Jörn SchusterARCHAEOLOGICALsmallFINDS · Post-Excavation, Finds Analysis, Translations
Jörn Schuster
MA Dr phil
About
76
Publications
24,796
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63
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
I offer archaeological services in post-excavation management, the assessment and analysis of archaeological small finds as well as translations on a freelance basis.
As an archaeologist with more than three decades in the profession, both in the UK and Germany, I have a wealth of experience in archaeological research, heritage and museum management, assessment and analysis of archaeological small finds, publication and report editing as well as translations.
Additional affiliations
May 2011 - June 2012
Cotswold Archaeology
Position
- Manager
January 2005 - April 2011
Position
- Manager
Description
- Management of and contributing to programmes of assessment, analysis and publication, including: • managing teams of internal and external specialists; • responsibility for factual accuracy and academic quality of reports
July 2003 - December 2004
Position
- Archaeologist–Finds Specialist
Description
- responsible for managing post-excavation finds work: • assessment, analysis and publication of finds; • managing temporary staff and liasing with external specialists; • advice and input for HE Archaeology Commissions programme (now NHPP).
Education
March 1994 - August 1998
Field of study
- Research for doctoral thesis on non-ferrous metal finds from Feddersen Wierde
October 1993 - July 2001
Field of study
- Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Numismatik, Physische Geographie
October 1991 - September 1992
Publications
Publications (76)
Excavations at Cliffs End Farm undertaken in 2004/5 uncovered a dense area of archaeological remains including Bronze Age barrows and enclosures, a large prehistoric mortuary feature, and a small early 6th to late 7th century Anglo-Saxon inhumation cemetery. An extraordinary series of human and animal remains were recovered from the Late Bronze Age...
This report presents the over 2500 metal small finds and 3000 nails recovered from Britain's largest Roman temple complex in the Ebbsfleet at Springhead. The metal finds include items of personal adornment and dress, household utensils and furniture, objects for weighing and measuring, pieces of toilet or medical equipment, tools associated with ma...
This work presents the non-ferrous metal finds excavated at the Wurt-settlement Feddersen Wierde in the years between 1955 and 1963 (a “Wurt” or “Warft” is the German term for an artificially raised settlement mound in the saltmarshes along the southern North Sea coast. The Dutch name is “Terp”).
All in all, 109 brooches or parts thereof were found...
The site, excavated by Wessex Archaeology in 2004/05, contains as yet unparalleled evidence for ritual and funerary activity dating to the Late Bronze Age as well as the Early and Middle Iron Age. More than 100 radiocarbon determinations provide a tight chronological framework. Strontium/Oxygen isotope analysis of 20 individuals indicates a large p...
Article discussing the find of lead bust of the goddess Isis at the Roman villa of Groundwell Ridge with consideration of the contemporary cultural background of other Isiaca found in Britain.
This paper catalogues and discusses metal artefacts observed in several contexts which are part of a pit alignment outside a Middle/Late Iron Age square enclosure excavated by Cotswold Archaeology at Saxon Rise, Brixworth, Northamptonshire. This is followed by an examination of depositional practices. By examining the objects’ preservation conditio...
This presentation will consider the finds evidence for the presence of the army during the early years of Roman Bath. The assemblage of small finds from the excavation at the junction of Bathwick Street and Henrietta Road in Bath provides a starting point for an exploration of possible activities carried out at the site. Of particular interest with...
This is a small extract of my chapter dealing with the medieval brooches from the first comprehensive excavation of a medieval manor house in Dorset. Amongst others, it includes a fascinating oval plate brooch with gold filigree work holding a rock crystal. The object is discussed within the background of its links with high-Medieval, Salian metalw...
Additional x-radiographs and photos of weapons, a tool and a currency bar, to accompany:
Schuster, J., 2020, Appendix F: Metalwork, 173-186, in Boyer, P. and Brindle. T, Saxon Rise 2, Northampton Road, Brixworth, Northamptonshire: Archaeological excavation, CA Report 669047_1. Cirencester, Cotswold Archaeology.
Excel spreadsheet to accompany:
Schuster, J., 2020, Appendix F: Metalwork, 173-186, in Boyer, P. and Brindle. T, Saxon Rise 2, Northampton Road, Brixworth, Northamptonshire: Archaeological excavation, CA Report 669047_1. Cirencester, Cotswold Archaeology.
This article provides a glimpse at the fascinating array of objects found in the wreck of the second-rate ship "London" which exploded int he Thames of Southend-on-Sea on 7th March 1665. The results of the investigations over the last decade will be published in a Cotswold Archaeology Monograph envisaged for 2021.
Assessment report on an assemblage of metal finds from the site of the the Civil War battle at Bovey Tracey on 9 January 1646. The finds include 13 balls of lead shot, probably associated with the military action at the site, as well as other objects of more recent date, including a Schrader tyre pressure gauge of the early 20th century.
This file contains the PowerPoint presentation for the introductory talk at the beginning of the day course. Due to copyright restrictions I cannot make it available publicly, but I can share it upon request.
Short report assessing the assemblage of small finds found during excavations at Kingston Deverill Cricket Pitch, Wiltshire. Apart from a substantial late medieval or post-medieval key, the assemblage includes various types of medieval and post-medieval horseshoe nails but no horseshoes. The assemblage, mostly recovered from the spoil heaps, is dom...
Assessment report of a small assemblage of finds from archeological investigations in Brixton Deverill, including a significant number of medieval horseshoes and horseshoe nails as well as oxshoes. Buckles and other items of personal adorment of medieval to modern date as well as the many fittings and fixture – mostly nails of various date – are in...
This paper explores depositional practices of metal artefacts observed in several contexts which are part of a pit alignment outside a Middle/Late Iron Age square enclosure excavated by Cotswold Archaeology at Saxon Rise, Brixworth, Northamptonshire. By examining the objects’ preservation conditions it is possible to distinguish three preservation...
Seventeen copper alloy objects and 11 tin alloy objects from the London protected wreck site, Project HE PR6901, were analysed using XRF. The compositions of the objects are compared to reference material from other sites in order to show overall trends in metal composition. The results show that the alloy was chosen depending on the type of object...
Excavation at Curtis Fields, Chickerell, Weymouth, carried out in advance of residential development, produced evidence of medieval and post-medieval occupation. A rectilinear series of ditched enclosures were dated to the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries, although they may have originated earlier. Whilst no direct evidence of associated structur...
An archaeological evaluation on land between Foxton and West Langton, near Market Harborough, Leicestershire, located up to seven Anglo-Saxon inhumation graves, representing part of a larger cemetery of late fifth and sixth century date. Whilst little human bone survived, there was also evidence for cremation burial in the cemetery. The grave goods...
German abstract for the volume.
See details and table of contents at https://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/clifton-quarry-worcestershire.html
This article highlights finds of two slate styli, one from a certain the other from a possible Roman context, and asks whether slate styli had been used as early as the Roman period.
Review of RFG Spring Conference session 2 covering papers on the Richborough brooch assemblage by Justine Bayley, the Richborough worked bone assemblage by Stephen Greep and an overview of the history of military equipment studies by Mike Bishop.
This file contains the PowerPoint presentation for the introductory talk at the beginning of the day course. Due to copyright restrictions I cannot make it available publicly, but I can share it upon request.
Advert for a teaching session on Romano-British brooches, their identification and research potential.
X-radiograph plate complementing the report.
New Research on Finds from South and South-Western Roman Britain
Review of conference session with talks by Thomas J. Derrick on Containers and culture: perfume and medicine consumption in Roman North Yorkshire; Matthew Fittock on Pipeclay figurines in the Yorkshire Museum and Kurt Hunter-Mann & Sandra Garside-Neville on The Driffield Terrace cemetery, York and the Ravenglass vicus, Cumbria: the finds and the in...
Review of a lecture by Miranda Aldhouse-Green on Celtic religion presented at the joint Roman Finds Group/Late-Prehistoric Finds Group Celts Conference, British Museum, 6 November 2015.
This report presents an interesting assemblage of metalwork found during archaeological investigations in the entrance area of the King’s Gatehouse, Caernarfon Castle (Gwynedd Archaeological Trust Project Number G 2397) between November 2014 and February 2015. The assemblage includes lace tags, pins with wire-wound spiral heads as well as important...
Assessment report on an assemblage of 63 metal small finds found during excavations at the Bishop's Palace in Wells, Somerset. The majority of the datable objects are of post-medieval or modern date. Among the finds are forks, a spoon, several knives, a door handle, a 3rd-century copper alloy radiate and a copper farthing of Charles I.
Databases tend to take more and more space in the practice of archaeologists, both in terms of working time and in the benefit they get from them. How do they deeply affect and change scientific work and future ? Through the example of Artefacts.mom.fr, this paper shows what is the essential impact of a large european database on a specialist' proc...
Talk at the 82. Meeting of the Northwest German Association of Antiquary Societies on the experiences of archaeologists in England and Wales with metal detectorists, the possibilities and advantages of cooperation as well as the problems and strategies to cope with the vast number of finds recorded in the PAS.
Vortrag auf dem 82. Tagung des Nordwe...
Report on a small assemblage of 28 Roman metalwork objects discovered during archaeological investigation to the east of the Cheddar reservoir. Finds include an enameled disc brooch, a plain pair of tweezers as well as two more brooch fragments, several nails and a possible lead net sinker.
Short report dealing with a number of buttons discovered in association with an inhumation buried at a shallow depth. The grave was not part of a formal cemetery but was discovered during the digging of a water pipe trench. The position of green staining on the bones allowed limited reconstruction of possible garments worn by the deceased.
Assessment of a small assemblage of metal finds and fuel ash slag from a site in the vicinity of the Cheddar Reservoir. Finds include an enamelled Roman disc brooch and a pair of undecorated tweezers.
Report on the metalwork assemblage from a Roman and Anglo-Saxon settlement next to the Winchester to Silchester Roman Road. The most notable object was a Roman hipposandal found in the metalled surface of the Roman Road (see additional file). Of note in the Anglo-Saxon assemblage were a pair of tweezers as well as two knives.
Short article on a medieval iron prick spur with non-ferrous plating on the branches with rippled decoration.
Discussion of a probable 10th c. BC-lead alloy weight found in close association with one of the inhumations in the main burial pit at Cliffs End. Although no morphological comparisons have been found, a possible link to weight systems in use in the Circum-Alpine region is discussed.
Report on a small metalwork assemblage found during archaeological investigations at the medieval palace of the Bishop of Wells in Wookey, Somerset.
This report examines a medieval sewing-thimble found during excavation of a prehistoric site at Dolbenmaen, Gwynedd. Details of its manufacture and decoration suggest that it has few close parallels, and it is proposed that it was made at an as yet unknown location in southern Britain.
Excavation revealed a pit containing Beaker pottery and a few other features with Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery. The lack of Late Iron Age material suggests that this low level activity had ceased by the time of the establishment of a small early Roman farmstead which contained at least two roundhouses. By the mid 3rd century these houses had bee...
The full texts of finds and environmental reports, with accompanying figures and tables can be found in the Wessex Archaeology report Ref. 62414 (https://www.academia.edu/6167628/Metalwork_in_R._de_Athe_Early_Iron_Age_metalworking_and_Iron_Age_early_Romano-British_settlement_evidence_along_the_Barton_Stacey_to_Lockerley_gas_pipeline).
N.B. The broo...
Excavation on the site at Millbrook Mews, Millborne Port, revealed evidence for structural and material evidence indicative of iron smithing and tanning. Occupation could have started as early as the 12th century AD.
In 2007 Wessex Archaeology excavated parts of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery on the southwest margins of the village of Aldbourne in northeast Wiltshire. The presence of a cemetery had been highlighted by the discovery of six skeletons of unknown date in 1960. The excavations revealed all or parts of 26 inhumation graves in two neighbouring areas. Most gr...
The detailed specialist reports in this volume, the fourth of four, cover all the Saxon and later finds recovered during the excavations, as well as human bone and animal bone, environmental remains and dating evidence relating to contemporary landscape, subsistence and economy.
Fifth to early 6th century pottery was recovered from the Northfleet...
This volume, the second of four, presents specialist reports on the Late Iron Age and Roman artefacts recovered from Springhead and Northfleet.
These include over 2 tonnes of pottery, 1756 coins and tokens, over 2500 other metal small finds (many possibly votive objects recovered from the Ebbsfleet at Springhead) and 3000 nails. The metal finds in...
Results of an archaeological investigation suggesting that the course of the defences of the Anglo-Saxon burh at Christchurch followed a different route than previously published.
Article about a probably medieval finger-ring found during the excavation of a Roman villa in the north of Swindon.
A programme of evaluation, excavation (Areas 1–9) and a watching brief on the route of a gas pipeline
from Barton Stacey to Lockerley, Hampshire, revealed evidence of predominantly Iron Age and Romano-
British rural settlement activity. An unaccompanied Beaker inhumation burial and two Early Bronze Age
cremation burials were recorded during the eva...
EARLY IRON AGE METALWORKING AND IRON AGE/EARLY ROMANO-BRITISH SETTLEMENT EVIDENCE ALONG THE BARTON STACEY TO LOCKERLEY GAS PIPELINE
By Robert De’Athe
with Grace Perpetua Jones (pottery and miscellaneous finds) and Matt Leivers (pottery), Jessica M. Grimm (animal bone), Jacqueline I. McKinley (human remains), Nicholas Cooke (coins), Chris J. Steve...
This reports present the metal finds from the Roman villa at Northfleet recovered in the course of the HS1 excavation in the Ebbsfleet valley. Apart from brooches, the finds include, amongst others, an armilla, a rare type of seal-box with a depiction of a beneficarius lance head, and a smith's swage.
Summary of the excavations at Kingsborough on the Isle of Sheppey. The site comprises two Neolithic causewayed enclosures, Bronze Age circular enclosures, Iron Age settlement as well as evidence for Roman and later occupation.
Excavations in advance of redevelopment for a prestigious office building in the east of the City revealed 10 broad phases of activity, ranging between the pre-Roman and post-medieval periods, with a focus on the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.
Roman Fenchurch Street follows the line of earlier ditches. For the first time, the entire width of the Roman...
Based on excavation results from sites on the Isle of Thanet, a distinct type of building has been identified. The buildings have a sunken floor and contain a domed oven and a hearth side-by-side. So far, the type appears to be confined to Kent.
New excavations at Collingbourne Ducis, Wiltshire, UK, in 2007 have significantly increased the
number of graves, making it the largest Saxon cemetery known in the county. The graves, predominantly
inhumation but also including four cremation graves, span the late 5th to 7th centuries. Among
the new discoveries is a rare bed burial. The new results...
Chapter on the small finds assemblage recovered during excavations at 60–63 Fenchurch Street, including amongst others a rare Roman foot rule, a steelyard, a Knickfibel Almgren 19, a cosmetic grinder, a seal box, a vessel lid with dolphin applique, a bell and a cuirass hinge.
Short note about excavations at Eddington near Herne Bay, describing the discovery of later prehistoric, Romano-British and later features on a site which is best known for a significant long-blade assemblage of the British Early Postglacial period (see Julie Gardiner, Michael J. Allen, John SC Lewis, James Wright and Richard I Macphail 2015 A Long...
Brief note announcing the identification of a Visigothic brooch type from an Early Anglo-Saxon pit context at Springhead, Kent.
Key conclusions from the project are that: the main structures on the site represent the domestic elements of a villa complex, the stone buildings being occupied from the second to the late fourth or early fifth century; there is artefactual evidence for pre-Roman occupation; there is limited evidence for first-century Roman occupation; Building 2...
Article on the archaeology of the village of Hollen in the Elbe-Weser Triangle in Northern Germany.
The published version contains b/w images, some of those in the manuscript version are colour.
Discussion of the, as yet, only Roman cataract needle holder found beyond the Imperial frontier at the well-known site of Feddersen Wierde in Northern Germany.
Based on residues of ironworking and non-ferrous metalworking from the settlement mound Feddersen Wierde the authors re-evalu¬ate W. HAARNAGELs ideas concerning the organisation of metalworking. Distribution and quantity of the finds are interpreted as indicating a rather small scale metalworking without a marked differentiation between the working...
In: Voß, H.-U., Hammer, P. and Lutz, J., Römische und germanische Bunt- und Edelmetallfunde im Vergleich. Archäometallurgische Untersuchungen ausgehend von elbgermanischen Körpergräbern. Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 79, 107–382.
Article about a brooch from the early Migration Period-hoard from Łubiana (Poland) suggesting a reassessment of its typological classification.
The first Roman cataract needle holder to be identified from a site beyond the borders of the Roman Empire. The object is described and its possible uses are discussed.
Questions
Questions (3)
Can anyone help me by letting me know how I can get ResearchGate to improve the suggestions they show as related research when uploading an article. From my own experience I have to say that the suggestions are beyond ludicrous (basically comparing apples with bears).
And is it still possible to contact admin behind the scences to ask them to fix it?
The two parts shown in the attached photo do not join but may well have been part of the same object. N.B. the subtle difference in the treatment of the cenral roundel: that of the large piece has six small dots arranged around a central dot, while that of the individual flower is blank.
The finds are mentioned in the Assessment Report for Bridge Cottage, Brixton Deverill.
I am looking for comparisons for slate styli. At present I only know of two such objects, one from a reliable context from Bath, found in the fill of a beam slot dated to AD 80-90. Its 35 mm-long shaft with a diameter of 4.4–5.4 mm has seven unequal facets and tapers slightly before the used tip.
The other one comes from a Roman villa site in Swindon, but unfortunately it was unstratified, and the site also has a small medieval element.
Does anyone know of such objects? They could be used to write on slate tablets, but are they really writing implements?
Projects
Projects (8)
Cataloguing and analysis of metal artefacts from an Iron Age/Romano-British settlement at Saxon Rise 2, Northampton Road, Brixworth. The Iron Age material permitted examination of depositional practices and the distinction of three preservation categories that occurred in distinctly different frequencies across various functional categories.
The discovery, in 2015, of a Roman mosaic led to the discovery of a substantial Roman villa. Initial investigation spurred local interest leading to the formation of the Deverills Archaeology Group in 2017, a community archaeology group whose aim is to investigate "the wonderfully rich archaeology of the Upper Deverill valley in SW Wiltshire, England."
See the DAG webpage : https://deverillsarchaeology.com/
