Highways Agency

• History

What is an archaeologist and what do they do?

An archaeologist is both a scientist and a historian.  They study the history of human beings and the world in which they lived. They find out information about the past and the people who came before us.

They do this by carefully excavating areas of interest and looking for evidence of human activity. This evidence can include artefacts such as pottery, tools, jewellery or even skeletons!  Then, like a detective, they put together the evidence to build a picture of how those people lived.

Why is archaeology so important?

It's a way of exploring the past, to find out what people were like, how they lived, what they ate, what they believed and the effects they had on the environment they lived in.  This helps us to learn how humans have come to be how they are today.

Do you have archaeologists working with you at the Highways Agency and  if so, why?

The Highways Agency sometimes has to dig up an old road, or build a new one.  When we do, there is a chance that we might make an important find.  We employ archaeologists to carefully excavate places that we think might be interesting before the big trucks and diggers move in.  We don't want to damage anything that might be of historical interest, so the archaeologists carefully study the whole area and remove any interesting finds before the work is done.

Has the Highways Agency ever discovered a Roman Road?

Yes! Our team of archaeologists uncovered an ancient road in Nottingham, built by the Romans during the first century AD. We spotted ruts made from Roman carts on the tightly packed cobbles. One of the interesting things about this road is that it follows the line of the modern road.

What else have you discovered?

Over the years some exciting discoveries have been made. Here are some of the things we have discovered so far:

• Our archaeologists made some exciting finds when carrying out work on the A41 Aston Clinton Bypass in Buckinghamshire. The most spectacular and gruesome discovery was a Saxon graveyard dating back to some time between the 5th and 7th century AD. With the skeletons were iron knives, a spearhead, pottery, and bronze toiletry equipment.
• A team of our archaeologists undertook an exciting excavation in Staffordshire in 2001. They uncovered graves of people who lived around 2000 years ago, including young children.
• Thanks to our archaeological studies, we have discovered that many thousands of years before the Romans and Saxons lived in England, wild animals such as lions, wolves and even rhinos roamed around our countryside! We uncovered exciting fossils in Essex, including the remains of a large lion, brown bear, wolf, horse, red deer, rhinoceros and even a beaver. Giant ox bones were also found, which are now on display in London's Natural History Museum. You wouldn't find one of these in the woods today, because they died out in Britain before the last Ice Age, which ended 10,000 years ago.
• Our archaeologists excavated three Roman skeletons, including one still wearing boots, during work on the A46 at Ashchurch in Gloucestershire. The graves had been invisible for centuries beneath a field opposite the village primary school. The field is now the site of a new bridge and link road.
• Our archaeologists unearthed an old grave in West Yorkshire where the remains of a rare Iron Age chariot had been buried intact. The team found iron tyres that were still in amazingly good condition, a wooden axle and enough remains for the experts to reconstruct the way the chariot had worked.
• During some road improvements works between Honiton and Exeter, we uncovered part of a fort built by the Roman army in the middle of the first century AD. We also discovered two ditches - but these were no ordinary ditches.  They were dug with a deep narrow slot at the bottom, designed to trip up any attackers as they ran across them and break their ankles!

What happens to the bones and artefacts you discover?

The archaeologists write up a report on the discoveries and the finds go to local museums, where the most interesting may be put on display so that people can go and see them.

Time capsule sent to the future!

Sometimes the Highways Agency helps kids create their own archaeological find!  In 2003, the school kids at Higham Ferrers infant and junior school were given a once in a lifetime opportunity to bury a time capsule under a new bypass being built by the Highways Agency.

They buried a newspaper, a mobile phone, stamps and loads more goodies into the airtight capsule. Posters and essays done by the children were also put in the capsule.

School children in 60 to 100 years time will hold a ceremony to uncover the time capsule.  They will open it up to see what the children of today put in the capsule and what they find will help them learn about what life and school was like in the 21st century.