Staff Introduction: Kurt Hunter-Mann, Dig Director

(Image from the York Press, 29th July 2011)

Kurt Hunter-Mann is the Romans in Ravenglass Excavation Director, and works for the York Archaeological Trust.

Born in Salford, Lancashire, and a graduate in archaeology from Lancaster University, Kurt is well acquainted with the Lake District. He worked on an excavation at Cockermouth with what was then the Lancaster University field archaeology unit. While working with Manchester University Archaeology Unit, he worked with Barri Jones on a Romano-British site at Thurstonfield, north Cumberland.

Kurt has been involved in many community and training projects - his first job was on a long-term community excavation at Beddington Roman villa near London. The training excavations at St Leonard’s Hospital in York featured a major investigation of the legionary fortress defences.

He has over 30 years’ professional experience, covering all periods from prehistoric to the present day. He has particular experience of Roman sites, including the fort and vicus at Castleshaw on the Pennines, and recently the possible gladiator cemetery at York.

New date for your diary!

Kurt (Excavation Director) will be speaking about the Ravenglass Project at the Hadrian's Wall Archaeology Forum in 2014, not as first thought, in 2013.

I have also updated the original Ravenglass Dates blog to reflect this.

Follow Romans in Ravenglass on Twitter!

There is now a Twitter account for the Romans in Ravenglass.  Find it here and feel free to have a tweet.

Timetable for Romans in Ravenglass 2013

Just to confirm the major dates for the Romans in Ravenglass project this year:

3rd August - Introductory day.  At the Pennington Arms in Ravenglass, and including a site tour.

September digging days: 

4th-7th September

10th-14th September

13th September - Open Day: what is being dug up in Ravenglass? Join the project archaeologists for tours of the Ravenglass excavation site. Find out more about Roman Ravenglass from displays and artefacts. Bring your finds along to be identified by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. 10.30am-3pm

14th September - Open Day for all: Family fun day at the Romans in Ravenglass excavation site. Get your hands on some real Roman artefacts, dress up like a Roman, join the archaeologists for a tour of the Roman site and much more! 10.30am-3pm

16th-21st September

21st September - Open Day for all: A chance to celebrate the end of the excavation season. Find out what has been unearthed. What more do we know about the Romans in Ravenglass? Tours, displays, artefacts and activities for all! Bring your finds along to be identified by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. 10.30am-3pm

24th-28th September - Last week of digging!

19th October - Hadrian's Wall Archaeology Forum - although Kurt may be attending, he is no longer due to talk at the Forum.  However, he will be doing a session at next year's Forum.

3rd November - Ravenglass Presentation at Lake District Conference - see blog entry here, for details.  Director Kurt will be giving a talk detailing what happened in the first year's season, including Geophys.  Also, the film that was being made about the dig will get its first showing!

2014 - Ravenglass Community Presentation (further details tbc); Hadrian's Wall Archaeology Forum lecture (tbc); Second season of excavations, possibly September (tbc)

Staff Introduction: Holly Beavitt-Pike

Holly is the Lake District National Park's Project Manager for Romans in Ravenglass.  Here's a little about her from the Lake District National Park's website:

http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/aboutus/jobs/whatdowedoexactly/archaeology-and-heritage-assistant

Romans in Ravenglass Introductory Day - 3rd August

An important date for your diary. There will be an Introductory Day for the project on 3rd August.  It is being held at the Pennington Hotel in Ravenglass, and begins at 10am.  This will be your chance to hear about the background to the project, as well as meeting key staff involved in the dig.  There will also be a site visit.  Further information can be downloaded here.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Romans in Ravenglass blog!

We'll begin posting shortly, but in the meantime, take a look at the project's details on the Lake District website.