MOLA archaeologists excavating burial pit

First Berliners archaeological research project

Warning: this page contains images and discussion of human remains

MOLA is collaborating with partners in Berlin on a pioneering project that will investigate the medieval population of Berlin through their skeletal remains. The population will then be compared with contemporary collections from London.

This study is the first to compare medieval populations across Europe and assess how their lives compared.

We hope that the comparison will provide a truly intra-European perspective on matters such as diet, life style, health care, life expectancy and disease. Furthermore we aim to be able to detect traces of Europe-wide phenomena, such as the impact of failed harvests, and moreover look at how the different medieval populations managed these problems.

The skeletal collection from Berlin will be examined both osteologically (the bones) and spatially (the position of the bones and the burials) to examine the arrangement and use of cemeteries over time and to see how an individual’s status, health and age is reflected in the position and type of burial. This will then be compared with analysis completed on major London cemetery sites, particularly that of St. Mary’s Spitalfields; the largest cemetery site ever excavated in London.

This exciting project is a collaboration between the Landesdenkmalamt Berlin, Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and the University of West Florida, and will make use of MOLA’s Osteological and GIS expertise.

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Amulets, charms, and witch bottles

Thinking about ‘magical’ objects in museum collections through collaborative interaction between academics and curators with Pagans, witchcraft practitioners and other communities with spiritual investment

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Communicating Climate Risk and Heritage Loss / Cyfathrebu Risg Hinsawdd a Cholled Treftadaeth

Project title: Tough Decisions: Communicating Climate Risk and Heritage Loss / Penderfyniadau Anodd: Cyfathrebu Risg Hinsawdd a Cholled Treftadaeth

IAA project type: Partnership grant

Duration of project: January - June 2025

Partner organisation: Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority (PCNPA), Futureworks (Pembrokeshire County Council)

MOLA staff leading IAA project: Kit Ackland

Project aims

This project aimed to:

  • Raise awareness of decision-making processes and consequences of heritage loss.
  • Allow young people to explore their relationship with the coastline, their community, and their sense of identity through heritage.
  • Provide beneficiaries with transferrable skills for career development.
  • Generate a knowledge exchange between the partners and create a legacy for continued outreach within the community in the future.
  • Test a new methodology for engaging with hard to reach audiences for future events with Coasts in Mind project.

Audiences

Collaborating with Futureworks, the participants in this project included those who have had difficulty within the education system, have additional learning needs, or come from lower-income backgrounds. Many wanted to develop their communication and social skills.

This project provided the young people with the opportunity to explore the coastline, a sight which some of them may have never seen, providing them with an overview of why cultural heritage is important and why managers may want to protect or leave certain sites. For some this was also be their first experience of Welsh language outside of school.

The project also gave them the opportunity to express themselves and their identity, and to learn new transferrable skills including research, writing, planning, videography, 3D modelling, public speaking, and project design and delivery. It aimed to empower the participants to continue developing those skills and carry them forward into their future careers and reinforce the understanding that heritage can benefit everyone.

Project plan

The project followed a theme of ‘acceptable heritage loss’, exploring alternate ways of preserving and presenting heritage. Participants aged 16-20 developed knowledge and understanding of coastal heritage and decision making, research skills, and videography and digital recording skills through workshops and guided walks. Guided through a process of creating videographic outputs they demonstrated what they learned and experienced working alongside MOLA and PCNPA.

Four case study areas provided a variety of archaeological examples for discussion of differences in the approach to their preservation and presentation:

  • Caerfai Camp, St Davids
  • St Brides
  • East Blockhouse, West Angle
  • St Patrick’s Chapel, Whitesands

8 day-long workshops took place over a 6 month period between January and June 2025.

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