The prestigious British Archaeological Awards were held in Central Hall Westminster this week. These awards which take place every two years are Britain’s only independent sector-wide archaeological awards, celebrating and showcasing the best in British archaeology.

Professor Carenza Lewis was the compere for the evening, well known to many for her contribution to the popular Time Team TV programme, she began by saying the awards are a test to the calibre of work being carried out across the country.

The first award of the evening was the Best Archaeological Book. The winner was Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Story of the Scottish Soldiers in 1650. It tells the story of a chain of tragic events that took place in the aftermath of the battle of Dunbar, 1650 and the rediscovery and eventual laying to rest of soldiers taken prisoner and marched south to Durham. The judges praised the work that went in to solving this 300 year old mystery using historical research in both the UK and the USA.

Best Community Engagement Archaeology Project was won jointly by two organisations whose focus is Britain’s coast and monitoring erosion of archaeological sites using volunteers and citizen science. The judges liked the strong collaborative networks for research that CITiZAN and the SCAPE Trust have established in England and Scotland and collaboration with the TV programme Britain at Low Tide has made their discoveries even more accessible to the public.

The Best Archaeological Project prize went to National Trust’s Archaeology at Knole in Sevenoaks, Kent where an ambitious archaeological project has been recording and analysing the property ahead of current massive conservation works on site. The public has been able to see how archaeologists have been able to record, explore and understand this complex site.

Lastly the Award for Best Public Presentation of Archaeology went to the reconstruction of the Roman Temple of Mithras - one of Britain’s most significant archaeological discoveries. New research by the Museum of London Archaeology team has reinterpreted the records and the displays have already seen thousands of visitors through the door of the London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE.

Highly Commended projects included the Thames Discovery Project; Digging for Britain; Wemyss Caves 4D and books on The Small Isles and The Archaeology of Dun Deardail.

ENDS

Note for Editor:

The British Archaeological Awards were founded in 1977. Their aim is to raise awareness of archaeology and the contribution it makes to a shared understanding of our human past.

For more information contact:

Chair of Trustees, Andrew Davidson andrew.davidson [at] heneb.co.uk or Eila Macqueen (Trustee) e.macqueen [at] archaeologyscotland.org.uk (07745 129 610)

Contact details for each of the projects can be found here:

Archaeology at Knole – Nathalie Cohen Nathalie.Cohen [at] nationaltrust.org.uk

Lost Lives, New Voices – Julie Gardiner jpg [at] oxbowbooks.com

CITiZAN – Stephanie Ostrich ostrich [at] mola.org.uk

Newshot Island Boat Graveyard - Joanna Hambly jh105 [at] st-andrews.ac.uk

London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE – Nicola Kalimeris nkalimeris [at] mola.org.uk

Thames Discovery Programme - Nicola Kalimeris nkalimeris [at] mola.org.uk

The Archaeology of Dun Deardail – Matthew Ritchie Matthew.Ritchie [at] forestry.gsi.gov.uk

The Small Isles – Christine Wilson christine.wilson [at] hes.scot

Digging for Britain – Alex Rowson Alex.rowson [at] gmail.com

Wemyss Caves 4D - Joanna Hambly jh105 [at] st-andrews.ac.uk

BAA2018

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