Week 4

The excavation continued uninterrupted despite the continued wet weather. Neither were the visitors put off, another 1,000 visiting the site this week.

Removing the Roman painted wall plaster in Trench 5

The Artefacts and Ecofacts course was held this week, alongside the fieldwork training course. Ten students, from the United States, Switzerland and Sweden as well as Britain, have worked hard learning about bones, pottery, building materials, a range of small finds, and all about methods of conservation, research and display. Finds from some of the Roman rampart deposits from Trench 3 were studied as part of this course. The trainees' findings largely support our current interpretation of the rampart deposits as being derived from a range of sources, including domestic rubbish, and dating to around AD 200. However, several sherds of Middle Saxon pottery (around AD 650-850) were identified, which provides much food for thought for the excavation team. Perhaps the rampart had been extended by the Anglo-Saxon occupants of what was then known as Eoforwic. It is thought the former Roman fortress was held by the rulers of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria at this time, but there has been precious little archaeological evidence of this activity to date.

The 19th century trench under excavation in Trench 5. The string lines represent the approximate position of the south wall of the Roman Multangular Tower

As work continued in Trench 3 it has become clear that the nature of the deposits forming the later Roman fortress rampart is changing again; there are now signs that these rampart deposits were carefully stacked. It is expected that this will be resolved in the weeks to come.

In Trench 5 the large, curving 19th century excavation trench was excavated, producing large quantities of Roman and medieval brick and tile. On the northern side of the 19th century trench, layers apparently within the rear part of the Multangular Tower have been exposed. A substantial piece of painted wall plaster has been found, and other, smaller pieces are visible, as yet un-excavated, in the section. Such adornment is not what we necessarily associate with a military building, if indeed the plaster does derive from the tower itself. Once the other pieces have been excavated it will be interesting to compare these pieces with other plaster found during excavations elsewhere in the fortress, notably from a possible officer's house at Blake Street across the road from St Leonard's.

The large fragment of painted wall plaster from Trench 5 (200mm long)	Worked antler tine wedge (55mm long)

A fragment of tile with a dog paw print visible (maximum dimension 130mm)