Hi, > Gotta be practical here. How many of the original buildings, pre-roman era > of wooden construction are standing in London? ...Or anywhere in Britain? We > don't have the original log cabins that were built in out cities either.
We do still have a surprising number of pre-Roman wooden things knocking around and resurfacing from time to time, and they all get preserved immediately, as a matter of urgency. In recent years things like Woodhenge have appeared during a low tide; we've found Celtic wooden causeways in marshland, bits of old bridges in the river; grass, leather, bone. All sorts of stuff. You'd be surprised. Far more often all we have left, like you, is post holes, patches of discoloured earth and a few tiles. When we find those we put the movable bits in museums and either rebury the rest for later, or find some way other of preserving it in-situ. In central London all building work has to have the archaeologists in first so the builders don't destroy stuff. If valuable relics are found then the building plans can be changed to enforce the preservation. Many modern buildings in the City have basements open to the public where you can go and look at the finds in situ. It's not just about the history of great men, like Lincoln. Probably even more important is what you learn about ordinary people and societies. I'm sure archaeologists and public alike would love to have more information about the early settlers, to be able to stand on the same floors where they stood, to see the things they used and built, even when it is only a grubby little post hole and some discoloured dirt. It doesn't have to be a whole log cabin in perfect shape. -- Cheers, Bob
