Week 4

Recording elevations of walls around the site perimeter

Recording elevations of walls around the site perimeter

 As many of you will know, we have experienced a week of bright, sunny days on site. Good progress has continued to be made in all trenches. Trainees have been given the opportunity to gain more experience washing finds, and also to begin sorting and bagging dry artefacts so they can be assessed by specialists. Alongside this, work began on recording the walls which surround the site.
Click for sketch trench location plan
Trench 4
At the end of last week a layer of green dumping had been uncovered on the south west side of the trench. Removal of this at the beginning of this week revealed the rubble layer that was already partially visible. This was planned and has now been removed. To the north east of the trench we found a post hole with a small stake hole cut into the side of it, which has now been fully recorded. At this side of the trench there was also a layer of trample, which is in the process of being excavated. The main job this week though was the planning of the wall, thought to be medieval, which runs across the middle of the trench. This is a complicated task because the edges of the wall are very irregular down one side; it may be that it is in fact a wall which acts as the edge to a terrace, with one side holding back higher ground.
Finds from Trench 4 have again been mainly medieval, with plenty of pottery, brick and tile found. We also found a bead, or pin head, probably made from bone.

Excavating a posthole in Trench 4

Excavating a posthole in Trench 4

Planning the wall in Trench 4

Planning the wall in Trench 4

Trench 5
Work in Trench 5 has again focussed on cobbled surfaces. The first cobbled surface was removed at the beginning of this week, revealing another cobbled layer below a couple of levelling deposits. These levelling layers have now been removed, and the second cobble surface is clearly visible. It looks like we have the later of the two medieval surfaces which were found during the previous excavations.

 

Excavating in Trench 5

Excavating in Trench 5
To the eastern side of the trench a cut feature was identified through the clayey layer. It is possible that this is quite modern, but the disturbed layers above it obscured it from our view. It is anticipated that a third cobble layer lies below the one currently exposed, and it is possible that this will correspond with a cobbled surface found during the 2004 evaluation excavation on the site.
Finds have been again dominated by lots of medieval pottery and CBM (Ceramic Building Material – brick and tile).
Trench 6
In Trench 6 this week the first job was to remove a number of slabs from the eastern side of the trench. This uncovered a brown deposit that appears to be sitting within a shallow cut running parallel to the large wall. On the western side of the trench the sandy layer was removed, and this has revealed a rubble deposit, which is currently being planned.
Finds this week have included a lead disc, possibly a token, with a faint cross on one side. The majority of finds have been brick and tile, medieval green glazed pottery, and some Roman pottery too.

Trench 7
This week, to the north side of the trench, all the backfill for the tank has been removed. Surprisingly, no defined base was found; it appears that the tank was built directly onto a layer of green material. The brick sides of the tank were lined with plaster, and this is being removed at the moment. Hopefully we will be able to begin to remove the bricks on Tuesday. Across the centre of the trench work has focussed on the wall, and a robbing trench has been excavated.
Brick and tile are the main finds from Trench 7, along with some pottery and bone.

So we are now a third of the way through the dig! We have had fantastic weather, great archaeology and lots of good trainees (both new and old). Keep checking the website to see how things progress.