Rendlesham behind the scenes: Post-excavation work continues & Mandy’s star finds

Featured image: Mandy holding a piece of Roman Glass

The post-excavation work continues, with volunteers processing the excavated material discovered at Rendlesham in summer 2022, as part of our community archaeology project Rendlesham Revealed. This week volunteer Mandy tells us more about her experience and a few of her star finds from the environmental samples.

I started work with the Rendlesham Revealed project at the summer 2021 excavations, moving onto the post-excavation work in Autumn 2021 with the Cotswold Archaeology team at Needham Market. I continued volunteering in 2022 at Rendlesham digging and finds processing and this Autumn/Winter with more finds processing. Up until this time I had an interest in archaeology but no hands on experience.

I have greatly enjoyed my time working with the team and appreciate how they have gradually taught me the skills involved, including what to look for, how to handle the finds, what their significance is.

The team is friendly and welcoming and also provide tea and biscuits!! I have enjoyed working with the other volunteers who are from different age groups and life experiences. There has been many chats we have had around the table on a wide range of topics.

These are my star finds of 2022, discovered while I was processing the environmental soil samples that were taken from the Anglo-Saxon midden (rubbish dump).

Woman holding Roman glass — Piece of Roman glass (left) and part of brooch and possible Anglo Saxon glass bead (right)

Piece of Roman glass (left) and part of brooch and possible Anglo Saxon glass bead (right)

Volunteers excavating the midden (rubbish dump) during summer 2022

Find out more

What is involved in post-excavation? Read last year’s blogs to learn more about it

Discover more about the Rendlesham Revealed project

Explore last year’s community fieldwork discoveries

Learn about the previous archaeological investigations since 2008

This fieldwork is part of the community archaeology project Rendlesham Revealed: Anglo-Saxon Life in South-East Suffolk, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. We are very grateful to our many local and national partners who have made this project possible, and for the support of our volunteers and of the landowners and farmers who work and manage this historic landscape.

If you want to get involved with the Rendlesham Revealed project and future fieldwork, you can sign up to our e-newsletter for updates.