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Broken Pots, Mending Lives: The Archaeology of Operation Nightingale
The first publication to feature the innovative Operation Nightingale project, which helps wounded soldiers through involvement in archaeology.
For those that survive, the traumas of military conflict can be long-lasting. It might seem astonishing that archaeology, with its uncovering of the traces of the long-dead, of battlefields, of skeletal remains, could provide solace, and yet there is something magical about the subject. Operation Nightingale is a program set up in 2011 within the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom to help facilitate the recovery of armed forces personnel recently engaged in armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, using the archaeology of the British Training Areas. In the following decade, the project expanded to include veterans of older conflicts and of other nations – from the United States, from Poland, from Australia and elsewhere.
In archaeology there is a job for from surveying and drawing, to examining the finds, to digging itself. Often this is in some of the most beautiful and restful of landscapes and with talks around a campfire at the end of the day.
This book is the story of those veterans, of their incredible discoveries, of their own journeys of recovery – and sometimes into a lifetime of archaeology. From the crash sites of Spitfires and trenches of the Western Front in the First World War, through to burial grounds of convicts, camp sites of Hessian mercenaries, and Anglo-Saxon cemeteries. Lavishly illustrated, this work will show the reader how the discovery of our shared past – of long-forgotten houses, of glinting gold jewelry, of broken pots, can be restorative and help people mend otherwise damaged lives.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Origins at the Midden
Chapter 2: The Phoenix and the Eagle
Chapter 3: Legends
Chapter 4: Mud, Blood and Green Fields Beyond
Chapter 5: Tally Ho!
Chapter 6: Facing Beowulf
Chapter 7: Locking the House
Chapter 8: Homes of the Dead
Chapter 9: Conclusions
Index
Acknowledgements
Further Reading
For those that survive, the traumas of military conflict can be long-lasting. It might seem astonishing that archaeology, with its uncovering of the traces of the long-dead, of battlefields, of skeletal remains, could provide solace, and yet there is something magical about the subject. Operation Nightingale is a program set up in 2011 within the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom to help facilitate the recovery of armed forces personnel recently engaged in armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, using the archaeology of the British Training Areas. In the following decade, the project expanded to include veterans of older conflicts and of other nations – from the United States, from Poland, from Australia and elsewhere.
In archaeology there is a job for from surveying and drawing, to examining the finds, to digging itself. Often this is in some of the most beautiful and restful of landscapes and with talks around a campfire at the end of the day.
This book is the story of those veterans, of their incredible discoveries, of their own journeys of recovery – and sometimes into a lifetime of archaeology. From the crash sites of Spitfires and trenches of the Western Front in the First World War, through to burial grounds of convicts, camp sites of Hessian mercenaries, and Anglo-Saxon cemeteries. Lavishly illustrated, this work will show the reader how the discovery of our shared past – of long-forgotten houses, of glinting gold jewelry, of broken pots, can be restorative and help people mend otherwise damaged lives.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Origins at the Midden
Chapter 2: The Phoenix and the Eagle
Chapter 3: Legends
Chapter 4: Mud, Blood and Green Fields Beyond
Chapter 5: Tally Ho!
Chapter 6: Facing Beowulf
Chapter 7: Locking the House
Chapter 8: Homes of the Dead
Chapter 9: Conclusions
Index
Acknowledgements
Further Reading
- GenresNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
Published August 17, 2023
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April 27, 2025
Fans of Time Team and Digging for Britain will likely be familiar with Richard Osgood's work with war-damaged and traumatised veterans through the "Operation Nightingale" scheme. This book details the various digs on which Op Nightingale has worked, and the considerable discoveries made - dating from the Neolithic to WWII.
Richard's book about Op Nightingale is also about the military personnel who have found healing and/or redemption, and in some cases, a whole new career, from digging up the past, including many burials. The level of focus and attention to detail required for such work took their minds off their damaged bodies and minds and presented opportunities to make a difference - and new friends among the diggers who understood what they had experienced on military service overseas.
Getting back to Time Team, I recommend the video Deep Digging: Mindful Archaeology published by Time Team on Patreon on July 1, 2022. Note too, the links at the bottom of the post. https://www.patreon.com/posts/mindful...
Richard's book about Op Nightingale is also about the military personnel who have found healing and/or redemption, and in some cases, a whole new career, from digging up the past, including many burials. The level of focus and attention to detail required for such work took their minds off their damaged bodies and minds and presented opportunities to make a difference - and new friends among the diggers who understood what they had experienced on military service overseas.
Getting back to Time Team, I recommend the video Deep Digging: Mindful Archaeology published by Time Team on Patreon on July 1, 2022. Note too, the links at the bottom of the post. https://www.patreon.com/posts/mindful...
Displaying 1 of 1 review