too.
#PhotoCompetition #Archaeology #BritishArchaeology
Choose your fighter! Are you #TeamSpade? or #TeamTrowel?
One of our archaeologists: "I love my trowel, of course I do. It's a staple of any archaeologist's toolkit. But there's something just so satisfying about cutting a perfect clean edge with the spade..."
Tell us your opinions in the comments!
#FindsFriday! These wooden stakes formed part of a retaining wall used to shore up the side of a goit, or a channel that diverts water used to power a mill, alongside wattlework or planking. The goit was associated with Cooper’s Mill (dated to 1628), a fulling mill in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
