On Friday 21st February our Curator Andy was joined by former University of Kent KAS student ambassador Alexander Read at Maidstone Museums. Alexander is undertaking his MA dissertation with the Experimental Archaeology course at the University of Exeter, where he aims to reconstruct an early medieval sword.

This lovely little double snake was found during excavations by the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit (KARU) at Harrietsham Roman Villa located near the Parish church.

We have had a new student work placement, Eleanor with us this week from Invicta Grammar School who has been helping our curator Andy catalogue the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit Archive.

What do we think this might be? Similar to an item we posted regarding our Roman site at Trossley this as yet unidentified item features green fracturing material that on first glance appears to be glass.

It's #findsfriday! Further to the work our curator has been carrying out on the "witchbottle" from Cliftonville, James Elliot Senior Radiographer at Canterbury Christ Church University has been "excavating" the CT scan data from Laurel Dental Practice.

An interesting outing for our Curator Andy today! Thanks to the wonderful team at Laurel Dental Practice in Margate we have been able to undertake a cone beam CT scan of the Cliftonville Witch Bottle, found by Randa Kerchef in her home in 2024.

It's #FindsFriday! For the last #FindsFriday of the year, before the office closes for Christmas we have this lovely 2nd Century AD "Poppyhead" beaker found during excavations at Iwade by Alec Miles.

As promised our curator Andy is sharing a bit more information on the coin found with our lost elf at Penshurst Place!

Our curator Andy has just finished recording the Witch Bottle from Margate onto the Portable Antiquities Scheme Database.

A quick update from our curator on the Witch Bottle which was taken to Canterbury Christ Church University and X-Rayed.

We have a bit of a #mystery item on our hands today! This small antler object, decorated with ring and dots on both sides has been handed to our curator Andy for identification ahead of it being recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme with Kent's Finds Liaison Officer.

It's #findsfriday! Today we have something slightly different which recently came across our Curator Andy's desk; a possible late 18th century 'Witch Bottle'!

Today is #nationalillustrationday as well as being #findsfriday. National Illustration Day, an initiative by the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration , is an annual celebration of the pictures that are essential to our lives and the brilliant people who make them.

Join our society Curator this as he discusses some objects being taken for x-rays next week and why this is so important!

It's #FindsFriday! We have a new student placement, Max from Five Acre Wood School who has been helping to catalogue the archive of Dr Brian Philp. This lovely little #bartmann jug is just one of the many finds from the archive which we hope to showcase in the coming months!

It's #FindsFriday! Today our curator Andy has been working through some of the Metal Detected objects recovered during work at Badlesmere on the Lees Court Estate, all the way back in 2019!

A busy day for our curator today; with help from Archivist Craig all of the Flint from 2024's excavation at the Lees Court Estate has been collected and brought back to our office for cataloguing. Once weighed and counted, the material will be sent to a lithic specialist for reporting!

A #mystery object from our work on the Lees Court Estate earlier this year.

Our #illustration student placement Holly has been hard at work finalising some of the Ozengell objects for her portfolio.

It's #FindsFriday and today we have something a little bit special. Our volunteer John has been busy cataloguing the bulk finds from our Trosley Bathhouse excavation from 2023. During this he has come across this interesting little object labelled only as a vitrified fragment.

It's #FindsFriday! This bow brooch (so called due to the raised Bow in the centre) is one of a pair excavated by the Thanet Archaeological Unit (now @Trust For Thanet Archaeology) at the Ozengell / Lord of the Manor Cemetery Site.