Day 2: cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning!

As Sophie describes, Day 2 of the Grosvenor Park excavation consisted of continuing to remove the backfill from the trench… I was cleaning a section of what may possibly be a foundation of a wall. Many others in the trench were cleaning backfill from the terram that was laid after last year's excavation to protect the archaeology and mark out the extent of the work.

Team work!

Abigail’s cleaning exposed a layer of orange/brown material and highlighted the edges of Roman pits discovered in the excavation last year. There was also the discovery of a potential feature located next to the ditch in the picture which appears to be a distinct in shape and a much darker colour than the soil around it. As well as the discovery of finds like Roman pottery, post-medieval glass and animal bone.

'Cleaning' of the surface reveals an orange-brown coloured deposit

Robert reports for Team C… my team were excavating a section through a ditch which seems to lie on the boundary of what is now St John the Baptist Church, and possibly dates from the Anglo-Saxon period. St John’s was the Cathedral at the time and therefore quite important, we found a great deal of animal bone, possibly thrown into the ditch by the people who lived there after they had finished eating. We also continued to take up more backfill as the dig is still just beginning, although we did encounter a few problems as our trench was waterlogged for most of the day (mostly thanks to the weather). More exciting discoveries are still to be found as we hope to dig even further to get to the bottom of the ditch, we will have to contend with much more water and mud before we get there though.

Difficult conditions for Team C removing last year's backfill from the partially excavated section through the ditch

A refresher on how to use the dumpy level (hold that staff straight! ed.)

Alexander describes the A-Team’s day in the trench… Today has been a mixture of weather conditions from a rainy morning to a bright sunny afternoon. The A-Team worked throughout the day working together with group B in trench 8. Our main goal for the day was to finish removing the backfill and to begin trowelling. Through working well across groups and communicating we were able to achieve our goal of removing the backfill from the plastic cover. This was followed by an enjoyable break and lunch with where most enjoyed eating and talking out on the grass in the sun.

After lunch the A-Team were called upon to remember how to do levelling with a dumpy level. Taking turns to use the equipment and understand the recording process and calculations allowed us to refresh our skills. The final activity of the day was to begin trowelling which was a relaxing experience with a chill breeze. The day was fruitful with many finds such as bone, pottery and clay pipes. Overall, the A-Team are having a great time and experience, and are ready to find out what the trench has to offer.