{"id":485,"date":"2022-12-12T12:35:18","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T12:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/?page_id=485"},"modified":"2023-12-18T09:41:10","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T09:41:10","slug":"excavation-hut","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/our-story\/excavation-hut\/","title":{"rendered":"Excavation Hut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bulleid and Grey Excavation Hut\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/854622686?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bulleid and Gray Hut was purchased in 1910 by two local archaeologists, Arthur Bulleid and Harold St George Gray. It was used in their excavations at Meare Lake Village until 1956 and is believed to be the oldest surviving excavation hut in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the excavations, the side rooms provided an office for each man, while the middle was used for tools and storage. After 1956 it was left on site and rediscovered by the Somerset Levels Project in 1982. It still contained tools and finds, together with a pile of newspapers going back to 1890.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Displays<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reconstructions of the Glastonbury Lake Village by artist Am\u00e9d\u00e9e Forestier<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reconstruction of the site office used by archaeologists featuring finds of the Lake Villages<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Archaeology cinema with 3-minute short films on loop (total runtime 15 minutes)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Art of Am\u00e9d\u00e9e Forestier<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"695\" src=\"http:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/FIG28-1024x695.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1027\" style=\"width:-348px;height:-235px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/FIG28-1024x695.png 1024w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/FIG28-300x204.png 300w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/FIG28-768x521.png 768w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/FIG28-1536x1043.png 1536w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/FIG28.png 2008w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>In the main room are displayed three reconstruction images of Glastonbury Lake Village made in 1911 by artist Am\u00e9d\u00e9e Forestier. They appeared in the <em>Illustrated London News<\/em> and were some of the first ever archaeological reconstruction drawings and used evidence from the excavations to create highly detailed and atmospheric images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The illustrations captured the public imagination and were widely reproduced. They had a profound influence on people\u2019s perceptions of prehistory and still rank as some of the best reconstruction images of an archaeological site ever produced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Site Office<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/20230612_142910-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1042\" style=\"width:470px;height:352px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/20230612_142910-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/20230612_142910-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/20230612_142910-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/20230612_142910-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/20230612_142910-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The left-hand room has been recreated as it might have looked during excavations of the lake villages by Bulleid and Gray. It contains pottery and small finds from the Lake Villages, as well as a selection of newspapers dating from the 1930s, 40s and 50s to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Archaeology Cinema<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The right-hand room contains our Bulleid and Gray cinema. Here you can watch a <a href=\"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/our-story\/guides\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"899\">series of films<\/a> about local archaeology, including recent excavations at Glastonbury Lake Village. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bulleid, Gray and the Lake Villages<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"283\" src=\"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/FIG3-300x283.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1047\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/FIG3-300x283.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/FIG3-768x723.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/FIG3.jpg 946w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Arthur Bulleid was a keen amateur archaeologist from Glastonbury. He recorded local finds while training as a doctor. In 1892 he discovered the Iron Age settlement now known as Glastonbury Lake Village, one of the best-preserved prehistoric villages ever found in Europe. It is about four miles from here in the flood plain of the Brue Valley between Glastonbury and Godney. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bulleid excavated there for six years before pausing to finish his medical studies and get married. He resumed work in 1904, now in company with Harold St George Gray, curator for Somerset Archaeological &amp; Natural History Society of its museum in Taunton. Gray had been trained by General Pitt-Rivers, a pioneer of excavation techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Work continued until 1907, by which time most of the site had been completely excavated. Because Bulleid had taken no salary for all his years of work, the total cost was only \u00a3687.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A reconstruction of one of the roundhouses from Glastonbury Lake Village is being <a href=\"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/our-story\/iron-age-roundhouse\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"487\">recreated on this site<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Meare Lake Village<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"http:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/hut-during-Meare-excavations-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1045\" style=\"width:-323px;height:-214px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/hut-during-Meare-excavations-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/hut-during-Meare-excavations-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/hut-during-Meare-excavations-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/hut-during-Meare-excavations-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/hut-during-Meare-excavations-2048x1364.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>In 1895, Bulleid found another Iron Age settlement just north of Meare, less than two miles from this site. After the work at Glastonbury was finished, Bulleid and Gray excavated Meare Lake Village from 1908 to 1938, with an enforced break during the First World War. Bulleid was then 76 and Gray 66. After another break during the Second World War, Gray continued alone until 1956, when he was 82.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Meare Lake Villages were not as well preserved as Glastonbury Lake Village. Nor did not they contain the wealth of organic materials, such as wood, which had made the Glastonbury settlement so special. Even so, they produced a huge amount of material and remain one of the most important Iron Age sites in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where are the objects from the Lake Villages?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The finds from the Lake Villages can be seen in two places. Some are on display in the <a href=\"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/museum-of-somerset\/explore\/galleries\/\">Museum of Somerset at Taunton Castle<\/a>. A larger number of objects, including most of the wooden items from Glastonbury Lake Village, can be seen in <a href=\"https:\/\/glastonburyinformationcentre.co.uk\/top-attractions\/glastonbury-museum-at-the-tribunal\/\">Glastonbury Museum at the Tribunal<\/a>, housed in a late medieval merchant\u2019s house on Glastonbury High Street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Bulleid and Gray Hut was purchased in 1910 by two local archaeologists, Arthur Bulleid and Harold St George Gray. It was used in their excavations at Meare Lake Village until 1956 and is believed to be the oldest surviving excavation hut in the world. During the excavations, the side rooms provided an office for<a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/our-story\/excavation-hut\/\" title=\"ReadExcavation Hut\">&#8230; Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":199,"parent":18,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"1","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-485","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"titles":{"page_title_first":"","page_title_second":"","page_intro":""}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4504,"href":"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/485\/revisions\/4504"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swheritage.org.uk\/avalon-archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}