Category: Archaeology
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Rock art discovery at Nanjulian, St Just, Cornwall
In 2021, whilst walking through the valley at Nanjulian in the far west of Cornwall, thanks to a favourable and fortunate angle of the late summer sunlight, I spotted some interesting markings on a large earth-fast boulder. I was fairly sure straight away that these were prehistoric cup-marks, but reserved judgement until I could return…
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Imaging the Tintagel early medieval inscribed slate
English Heritage have just announced the important and rare discovery of an early medieval stone inscribed with writing, dating from the 7th century. As a specialist in digital enhancement of archaeological material, I was called in by Cornwall Archaeological Unit (who discovered the stone in the summer of 2017) to help produce the clearest possible…
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Hendraburnick ‘Quoit’ – the most decorated stone in southern Britain?
In 2016 I was asked by Dr Andy Jones from Cornwall Archaeological Unit to record and study the surface of Hendraburnick Quoit on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. The work, funded by Cornwall Archaeological Society, involved detailed 3D recording of the surface of the two stones that comprise the monument (which isn’t actually a quoit, but…
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HMS Colossus Diver Interpretation
I have just completed a project creating an interactive diver interpretation for the wreck of HMS Colossus with marine archaeologist Kevin Camidge. Commissioned by Historic England, we have created a mobile-friendly website where divers and non-divers alike can explore the wreck. It is situated south of the island of Samson on the Isles of Scilly, and sank in…
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3D Printed Replica of the Mermaid of Zennor
In August 2015 I was commissioned by National Maritime Museum Cornwall to produce a 3D printed replica of the late medieval bench end in the church of St Senara in Zennor. It depicts a mermaid, which is famously known as the Mermaid of Zennor. This has, along with another medieval bench end, been incorporated into a…
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Animal Headed Saints
Today sees the release of the January/February 2016 edition of British Archaeology. It features an article by Prof Michelle Brown and I on the early medieval cross-base at Gulval Church and its unusual depictions of the Four Evangelists. Whilst my copy of the magazine has yet to be delivered the story has been picked up…
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Neolithic Breton-Style Rock Art at Boscawen-ûn Stone Circle
Today members of the Cornwall Archaeological Society will have received copies of the latest newsletter. I didn’t expect to be featured on the front page! Below is the text from the newsletter which I wrote after an intensive couple of days research in the Society of Antiquaries library. A Reinterpretation of the Rock Art at Boscawen-ûn…
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A busy summer
I haven’t blogged since March, and since I have some data processing in the background and can do little else while I wait, I thought I’d post a little update. I have been working for most of the week with Azook, rebuilding cornishmemory.com, the web front-end to their Re:collect digital archive of historic photographs, films…
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Interactive 3D Models on Sketchfab
Publishing 3D models online used to be a pain. It always relied upon plugins, and the results could never be very detailed. Sketchfab has changed all of that, and made publishing beautifully detailed 3D models a breeze. You could use the analogy that Sketchfab is a kind of YouTube for 3D models. It is also…
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Recording St Piran’s Oratory – 3D model and animation
I have now completed my recent work on St Piran’s Oratory on behalf of St Piran Trust and Cornwall Archaeological Unit. It was a challenging task requiring a huge amount of computer resources and time, with colleagues at Archaeovision helping when my computer broke down, but I am pleased with the results. Here is a short…