Jon Kenny - community archaeology

15/06/2026

Celebrate!!!!
800 Followers... That must mean something..
Dunno What!

14/06/2026

Not just one thing to read from me today. But two! This one is on my blog, it tells the story of our archaeological investigations at the Abbots Staith in Selby. Big thanks for the model Tony Stevens!

https://jkcomarc.wordpress.com/2026/06/14/breaking-new-ground-at-selbys-abbots-staith/

14/06/2026

Breaking New Ground at Selby’s Abbots Staith

Community Archaeology Beneath a Medieval Warehouse There are some buildings that seem to have used up all their luck centuries ago. They survive wars, economic change, neglect and redevelopment almost by accident. The Abbots Staith warehouse beside the River Ouse in Selby is one such survivor. Today visitors may know it as part of the recently opened Abbots Boutique Hotel. Others may remember it as part of Woodhead's Seeds, or perhaps as the backdrop to the BBC drama…...

14/06/2026

Here is a nicer image 😀 for my latest article.. is AI a help or a hinderance in imagining the past?

https://open.substack.com/pub/jkcomarc/p/imagining-the-past-evidence-imagination?r=25klt8&utm_medium=ios

14/06/2026

How do we picture the past?

Every reconstruction of a Roman soldier, Viking farmstead or medieval village begins with evidence. But evidence alone is rarely enough. Historians, archaeologists and artists have always had to bridge the gap between what survives and what has been lost.

In this week’s Lump in the Ground article, I explore the relationship between evidence, imagination and the growing role of AI in helping us visualise the past. Where does informed reconstruction end and speculation begin? And can AI help us engage people with history without losing sight of the evidence?

https://jkcomarc.substack.com/

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

10/06/2026

This will be a really interesting talk from Steve about his amazing work on Street Houses…

This talk is going to be fascinating as, for over 6,000 years, the fields of Street House in Loftus have been a hub of community life and work. Dr Stephen Sherlock will highlight insights from excavations that reveal significant local discoveries across various eras. The findings reveal Neolithic st...

10/06/2026

If I have peaked your interest in the faint possibility of something in the paddock next to the moat field at Skipwith, here is a plot of the earth resistance in the paddock and magnetometry in the moat field. Can you see an anomaly heading out towards the paddock from the North West corner of the moat? I have included an image of the hall post holes at Skipsea. Smaller and more regular than what we see on the earth resistance at Skipwith. But worth redoing the survey. The one on the image was done in very dry conditions.

10/06/2026

Here we are undertaking geophysical survey at what I called the lump field in Skipwith. You can see the church tower peeping through the trees in the back ground. The lump I was referring to is the highest spot in the area overlooking a shallow stream valley. That church tower was rebuilt on the site of an earlier ecclesiastical site (maybe a Minster or Monastery). The church tower (much of it) was probably built around 960AD. So who had such a substantial tower built. Was it a member of the Anglo-Saxon elite? If so did they have a hall near the tower. What are the blobs we can see on the geophys plot? Are they a bit too large and nor quite regular enough to be a hall like the one at Skipsea. Our plan this summer (part of our plan) is to go back and repeat the survey. This time doing the whole field with Earth resistance and Magnetometry. Watch this space for details about helping.