Day 7: Sun's out!
Finally, a sunny day in the park! Let the proper digging commence!
Tom
After the recent weather, today was a welcome change as waterproof clothing was changed for t-shirts and sun cream. Dave, Callum and I were sent to mattock down a layer of soil that was baking quickly in the hot sun. After 20 minutes or so we decided that it would be safer to trowel the layer down after a number of bones were narrowly missed with the mattock! Progress in this part of the site was rather slow due to the sheer volume of finds coming up with pieces of bone, slate and pottery ranging from Roman to medieval dates. After lunch and more importantly ice creams my favourite find of the day was discovered which was a piece of decorated medieval floor tile found by Dave excavating next to me (see above). The afternoon break was spent wisely playing football. All in all, it was greatly appreciated, and after the fun that was had today I hope the weather continues to be as beautiful.
Beth
After the hail on Monday, we were all a little dubious of yesterday's nice weather in case it should turn on us at any moment! But waking up to day 7 of the Grosvenor Park Dig with the sun shining and nothing but blue skies seemed to spark a new enthusiasm in us! With spirits high, we headed out to site with our tool loaded wheelbarrows for a day of digging. We spent the morning troweling back the top layer of soil located within the area of the possible medieval structure, turning up numerous fragments of pottery, bone, and some metal and glass, too. The aim was to expose the orange clay underneath. Sandstone was prominent in this area and it is possible that with some more digging, we'll be able to find an earlier structure that predates the stone one we can already see. We also hope to expose some more of the Roman road which we have located on the other side of trench! Unfortunately, our day was up all too quickly but we certainly enjoyed the amazing weather and the great finds of today!
Matthew
Group D started the day off finds washing which was very good as it gave us a chance to better examine the other groups' finds. Two very important lessons were learnt: always keep labels with the finds to avoid mixing up finds from different contexts; and bone is a nuisance to wash. Regardless it was a welcome change of pace and a refreshing change of pace from digging and troweling, which we got back to all too soon. Adam and I are working in a section in the middle of the trench, between the 19th-century drainage pipes and the outer wall of the Georgian manor house. This particular stretch is believed to be a continuation of the deposition pit to the far north of the trench, and has so far yielded animal bone and slate in abundance. I also uncovered a piece of decorated floor tile, which despite being smaller and less decorated than the piece Dave excavated is definitely just as good, and I am in no way jealous. Honest.
In summary, plenty of bones have been found but still no dinosaurs.
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| Dave is thrilled about his medieval tile find. |
Tom
After the recent weather, today was a welcome change as waterproof clothing was changed for t-shirts and sun cream. Dave, Callum and I were sent to mattock down a layer of soil that was baking quickly in the hot sun. After 20 minutes or so we decided that it would be safer to trowel the layer down after a number of bones were narrowly missed with the mattock! Progress in this part of the site was rather slow due to the sheer volume of finds coming up with pieces of bone, slate and pottery ranging from Roman to medieval dates. After lunch and more importantly ice creams my favourite find of the day was discovered which was a piece of decorated medieval floor tile found by Dave excavating next to me (see above). The afternoon break was spent wisely playing football. All in all, it was greatly appreciated, and after the fun that was had today I hope the weather continues to be as beautiful.
 |
| Action shot! |
Beth
After the hail on Monday, we were all a little dubious of yesterday's nice weather in case it should turn on us at any moment! But waking up to day 7 of the Grosvenor Park Dig with the sun shining and nothing but blue skies seemed to spark a new enthusiasm in us! With spirits high, we headed out to site with our tool loaded wheelbarrows for a day of digging. We spent the morning troweling back the top layer of soil located within the area of the possible medieval structure, turning up numerous fragments of pottery, bone, and some metal and glass, too. The aim was to expose the orange clay underneath. Sandstone was prominent in this area and it is possible that with some more digging, we'll be able to find an earlier structure that predates the stone one we can already see. We also hope to expose some more of the Roman road which we have located on the other side of trench! Unfortunately, our day was up all too quickly but we certainly enjoyed the amazing weather and the great finds of today!
 |
| Freshly trowelled surface within the possible medieval structure. |
Group D started the day off finds washing which was very good as it gave us a chance to better examine the other groups' finds. Two very important lessons were learnt: always keep labels with the finds to avoid mixing up finds from different contexts; and bone is a nuisance to wash. Regardless it was a welcome change of pace and a refreshing change of pace from digging and troweling, which we got back to all too soon. Adam and I are working in a section in the middle of the trench, between the 19th-century drainage pipes and the outer wall of the Georgian manor house. This particular stretch is believed to be a continuation of the deposition pit to the far north of the trench, and has so far yielded animal bone and slate in abundance. I also uncovered a piece of decorated floor tile, which despite being smaller and less decorated than the piece Dave excavated is definitely just as good, and I am in no way jealous. Honest.
In summary, plenty of bones have been found but still no dinosaurs.
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