Archaeology

I'm exhausted! All this time I have become an office bum, or just staring up at old buildings with a clipboard, I have forgotten what it feels like to trowel all day and be outside in the lovely sunshine. Was excellent. We have a great team of core and semi-core diggers including Chris (in charge), Dale, Hazel, Rod, Jenny, Tina, Vicky, Terry, Dave, Vicky and Rollo. First thing this morning was setting up our lovely gazebo (very Time Team, I know) which felt almost akin to the Amish Barn Raising. I say almost, as the first attempt was a disaster and we had to take the thing down and put the right poles in the right places! Good job Jenny turned up when she did, else it would have been a disaster. Thanks Jenny! The instructions were useless though.

Vicky, Terry & Hazel on the first attempt!

Jenny steps in and makes us do it again (thank goodness!)

Ha ha! Even at 6'5" Chris has a problem reaching the roof in the great barn raising scene...

Ta-Da! Now all we need is a bar. Possibly a dance floor.

Anyway, once the 'palace' was up, we were split into two teams. Trench 1 is in the position of Masterman's original trenches to the north-west and so far we've taken off the main top scrub and topsoil and found some early medieval pottery, a nail and some animal bone and slag. It looks like there is a lot of stone dumps under the topsoil marking possibly where Masterman had his spoil heap - going to do some recording tomorrow and take that right down.

Hazel and Tina in Trench 1

Trench 2 (in the position of one of the anomolies revealed by the geophysics) hasn't exposed any features yet apart from a nice piece of dressed stone and some more pottery and a nail. It's much easier to dig that trench methinks due to the eveness of the ground there!