Week 10, 8 - 14 September

Finds supervisor Katherine Bearcock teaching finds work

"I dig it", "The best £1 I have spent ever" and "Keep up the good work"; these are some of the many enthusiastic and encouraging comments that members of the public have left us in our visitor book this season. Some 16,500 people have seen the training excavation so far this year.

We have been busy this week training a healthy number of module and taster trainees, most of whom originate from the UK but with a trainee from the USA. To hear about the challenges faced this week read on.

Excavating the earlier Roman rampart in Trench 1

A fantastic discovery made this week was the remains of a turf rampart, sealed by the material that was banked up against the back of the later Roman fortress wall. Could this earlier defensive feature date to 71AD when the IXth Roman Legion first arrived in York? Amazingly, it was still possible to see the individual turf blocks used in this early rampart's construction, and although no finds were recovered this week, we are hopeful that further excavation may produce dateable finds from these deposits. Watch this space.

Trench 3

Within this trench, the removal of the homogeneous dumps on the north-east side of the trench last week revealed a clay deposit which became much thicker to the north-east, thereby forming a level surface against the back of the Roman rampart. A single post-hole was associated with this levelled area. Could this be a flat platform for a building situated close to the rampart, or a yard or work area? In either case, this is the first evidence for human activity on the site between the Roman and medieval periods. It may represent the use of this part of the former Roman fortress as a hospital before the Norman Conquest - a Viking hospital! This really would fill in one of the blank spaces in York's history; only further investigation will tell.

Excavating the clay feature in Trench 3

Placement Dave Harwood drawing inside the medieval foundation pit in Trench 3

The clay sealed the backfill of the L-shaped cut revealed last week, so the clay has been the focus of our work this week, as it was more recent in date. As most readers probably know archaeologists dig backwards in time, from modern times to the prehistoric, defining and digging each individual context and interpreting each event or activity as they are revealed by the excavation process.

The clay levelled area contained a fragment of pottery that may date it to the 11th century. A possible hone stone and fragments of glazed roof tile were also recovered this week.

Trench 4

Excavation continued within the backfill of the former Trench 2 (2001), virtually all of which has now been removed, exposing the medieval stone drain and previously unexcavated archaeological deposits to either side. Although we will not be able to investigate these deposits this season, we are already looking forward to tackling them next year. A hole, or sluice in the top of the medieval drain, was rediscovered this week. This may have been used to get rid of liquid waste from the kitchens, which were situated in the medieval hospital undercroft. A wide selection of finds dating from Roman times to the modern period were recovered from the backfill of Trench 2 this week including pottery, animal bone and ceramic building materials (brick and tile).

An interior view of the medieval drain, taken 'blind' through the hole in Trench 4, looking south-west	Another interior view of the medieval drain, showing the vaulted stretch that supported the north-east wall of the infirmary

Trench 5

This week, work has been targeted on the Victorian path that sweeps across the trench from south to north. This would have been a route-way through the Garden of Antiquities maintained by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The removal of a sequence of gravel paths last week revealed landscaping deposits and the construction point of the limestone edging stones, cut into an earlier path sequence. Once planned, photographed and recorded, the large blocks which lined the path were removed to reveal the full extent of an earlier path surface and landscaping deposits that pre-date the paths construction. Stay tuned to see what else is revealed below the path in weeks 11 and 12.

Planning one of the 19th century paths in Trench 5	Investigating 19th century garden features; note the stones forming the path edgings

A fragment of decorated Roman Samian pottery bearing the maker's stamp GERM[ANUS?]	Roman glass vessel fragment, maximum dimension 18mm