Day 12: Going Medieval
We are well into Week 3 now and stone-built structures are starting to take shape across the trench...but what date could they be? And are Team 2014 being creatively inspired by the archaeology or simply going mad? You be the judge...
Matthew
The weather has been a strange mix of both lovely and awful, meaning we're still left bailing water out of deep holes while it is still incredibly sunny. However, I am reassured that it is going to get much much worse, so I suppose I have that to look forward to. Not a great deal going on in my section of the trench, but the rest of the site is coming along nicely. Much more of the pit/possible moat has been uncovered (though hindered greatly by water today) and more of the possibly medieval stone structure has been exposed. Some groups are making progress on site drawing and most of us have now filled in context sheets. In other news, the water war between Adam and Freya has escalated, with Adam being soaked multiple times but with no intention of letting peace prevail.
My hopes of finding a dinosaur are quickly diminishing.
Laura
Today consisted of a water-soaked Adam, assigning places in the ‘archaeological comic book strip’ [editor's note: see below if you dare], great finds, weather and a lot of trowelling! To begin with, Beth and I continued drawing our stone features on the Western corner of the trench which could possibly pre-date the (medieval?) stone structure! After this, we recorded the necessary levels and filled out our context sheets, nostalgically recalling skills learn from our previous year's survey at Halkyn mountain. Further into the afternoon, we helped Bradley trowel away a thick layer of dirt. In doing so, Bethany found a beautiful piece of a medieval floor tile. And I found copious amounts of large animal bone! However, nothing was as impressive as Matthew’s boar skull from the previous day!
Throughout the day, a lot of the public came to see what was going on. It was so encouraging to see so many people intrigued and my colleagues engaging with them the way they did. I felt extremely proud to be part of the project and even prouder of the hilarious and inspiring people I’m working with for the final week and a half. *sobs*
Dave
Today's fine weather helped progress on the site after almost an entire morning of bailing out water from numerous pits and gullies. The medieval ditch north of the wall that Tom and I have been excavating gave up some beautiful medieval floor tile along with some glazed medieval roof tiles, all pointing towards a fairly high status building. The highlight of today however, came in the form of the creation of Chester's first superhero...
...me, now known as Archaeology Man, and his trusted sidekick Tom as Mattock boy! Archaeology Man was created when the geophys equipment he was using exploded, sending pulses of radiation into his body. When he awoke, he found that not only could he fly, but also had super strength, x-ray vision and the ability to turn foes into stone. The tools he was carrying also became enchanted, his trowel able to absorb the sun's radiation and unleash it on his foes. It also returns to Archaeology Man after being thrown and cannot be used by mere humans. His mattock can cut through any material known to man and has the ability to absorb the water from archaeological sites and then unleash it upon any enemy.
With his strange new powers, Archaeology Man took it upon himself to train Tom, in the same manner that Ras Al Dan (the site director) trained Dave. Archaeology Man equipped Tom with his enchanted mattock, knowing that he was true of heart, and so he became Mattock Boy. Together they fight injustice throughout the North West. However, despite Mattock Boy's true intentions, he always unwillingly destroys Archaeology Man's finds upon excavation.
Their main nemesis is no other than the unassuming Adrian, otherwise known as Doctor History! His famous catchphrase when he pounds his foes to the ground being "You're History!!!"
Stay tuned for more Archaeology Man, including illustrations of him and Mattock Boy...
Matthew
The weather has been a strange mix of both lovely and awful, meaning we're still left bailing water out of deep holes while it is still incredibly sunny. However, I am reassured that it is going to get much much worse, so I suppose I have that to look forward to. Not a great deal going on in my section of the trench, but the rest of the site is coming along nicely. Much more of the pit/possible moat has been uncovered (though hindered greatly by water today) and more of the possibly medieval stone structure has been exposed. Some groups are making progress on site drawing and most of us have now filled in context sheets. In other news, the water war between Adam and Freya has escalated, with Adam being soaked multiple times but with no intention of letting peace prevail.
My hopes of finding a dinosaur are quickly diminishing.
Laura
Today consisted of a water-soaked Adam, assigning places in the ‘archaeological comic book strip’ [editor's note: see below if you dare], great finds, weather and a lot of trowelling! To begin with, Beth and I continued drawing our stone features on the Western corner of the trench which could possibly pre-date the (medieval?) stone structure! After this, we recorded the necessary levels and filled out our context sheets, nostalgically recalling skills learn from our previous year's survey at Halkyn mountain. Further into the afternoon, we helped Bradley trowel away a thick layer of dirt. In doing so, Bethany found a beautiful piece of a medieval floor tile. And I found copious amounts of large animal bone! However, nothing was as impressive as Matthew’s boar skull from the previous day!
Throughout the day, a lot of the public came to see what was going on. It was so encouraging to see so many people intrigued and my colleagues engaging with them the way they did. I felt extremely proud to be part of the project and even prouder of the hilarious and inspiring people I’m working with for the final week and a half. *sobs*
Dave
Today's fine weather helped progress on the site after almost an entire morning of bailing out water from numerous pits and gullies. The medieval ditch north of the wall that Tom and I have been excavating gave up some beautiful medieval floor tile along with some glazed medieval roof tiles, all pointing towards a fairly high status building. The highlight of today however, came in the form of the creation of Chester's first superhero...
...me, now known as Archaeology Man, and his trusted sidekick Tom as Mattock boy! Archaeology Man was created when the geophys equipment he was using exploded, sending pulses of radiation into his body. When he awoke, he found that not only could he fly, but also had super strength, x-ray vision and the ability to turn foes into stone. The tools he was carrying also became enchanted, his trowel able to absorb the sun's radiation and unleash it on his foes. It also returns to Archaeology Man after being thrown and cannot be used by mere humans. His mattock can cut through any material known to man and has the ability to absorb the water from archaeological sites and then unleash it upon any enemy.
With his strange new powers, Archaeology Man took it upon himself to train Tom, in the same manner that Ras Al Dan (the site director) trained Dave. Archaeology Man equipped Tom with his enchanted mattock, knowing that he was true of heart, and so he became Mattock Boy. Together they fight injustice throughout the North West. However, despite Mattock Boy's true intentions, he always unwillingly destroys Archaeology Man's finds upon excavation.
Their main nemesis is no other than the unassuming Adrian, otherwise known as Doctor History! His famous catchphrase when he pounds his foes to the ground being "You're History!!!"
Stay tuned for more Archaeology Man, including illustrations of him and Mattock Boy...
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