Day 16: Monday the 4th of July

Bloggers: Rachael and Cath.

American Independence Day was celebrated in true archaeological style with the liberation of additional space in trench 20 and 22.


The northward extension of trench 22 shows the predicted continuation of the flagstones from the previously excavated area.



Trench 21

 The discovery of burnt material on the floor of trench 21, including some animal bone, could suggest the location of a fireplace. Lowering this trench to the same level as trench 22 revealed more of the destruction layer previously found.


Extension of trench 20.

The dark soil on which the students are standing shows the southern extension of the trench. This has been extended to find whether or not the wall revealed to the north continues towards the road. The uncovering of turf from this trench yielded some interesting finds:

A headless horseman from the extension in trench 20. This is likely to be a fairly recent children's toy.

 Today we also had some new volunteers who came along to see how they liked archaeology. Friends Trish Neilson and Helen Turner decided to come after hearing about the dig at a Sheffield University archaeology talk about the site. We asked:

Why did you decide to come on the dig?

Because we don't get much opportunity to try anything new and this seemed perfect.

Are you enjoying the day so far?

Yes! It's nice to get away from having a full time job and get mucky for the day.

FIND OF THE DAY!!



Bone comb found in extension of trench 22. This is probably related to the 19th century occupation of cottages in the long gallery.