Artefacts, Conservation, Ecofacts
Group conference and AGM
Register your place here: https://www.archaeologists.net/civicrm/event/register?id=427&reset=1.
This year we have nominations open for two committee members. If you are interested in this opportunity please fill out a nomination form and return it to Megan at groups [at] archaeologists.net by the 18 September. Please get in touch if you have any questions about a committee role.
The Finds Group represents the interests of those working with finds in all the activities of CIfA.
The Group also:
• Produces and reviews standards, guidance and toolkits as relevant to finds.
• Sends out a bi-annual newsletter of the latest CPD opportunities and Finds Group news.
• Holds a yearly meeting and AGM discussing the latest research, best practice.
• Advises CIfA Council on finds-related issues.
• Acts as a focus for those with an interest in finds.
Our Work
Since our first meeting in 1989(!) we have produced lots of standards, guidance and toolkits to help disseminate best practices for finds work. These include:
• Toolkit for finds recording
• Toolkit for specialist reporting
• Toolkit for finds recording: Roman Coinage
• Standards and guidance for the collection, documentation, conservation and research of archaeological materials
The group has also developed the specialist competence matrix to assist accreditation applicants and the Validation committee to see where you demonstrate the grade applied for when working as a finds specialist.
You can also get the latest from the Finds Group on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Join the Group
Membership of the Finds Group is open to anyone with an interest in finds - in the broadest sense of the word! Membership is free to CIfA members through the Members area login. Those who are not members of the institute will need to pay an annual £10 fee and can join here
Committee
Emily Johnson (Chair)
Imogen Wood (Treasurer)
Bekky Hillman (Secretary)
Peter Guest
Nicky Rogers
Helen Wickstead
Anna Tyacke
Ruth Beveridge
Deborah Fox
Mags Felter (Advisor)
Committee bios
Emily Johnson (Chair)
Emily is a senior zooarchaeologist with over a decade of experience analysing animal bone assemblages in the UK and beyond. She completed her PhD in 2017 at the University of Exeter which focused on using bone fracture and fragmentation to understand early Neolithic bone fat exploitation in Europe. Since then she has been analysing bones in development-led archaeology for Archaeology South-East. In addition, Emily coordinates ASE’s program of digital outreach, managing social media accounts and creating blogs, videos and podcasts.
Imogen Wood (Treasurer)
Imogen is a pottery specialist and petrographer based in the South West of England with 25 years of experience in regional Prehistoric, Romano-British and early medieval ceramics. Her career spans field archaeology, doctoral research and freelance work, pursuing her research interests into the early medieval period in Cornwall through excavation and new sociocultural approaches to interpreting petrographic analysis. Imogen is passionate about disseminating archaeology working with primary schools and numerous community projects.
Bekky Hillman (Secretary)
Having been inspired to pursue a career in archaeology while fieldwalking with friends, Bekky graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2002 and put her career on hold to start a family and raise four children. After establishing herself as a freelance post excavation specialist Bekky joined Archaeology Warwickshire in 2017 and now supervises the post excavation department, working closely with project staff and specialists to facilitate smooth project delivery and ensure standards are maintained. She has a love of all things finds related and is developing a specialism in archaeobotany.
Peter Guest
Peter is an independent archaeologist and numismatist with 30+ years’ experience as a researcher, teacher, excavator, curator and project manager (Vianova Archaeology & Heritage Services). Areas of expertise include Roman coinage and the monetary economy, as well as the archaeology of Britannia and the north-western provinces. Peter has identified and published more than 30,000 Roman coins for commercial units, museums and universities, including numerous site-find assemblages as well as several important coin hoards. Previously Reader in Roman Archaeology at Cardiff University (2000-2019), Research Assistant at The British Museum (1996-1997) and Manager of the Roman Legionary Museum (National Museum Wales, 1994-1996).
Nicky Rogers
After graduating with a combined Archaeology and History degree from Southampton University, Nicky came to work as an artefact researcher at York Archaeological Trust in 1988. She specialises in assessing, cataloguing, researching and publishing small finds of all materials from the Roman to post-medieval period. Since 2015, she has been self-employed, working on a range of projects in York and elsewhere in England. Nicky has been providing training in artefact study for 15 years, and is currently an associate of the Department of Archaeology at York University, where she teaches a module on artefacts from excavations.
Anna Tyacke
Anna has worked as a curator and PAS FLO for 30 years. She is currently a freelance finds specialist, at home identifying pottery, stone implements and flint alongside her main specialisms, metalwork and numismatics. Her current work is largely for the Cornwall Archaeological Unit processing and identifying finds from 16 sites associated with the A30 enlargement scheme. She will start PhD study on the Iron Age and Roman coins and metalwork of the South West at the University of Leicester in October 2023.
Helen Wickstead
Mags Felter (Advisor)
Mags is an archaeological conservator working on all materials both freshly excavated and those in museums. She has a keen interest in bone and antler objects as well as metals, maritime archaeology and on-site conservation and lifting of fragile materials. She has attended excavations/heritage sites in Orkney, Turkey, Jordan, Azerbeijan and Turkmenistan, and those closer to home. Mags worked at York Archaeological Trust from 2005-2020 and recently took up an archaeological conservator post at the Museum of Cultural History, Oslo. She is an accredited member of the Institute of Conservation (ICON) and links the FSIG committee with the ICON Archaeology Group.
Specialist competence matrix
The specialist matrix is to assist applicants and the Validation committee to see where you demonstrate the grade applied for when working as a Finds specialist.
Forthcoming events
For information about upcoming events, please visit our event calendar.
Previous events
Artefacts Roadshow Workshop and AGM | December 2022
At our first in-person meeting since the pandemic we discussed best practice in the first stages of finds analysis, from site to initial processing. You can access recordings of the meeting on the event page.
The Finds Group at 30: celebrating the past, reviewing the present, planning the future
The Finds Group celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2019 and marked this by theming the AGM (September 2019 in Birmingham) around the past, present and future of archaeological finds work.
Interpreting Finds: Ecofacts and Artefacts
This one-day event in September 2018 presented recent and innovative approaches to the study of artefacts and ecofacts, highlighting their potential for contributing to an archaeological project.
ICON Archaeology Group Seminar - Archaeology on Display
The Icon Archaeology Group AGM combined with a seminar discussing 'Archaeology on Display' and a visit to the 'Tunnel: The Archaeology of Crossrail' exhibition, which displays the range of archaeological objects unearthed by Crossrail, Europe's largest infrastructure project. For more information see the Icon Archaeology Group page.
Three-year plan
2022 to 2025 Finds Group Three year plan
Newsletters
AGM minutes
December 2022
November 2021
November 2020
Committee minutes
March 2023
February 2022
October 2021
March 2021
February 2021
November 2020
May 2020
January 2020
