Day 18: Wednesday the 6th of July

Bloggers: Rachael and Rosalind.

Heavy rain today did not dampen the spirits of our intrepid archaeologists!

Over in Trench 22, lots of kiln furniture has been uncovered. Kiln furniture is the material inside a kiln on which ceramics are placed to be fired. Sometimes fragments of pottery can be found stuck to it, which is useful in identifying its usage.




Kiln furniture and brick from Trench 22

In Trench 20, the main focus of the day was exposing a deposit of stones that runs through the trench, which may be part of a wall.

Uncovering the stones was a tough operation

Spoons were put to a rather original use in this trench:



There was a noted absence of spoons for tea and coffee at the mid-morning break

 Spoons are used for getting to the small spaces between the stones to clean out the loose soil. Suspicion was raised when Lauren's section of stones were cleaner than everyone else's:



Exhibit A: Lauren's clean stones (right)

After a thorough investigation by Alvaro, she was accused of using her gloves to wipe the stones clean!

Today we interviewed Jane...

So why did you come to Manor Lodge?

I have a long association with the site and wanted to find out more about it. I was the headteacher of the primary school next door and we did lots of activities with children around the Lodge. I also help out with the flower displays, particularly the Tudor Herb Garden. I even saw an opera about Mary, Queen of Scots performed here by a local theatre group.

What is your interest in archaeology?

I'm retired now, so I like to take part when I can. I was also here last year with a group of friends, which was lovely.

What do you think of the work being done to the site?

When I worked at the school the park was largely wasteland, so it's nice to see it being looked after and presented as an educational site.

Thanks, Jane.

And finally, Hollywood came to Manor Lodge today when filmmaker Sean arrived to create a short film about the Department of Archaeology at Sheffield University. The process included interviewing some of our students:

After 10 takes, Kate's hand was permanently stuck in that position

When they become famous in the future, remember you heard about them here first!