English Heritage has a strong tradition of using archaeological illustrations to convey information about the past. Visitors to our sites will find archaeological illustrations used in guidebooks, on display panels and in exhibitions. They are a major component of our research reports and books and are increasingly being prepared for use on the web to enthuse, educate and explain.
Reconstructing the past
It is often difficult to imagine how an archaeological site once looked, especially when it has been reduced to a complex of seemingly random lumps and bumps in a field or a series of pits and postholes in the bottom of a trench. This is where a reconstruction drawing is used to bring the site back to life.
Creating a good reconstruction drawing is no easy task as it needs meticulous assessment of all the available archaeological evidence. At Kelmarsh in Northamptonshire the remains of the medieval village are now nothing more than grassed-over earthworks, but the plan of the settlement is still clear enabling the reconstruction artist to rebuild the appearance of how the village once looked some six hundred years ago.
Drawing objects
Every excavation routinely unearths hundreds of objects lost or discarded in the past. They not only tell us about the technical expertise and lifestyles of the people who made and used them but they are often of great value in helping archaeologists to date different phases of occupation on a site.
To make sure that the drawing of an object conveys the maximum amount of archaeological information requires careful attention to detail and the ability to adapt the style of the drawing to reflect the material being illustrated. Here use of a fine ink pen and a stippling pattern has been used to give a realistic impression of stone without distracting the eye away from the shape and form of the sculpture which might be the case if a photograph was used instead of a drawing.
Design
Every bit as important as preparing an attractive and informative illustration is the need for the book, leaflet, poster or website where the drawing is to be published to be well-designed.
Poor design risks turning people away and the opportunity to pass on information will have been lost. While modern software packages provide a wide range of tools for use in design, experience shows that it is often the simpler approach that has the most impact. This is especially the case when designing a poster where the simple use of one large photograph and a single block of text has more impact than multiple images and hundreds more words.
