Founded 1906
Archaeology Report Autumn 2017
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Selected Article from the BHAS Bi-Annual magazine "Flint" Autumn 2017
Tunnel: The Archaeology of Crossrail One of the most extensive engineering projects ever undertaken in Britain is the London Crossrail project for the new Elizabeth line. This major feat of engineering encompasses some 42km of new tunnels running under London and extends from Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east to Reading and Heathrow in the west. Some of the enormous amount of archaeology (10,000 artefacts) that the development has unearthed has been on display in the Docklands museum, London. This wonderful exhibition details the story of the excavation and includes some of the best finds spanning 8,000 years of human history ranging from Mesolithic microliths, Roman pottery and leather goods, medieval bone skates and wooden Tudor bowling balls, to Victorian pottery including humorous chamber pots(!) and numerous jars from the Crosse and Blackwell pickling factory that once operated on a site on the route. The display is imaginatively laid out with selected finds from the various stations following the route of Crossrail itself. There is a very clear and easy to understand display at the beginning of the exhibition, which explains stratification so that visitors can see how the earlier finds have come from the deepest levels in the tunnelling project and the more recent finds have been recovered from nearer the surface where sta-tions have been newly built or upgraded. Some of the most poignant artefacts are the exceptionally well preserved leather shoes, especially of children, from the Ro-man period. There are also three skeletons of young adults, victims of the Plague who, although in general good health before they died, showed evidence of stress in their teeth and their bones. An osteoarchaeologist, on film, explains that there was a very real trade-off between the economic benefits of living in a city versus the health benefits of rural living. One of the most interesting and encouraging aspects reflected throughout the exhibition is the respect and understanding shown between archaeologists and engineers - it is obvious that the undoubted success of the project has depended to a large extent on the different disciplines working closely together to create something of national and international importance whilst also ensuring a lasting benefit to the local community. The most tangible legacy of Crossrail, aside from the improved transport infrastructure, is Wallasea Island, Essex, where 3 million tonnes of earth from the excavations have been transported to create an RSPB nature reserve twice the size of the City of London. The Crossrail exhibition will have finished by the time this edition of Flint is published but the Docklands Museum is still well worth a visit with one entire floor being given over to a culturally sensitive and thought-provoking display on the slave trade. There are also exhibitions on the East India Company, Victorian engineering pioneers, and the East End of London during WW11 and up to the present day. And it is all free!
Linda Robinson and Glynis Jones
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