St Leonard's Excavation — the second season

Week 9 7-11 August 2002

Bouts of torrential rain again took their toll this week, with bailing out and cleaning up slowing excavation work. Shoring was inserted in Trench 1 to prevent slippage, and the cover in Trench 3, viewed initially with scepticism by some, proved invaluable. Neil Macnab has now taken over as site director for two weeks, in place of Kurt Hunter-Mann, and Toby Kendall, back from leave, is again with his charges in Trench 1. Twenty five trainees took part in taster days and excavation modules, with a further six on the second five-day finds course.

Conservator Steve Allen explains to trainees about illustrating finds.

The finds course again proved both enjoyable for trainees and useful for excavation staff as trainees fed information about material excavated back to workers on site. YAT staff involved with the course greatly welcomed the opportunity to carry out the various stages of finds work, from cleaning to illustration and research, in such quick succession. The same finds work was adapted for families and children for the latest children's activity day. A fantastic range of material was handled during this module. Pottery included Roman Samian ware imported from France for military and civilian use, 4th century calcite-gritted ware, and Ebor ware actually made, as its name signifies, in York. Other pottery included Anglo-Scandinavian Stamford ware and the typical medieval green glazed pottery. Tile and brick, bone and shell, and material such as mortar and charcoal were all handled, as was metal which was x-rayed.

Trainees sorting environmental material	Christine McDonnell, Head of Finds Administration, looking at antler working	Trainee Amy Mellor packaging finds

Trench 1

Archaeologist Toby Kendall fixes the shoring, with the medieval drain to the right and the column base foundation behind.

Inside the covered area of Trench 1 another post-hole, or possibly a robbed-out stone post-pad, was excavated. This may have been associated with the post-pad excavated nearby, and would have related to the earliest phase of the building (11th century). The excavation here will now be restricted to a smaller area in the middle of the trench to avoid any risk of undermining the standing columns.

The cleaned side of the medieval drain

Outside, deposits around the column base foundation near the medieval drain were removed. It looks as if a dividing wall belonging to the Roman interval tower may have been located- this would be a significant finding, but further work is needed to confirm it. Unfortunately rain seriously hampered excavation work in this part of the site, but it was possible to photograph and further record features that had already been excavated such as the medieval drain. This is clearly important work as all such features will be re-buried in a few week's time.

Trench 3

Excavating in Trench 3 undeterred by the rain!

Protected by the trench cover, work here proceeded well this week. Occupation deposits have been removed, and the excavation is now very close to the construction level of the hospital building (late 12th-13th century). As well as some 20 stake holes, which may have related to storage structures or work surfaces, several large post holes have now been excavated with what seem to be shapes made by timber bases clearly visible at the bottom. These could have been for an internal partition.

Finds here included a fine medieval copper alloy pin, a copper alloy button, probably also medieval, with some kind of inlay, and Roman and medieval pottery. Architectural fragments were also excavated here. They could be from this building, from another building as dump material, or construction wasters. As usual, only post-excavation work can provide the answers.

Some recent finds

	Sherd of Samian pottery
	Worked bone or antler
	Medieval nail, heavily corroded
	More glass!