Day 11: A tale of two diggers

Group D began the day by sorting through the finds from site. Like a group of rejected Harry Potter extras we sat there staring into the ink blots, fountain pens poised to label each item with its context. None in team D were well versed in the use of fountain pens and for some, not to name names, the knack of using one came harder than others…..Matt Wilkie.

After the break group E then joined us and we were treated to a short talk on animal bones by Ian, a specialist who had come to help hone our skills. Bags of bone were handed out with the task of identifying the type of bone and the animal it belonged to, which proved to be challenging but really interesting. The hardest part of this process turned out to be working out which side of the animal the bone had come from. Relief from this came by finding the odd vertebral bones from time to time. 

 

After lunch we eagerly rushed to the site to do some digging and get some finds of our own. We were both given the task of mattocking down an area near what has been interpreted as ovens. Luckily we had our mattock maverick Joe with us who basically did most of the work, indeed it was quite hard to stop him from helping out....or taking off his top. 

Ironically, the area was to bare little fruit in the way of finds, the odd piece of ceramic here and there but nothing we hadn’t found on the slipway to the site. During this time we were also on PUblic Archaeology duty. We were quite happy to engage the public with archaeological conversation and give tips on where to get a good meal. Yes it was steady as she goes today on the S.S.Archaeology; even the hot summer's sun was calmed with a pleasant breeze...

...until a large group of schoolchildren gathered at the entrance, it was then our tranquil calm had ended. But in its place came a youthful enthusiasm and a sense of awe on our part as the kids soon started finding pieces of pottery and metal from seemingly thin air. After a rush of excitement the group left (hopefully with some future archaeologists now in it). 

Calum & Sacha