Good progress has continued to be made this week, aided by dry weather on site (Saturday was an exception). Trainees have continued to learn about archaeological techniques, and have also had the chance to do elevation drawing, sorting of artefacts, and digitisation on the computer. We were also joined on Friday by the winner of a Young Archaeologists Club competition – showing that Archaeology Live! appeals to everyone.
Work in Trench 4 this week concentrated on the wall and its footings. To the southern side of the trench the cobble footings have been removed, revealing a loose jumble of limestone blocks forming a lower part of the footing. The limestone slab footings under the better built part of the wall to the north of the trench have also been removed, and this has revealed a continuous layer of smaller cobbles. The relationship between the two sections of the wall is still unknown; hopefully next week it will become clearer.
Finds this week have included an interesting iron object, found in a layer in the south east corner of the trench. It is a rod about 10mm in diameter and about 400mm long, and was found with a small bolt about 20mm from the centre of it. There has also been medieval pottery, building materials and animal bone.
The quantity of cobbles found in Trench 5 had decreased significantly this week and we appear to be down onto pre-road archaeological deposits. Work has continued on emptying the fill of a ditch identified last week. A second fill was encountered which contained a jumble of mixed human bone that must have come from a grave disturbed elsewhere, maybe on the site. Samples were taken from this second fill for environmental processing as the deposit was partially waterlogged and preservation of organic material – for example leather and wood – was very good. The two cut features have produced a lot of animal bone, and other finds from the trench include early and later medieval pottery – comprising less green glaze than previous weeks but quite a bit of gritty ware. There has also been some Roman pottery found.
Last week a linear feature was uncovered to the north of the trench, and excavation of this has continued this week. There were remnants of wood against each side of the cut, and these were carefully removed. Work in this area is now concentrating on the removal of deposits on either side of the linear feature. To the south side of the trench an unusual linear cut was uncovered extending beyond the edge of the trench. This has been fully recorded and is now being excavated.
This week’s finds have consisted mainly of animal bone and medieval pottery.
To the south side of Trench 7 work has concentrated on the removal of thin floor deposits, giving trainees the experience of excavating thin, delicate layers. On the north side of the trench work has continued on the narrow strip of upstanding archaeology between the wall and the tank. Careful excavation of this has been rewarded with the discovery of a medieval hearth which is currently being recorded.
The majority of finds this week are from the medieval period and include animal bone and pottery.