Week One – Potential sites

With the first week of the project under my belt, I’ve identified several sites on the map that I will be looking to explore further this week and had my first meeting with Keith over at Letchworth Museum.

I’ve been identifying potential areas around the perimeters that I remember from previous walks around the Greenway. There seem to be many possibilities to choose from and the next few weeks I will be exploring and investigating these further so that I can find 4-5 to focus on in this study. Ones that I already had in mind are: The Boffy, which I began looking at last year. This site is out towards Fairfield Park, and was once a place I use to play in myself as a child; an area in Norton Common known to locals as the Pudding Basin. Keith mentioned there possibly being some old WWII air-raid shelters located in this area too; then there is the quarry on Wilbury Hills and the car park opposite; there is the old orchard behind Kristiansand Way at the top of Stapleton’s Field;  the graffiti covered underpass at the A1(M) between Letchworth and Baldock near the power station; another potential site is one Keith mentioned, in the Spinney near Wilbury Road. However I know that this area has recently been redeveloped so not sure what I will find there now. I am also looking at an area near Willian village. If there are any further suggestions for places that I might have missed, or any information that you might have about the areas I’ve mentioned, I’d be grateful for any extra insight, please do get in touch!

I met with Keith on Thursday and we had an interesting chat about the background to the dig that took place at Stapleton’s field this year and more about the Norton Community Archaeology Group and its origins. I was also able to ask him more about the planning of a dig, the equipment used and a bit about dealing with the finds and recording them. It has been extremely helpful to reconsider how I might be able to use these processes within my own work and incorporate the scientific methods of the discipline into my own visual language. Keith mentioned that what I was doing in this study was technically called ‘Ethno-archaeology’ (the archaeology of living societies) although it is something that is rarely done locally by western archaeologists, who tend to be drawn to the communities of more exotic places. It has been so interesting already to get a taste for how rich and varied the discipline of Archaeology is and the potential it has to be applied to many different aspects of life. I am currently reading Archaeologies of the Contemporary Past by Victor Buchli and Gavin Lucas. A fascinating read, giving a completely new perspective on the discipline. I also came across the Graffiti Archaeology Project (www.grafarc.org) this week, an interesting interactive website set up by Cassidy Curtis, that records the ever changing graffiti hotspots in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. It allows you to flick through the layers of time upon the walls and explore the growth and evolution of the space through time. Samir S. Patel debates its value and relevance to the field in an article in ‘Archaeology’.

So lots to think about and only a week in. This week I am looking to do my first fieldwalking and assess the potential sites face to face.