CAER: Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research Project

Updates from Team A and B… Jake… On a wet first day back excavating after a long weekend, Team B returned to trowelling back the far corner of trench 8 where we left off on Friday. Due to the wet weather it was easier to see the difference in colour of the contexts and we were able to find an orange/red clay that we were looking for on the Friday. After completing that we were tasked with removing a previously recorded feature at the end of the trench. After lunch Team B had a finds session in the pavilion where we looked at separating finds and also looked at how the finds might be interpreted. Team B ended the day cleaning some finds from the excavation. David… Today  marks beginning of the end for the excavation [ noooo! ] but the A team continued on with the trench. The tasks that we accomplished today were based on cleaning up the trench and creating a section drawing of the new archaeological features. It seems the A team were not affected by the weather, consi...

Lucy and Jack’s group get to the bottom of things in trench 4… Lucy… Today the main focus in our section through the ditch was to remove the last remaining large stones from the fill, and to hopefully reach the bottom. This afternoon after many attempts we finally managed to get the last sandstone out (shown in the photos below), which nearly led to some missing toes. Overall today has been a fab day in the trench, as all our hard work over the last few weeks has paid off, with us managing to reach the bottom of the ditch. This has led to a feeling of accomplishment amongst me and my group, as for a long while it was debated if we would ever reach the bottom. Team work and some rope skills required... A sense of achievement in visual form?! Jack…Today our group had a study leave break for the morning, so we were not on site until the afternoon. This left us feeling refreshed and ready to work in the lovely weather, and the ditch we were excavating was slightly ...

Holly M reports from Trench 4… Today we continued with the cleaning of the Roman road as well as uncovering the roadside gully and the cleaning of the surface in order to be able to record it at a later time. We were also visited by some school children who were shown the site and some of the artefacts by two members of our team. They asked lots of questions and showed a keen interest in the subject. We also had a visit from a dog named Fen which brightened up our day. Well-behaved canine visitors are always welcome! Jake gets a taste of recording in trench 8… Now midway through the final full week of the 2019 Grosvenor Park excavations [ eek! ] and recording has commenced in Trench 8. Today team bee were finishing off any ditches they started excavating from Tuesday. Once that was completed, recording of them was required. In particularly a mortar feature was recorded in the trench, this included making a section drawing as well as taking levels. Team bee had a study peri...

Robert and team C continue to dig deeper… today we tried to find the bottom of what might be an Anglo Saxon ditch. We had many interesting finds such as Roman pottery some of which may have been from an incense burner and containers, there was also plenty of animal bone. Although the soil was difficult to take out of the ground, the sun was shining and ice lollies were provided at the end of the day so on the whole it was a great experience. A well deserved ice lolly at the end of a hard days work! Edward reports for the A-Team… today we were tasked with taking height measurements or ‘levels’, and drawing plans of areas of Trench VIII. I also took part in excavating a suspected post-hole. There were also large groups of visitors at the site today, including some from a school, all of whom seemed interested in the site’s history, and what we had found. The rain water that had collected in Trench IV was needed to make the trowelling more easy, but the nice weather made ...

Sammy reports from Trench 4 and the continuing case of the mystery ditch… Today's activities built upon what was achieved last week, the lowering of the ditch fill to expose more of the wide Roman/early-Medieval cut. Amongst the deposit filling this cut we found a variety of material, mostly animal bone and Roman pottery, particularly Samian and Black Burnished Ware. In recent days we have found bone which is believed to belong to a juvenile pig (pictured). Note the size of the bones, in particular the jaw bone, along with the black appearance due to discolouration from the surrounding sediment. Pig bones from the ditch fill Due to the trench now being entirely below the natural water-level we are finding conditions difficult. Jack has thus far best summarised the weight of the waterlogged 'sludge' as being "the heaviest thing in the world". Only time will tell if conditions will improve! Jessica gets a drier spot to work on… Today was a relatively...

Jack E is finding a bit of rain makes things easier in trench 8… Rain has finally graced us with its presence. After many days of harsh sunlight, excavation can now continue at a somewhat normal pace. With the soil now removable at a faster pace Team A has finally begun to enter the next context. Showing brick, bone and clay, things are looking promising in the trench. Morale is good because of the progress being made, so throughout the trench things are at an all-time high. It's Friday - ending the week on a high! The archaeology in trench 8 looking super clear as Dan gives his end of week round-up. Kayleigh reports from trench 4… Today started off gloomy with light rain but this was followed by a sunny afternoon, so waterproofs and sunscreen were both needed! Me, Connor and Abby started to excavate in between the ditch and the Roman Road to reveal yet more of the road. Whilst Holly M, Kimberley and Jess worked hard by cleaning a huge section of the trench revealin...

Kimberley has some dabbling visitors… Today we started with bailing out the ditch we had been excavating which had accumulated some groundwater overnight, luckily this didn't take long and we were able to move on quickly. After this we continued to use mattocks and shovels to get deeper into the ditch. During our break we were visited by some ducks which is always a cute addition to the day. A couple of mallards hoping to have a dabble [ geddit? ] at archaeology perhaps? Lucy had a cracking day… Once I’d finally managed to get the hang of getting in and out of the trench without falling back in, today’s task had me and Holly focusing on the area alongside the possible Anglo-Saxon ditch. We were trying to find the cut of the larger ditch and dig down to the same level, all while trying to keep the water that kept seeping into the ditch at bay. One of the highlights of the day was when Holly uncovered a pig jaw bone with teeth still attached!! With cracking weathe...

Holly M and Jack D report from trench 4... Holly M : Today we have carried on excavating the ditch and have been looking for the gulley for the Roman road as well as looking for the cut of the ditch. We also spent the morning interacting with various spectators, all with an interest in what we were looking for and whether we had found any ‘treasure’ 😂. It had been a long day in the sun and it was a nice end to the day when we were surprised with ice lollies to help us cool off after a hard day’s work. Hard work in the sun! Jack D:  Today the weather was boiling even before we arrived on site, and we had to put sun-cream on before anything started to prevent sunburn. Our group began the day bailing out one of the pits alongside the ditch we have been excavating as it had once again filled with groundwater, which wasn't too bad as there was less than previous days. Once the water was all but bucketed out, we began to take down the baulk section between the sections th...

Abigail’s group make a nice find in trench 4… Today we continued to dig down into the next context alongside the Roman road. Upon doing so we discovered a range of Roman pottery, building materials and animal bone. The discovery of a copper alloy Roman coin by Kayleigh was also a highlight. A copper alloy coin dating to the Roman period. Keep an eye out for more info towards the end of the dig! Alfie’s group find a big cat… Today Group C’s main job was using tools such as the mattocks, shovels and hand trowels to slowly work down the section in the supposed Anglo-Saxon ditch whilst occasionally cleaning it to see if there were any changes in the soil’s context. The main kinds of contexts we worked through today were mixed clay soils and a grey silty deposit. In terms of finds, many sherds of pottery, including samian ware and black burnished ware, were found along with ceramic building material all dating to the Roman period. Lots of animal bones were found as well. Mos...

Sophie’s team has mattock mania… Today Teams A and Bee were tasked with mattocking trench 8 to determine whether we had reached a new context. The mattocking was hard work but we all cooled off in the breaks in the shade after the first full sunny day in Grosvenor Park! Finally  some sunny weather for excavation in the Park! Alex  discusses dust and discovery… The mattocks were out for the A-team on a roasting day. The dry mud caused hassle but once in the swing of it the A-team and team B continued on with their work finally getting past most of the backfill and into the new contexts. Discoveries were plentiful with large pieces of bone and pottery being found. Throughout the day the A-team engaged with the interested public answering questions and showing our finds. However, the heat was a difficult opponent causing much needed water and shade breaks, yet the A-team continued through this and completed the day. Now the A-team is in preparation for the next day of...