Coffee Break Archaeology

01/02/2026

Origins - Exploring The Fossil Record provides an overview of the evolutionary tree of hominids, with fossil evidence of the various genus species. We explore key questions raised in the fields of paleoanthropology, archaeology and genetic science in the search for our earliest ancestors.

01/02/2026

It is hard to believe it has been two years today since I visited the Altamira caves with my late husband.

We planned the trip to Spain shortly after we would out that his cancer had progressed a d that further treatment would palliative. He had grown up in Spain during his early childhood and wanted to return to visit some the places he loved when growing up and also to visit some new places he never got a chance to visit. He also insisted on us visiting Altamira as he knew it was a place that long fascinated me and was one of places that really sparked my interest in archaeology from a young age.

Nowadays you can only visit what they call the Neocave, a beautiful recreation of the cave (well there is a shirt path from the museum to entrance of the actual cave, which was also spectacular) done in amazing detail. The museum attached to the Neocave was also spectacular and ranks aning some of my favourite museums.

I would love to go back someday....

14/06/2025

So, sorry again things have gone rather quiet, but things are starting to feel more… normal (?) again, well at least more capable and manageable.

I have recently returned from a trip to Paris, a place Michael and I had always wanted to visit but never found time to do so. In particular we wanted to visit Versailles and the Louvre.

Here are some brief highlights of the trip, I will share more over the next couple of weeks.

The Louvre has to be one the most confusing museums to explore, wonderful collections and so much to see, including a really fascinating exhibition of Sumerian archaeology from the MET whilst they renovate their collections, but such a confusing place to navigate. There were also some lovely example of Snbet boards and some interesting friezes from the tomb of Darius Ist.

Versailles was so breathtaking, in particular the Hall of Mirrors, a place I had seen so often on pictures and history books but they definitely do not do it justice.

The Musée de l’Armée was an amazing place, especially for an archaeologist and martial artist. Such a large collection of medieval armour and Sanurai armour, mainly from the 17th century, which was amazing to see. I am not sure I have seen such a large collection in one place. The tomb of Napoleon was also a breathtaking site, and of there was “that” breastplate from the Battke of Waterloo.

Another reason for me wanting to go to Paris was to visit the Paris Catacombs, but unfortunately they were closed due to a workers strike. Ho French is that?!?!?

But overall it was a really lovely place to visit, and had some great company too.

02/01/2025

Happy New Year!

Sorry for how quiet things have been over the last 7 or so months.. Ever since Michael's passing I have not had much inspiration or desire to blog. He really was my muse.

We had so many plans and projects in the work, which I do endeavour to complete, but not setting any timescales on these.

There were so many places we also wanted to visit together, one of which was York, in particular the Jorvik centre which we had aimed to visit between our Birthdays, between September and November. I did finally make the visit just before Christmas with my older sister. Michael would have loved it, just the type of museum and experience that he, and I, enjoyed. We often had discussions and ideas about the different ways to display and engage with archaeology, him from an engineering background and new from an archaeology background. He helped me with many projects at Andover Museum, and my dissertation, he really had a great mind for these things.

Going on this trip I think was a good thing, I found some motivation again to continue and do the things we planned, the projects, the places we wanted to visit, my Beowulf translation. I shall let hid memory continue to inspire me and be my muse.

Wishing you all the very best for the New Year.

13/05/2024

Sorry things have been a little quiet on here over the past, well, year, really.

My partner Michael has been ill for a while. He has appeared a couple of times on the blog. Most recently, he provided the narration for my Altamira videos. He was also often my driver and photographer, and muse.

Last Sunday, he passed away after a short but courageous battle with cancer. A couple of weeks before, he made the happiest he ever could by marrying me after being engaged for over 5 years.

Michael Noel Jones was a great supporter of my interests, and helped me achieve so many of my goals and dreams. I am going to miss him so much.

Things may continue to be quiet on here for a while, but I plan to continue and still have many projects planned that Michael and I have been wanting to do for years, so watch this space.

27/04/2024

Well, this will annoy the 'experts' on Weird Britain's Excalibur hunt :p

Origins of “Excalibur” sword identified by archaeologists :

A study of the “Excalibur” sword found in Valencia has been revealed to have Islamic origins sometime during the 10th century AD.

27/04/2024

Archaeologists use revolutionary GPR robot to explore Viking Age site :

Archaeologist from NIKU are using a revolutionary new GPR robot to explore a Viking Age site in Norway’s Sandefjord municipality.

18/04/2024

I took a little break from Beowulf to finally get round to reading Silchester Revealed by Michael Fulford. I have fond memories of attending the Silchester fieldschool as an undergraduate (some a little fuzzy thanks to Pirate Day). Seems so long ago now...

Also, I undertook some geophysical surveys of some of the surrounding fields in my 3rd year trying to locate a possible race track, Silchester's own Circus Maximus. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful.

17/04/2024

Archaeologists find traces of violent history on Anglo-Scottish border :

Archaeologists from the Border Reivers Archaeology Unit have uncovered traces of the violent history along the Anglo-Scottish border.

17/04/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/HA9a2cEPdwoBxozt/