Week 12

The final week of the training dig was always going to be a busy one, with trenches to finish excavating and final recording to do. The weather was on our side for the majority of the week, and while not all the work was finished, trainees were given an insight into the recording processes required before the closing down of a site. A big thank you to everyone who has worked on the training dig this summer, especially Elena, Ben and Toby who have put so much effort and enthusiasm into training people in the basics of archaeology. Thanks must also go to Ged and Rick, both placements who spent most (or all!!) of the summer working on site and whose help was invaluable.

Trench 1
Excavation work in Trench 1 this week was focused mainly within the deeper slot. Several layers of the intriguing ‘dark earth’ were removed, exposing a layer of cobbles that had already been seen in the side of the linear cut feature. Inside the linear feature, the last backfills were removed. Aside from the digging, work began on cleaning and recording the sections in the trench as the training dig draws to a close. Amongst the finds this week was a particularly good example of an Anglo-Saxon coin. This was found in the lower layers of dark earth, supporting the theory that this deposit is the same as that overlying much of York, indicating the end of the Roman period.

Dark earth and cobbles in Trench 1.

Trench 3
No new archaeology was found during the week as we had achieved our objectives and were doing the final recording in the trench. During the washing of the interval tower walls prior to recording, two masons’ marks were found. Trench 3 is now finished.

Trench 4
Removal of deposits on the northern side of the large posthole this week revealed a layer of cobbles. Their function is, as yet, unknown. Two beam slots have also been found, one of which cuts the cobbled surface. These are possible indications of a structure that could have once stood against the precinct wall. Finds have continued to be a mixture of Roman and medieval, with bone also evident. Several nice finds were recovered this week including a piece of Roman glass – a possible bead.

Trench 5
Next to the pit excavated last week another pit feature was excavated down to the depth limit of the trench. Roman cobbles were found in the bottom of the small slot, at the same height as those in Trenches 1 and 7. This suggests that there is a cobbled surface lying across a large part of the site. The edge of the cobbles was also found, running roughly north-west – south-east. Towards the end of the week attention turned to the final recording of the trench, and section drawing was the main activity for the final day of two. The majority of finds this week were medieval, from the pit backfill, but the base of a Roman drinking vessel was also found.

Section recording in Trench 5.

Trench 7
Following the removal of the final layer of cobbles, Trench 7 was cleaned up and work began on recording the sections. Then on the morning of the final day another cobbled surface was found while removing the last deposits at the bottom of the trench. Several nice finds have come out of Trench 7 this week, including a bone stylus or needle, and several nice pieces of Samian pottery.

Trench 9
The final recording of the sections has been the focus of work in Trench 9 this week, though some excavation did take place. Several layers of very similar material were removed, and a square posthole was revealed and excavated, producing a large amount of bone and green glazed medieval pottery. More jet was also found this week, unworked lumps similar to those found last week.

Trench 10
The removal of garden deposits continued this week, revealing two postholes, one large and one small, of unknown purpose. All of the sections were recorded this week, meaning that Trench 10 is essentially finished. Finds have continued to range from Roman to post-medieval, and the end of the dig prevents us from getting into properly sealed contexts that can be securely dated.

The final group shot of the season: week twelve's team