About Worthing Archaeological Society (WAS)
Worthing Archaeological Society was founded with an informal meeting on January 10th 1922, in the Librarian’s room at Worthing Public Library, so we have been going for more than one hundred years. The early history of the Society is described in a paper by Daphne Palmer (Membership Secretary 1980-2000) that can be downloaded here: 'Worthing Archaeological Society: The First 60 Years'.
Currently we have over 100 members from all walks of life, sharing a common interest in investigating and conserving physical evidence of the past. The Society provides opportunity to take part in excavations, but there a plenty of other tasks to suit all interests and abilities: Excavated finds must be conserved and catalogued, exhibitions are set up and staffed, a programme of lectures are arranged, reports are written and published, photographs and videos are made of digs and finds, this website is maintained, administrative tasks are performed (keeping the accounts, arranging insurance, etc.) Many members simply enjoy the regular lectures from archaeologists with a wide range of specialism. We also organise walks and socials.
Currently we have over 100 members from all walks of life, sharing a common interest in investigating and conserving physical evidence of the past. The Society provides opportunity to take part in excavations, but there a plenty of other tasks to suit all interests and abilities: Excavated finds must be conserved and catalogued, exhibitions are set up and staffed, a programme of lectures are arranged, reports are written and published, photographs and videos are made of digs and finds, this website is maintained, administrative tasks are performed (keeping the accounts, arranging insurance, etc.) Many members simply enjoy the regular lectures from archaeologists with a wide range of specialism. We also organise walks and socials.
How the Society is Organised
The Society is set up as a charity (Charity Number: 291431). From the Charity Commission Register of Charities entry:
The Society is set up as a charity (Charity Number: 291431). From the Charity Commission Register of Charities entry:
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What the charity does:
Who the charity helps:
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As such it has a panel of trustees to control the work, management and administration of the charity on behalf of its beneficiaries. The current list of trustees can be viewed here: Trustees
The Society has a written constitution, that can be downloaded from this website's Documents/Policy page. It sets out the formal management structure of the Society; the Management Committee. This is made up of a President, Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and a Committee of seven members with power to co-opt. A list of the current committee members can also be downloaded from the Documents/Policy page. Committee members may also be Trustees.
The 'hands-on' work of the Society is delegated to two sub-groups: the Field Unit, responsible for organising and conducting surveys and digs; and the Finds Team, responsible for identifying, conserving and recording finds. Involvement with these groups is open to any member of the Society. Beginners are welcome and training is given.
The Field Unit
This is the 'sharp end' of the Society, where the manual labour gets done, digging trenches and finding ancient artefacts. The Society has surveying equipment that is used to plan excavations and record details of a site. We also have a large number of shovels, wheelbarrows, picks, buckets, stakes, fencing and much else, that needs transporting to a site. The National Trust make a couple of large sheds on the Slindon estate available for storage. We also have large marquees that are used to house the Finds Team on site (and as shelters when it rains). These need transporting and erecting.
Planning for future excavations is done by the Field Unit Forum, a regular meeting of active diggers organised by the Chairman. All members can join in.
The Finds Team
This team provides the expertise in identifying just what the Field Unit have found. Whilst the occasional spear head and whole pot does turn up, most of the finds unearthed tend to be fragments of stone or pottery, with the occasional coin or jewellery item. It is surprising just how specifically the colour and composition of a piece of broken pot can pin down its origin and date. As there is an abundance of flint in Sussex, a great deal of pre-historic stone tools are found. The identification of their use and date (which may be many thousand of years old) can be determined from the manufacturing techniques used by the makers. The Society has particular expertise in lithic studies.
The Finds Team is present on site to immediately record items turned up by diggers. It has regular sessions at the Slindon Shed to identify and catalogue artefacts. They also work with Worthing Museum on stored material. The Society runs training sessions at which expertise in identification can be developed, together with on the job training.
More Details
Documents detailing various aspect of the Society and its activities can be found on Documents/Policy page. In particular new members should see Daily Health & Safety Briefing for Arrival on Site and the Field Handbook
that describe basic concepts and processes that you will encounter whilst taking part in archaeological field work.