CAER: Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research Project

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 ...

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...

Today was a measure of patience… as the dimensions of trench eight were calculated. The day yielded two coins, one Roman (trench IV), the other Elizabethan (trench VIII). Diligent finds marking The spoil heap was tended to today after once again being overloaded with soil. It would benefit all members of this dig to place spoil OVER THE SIDE OF THE SPOIL HEAP.  Finds were cleaned throughout the day and marked with their respective context numbers. This blog entry is the first to feature a complete view of the site from atop the now cleaned spoil heap (Which soil should be placed OVER THE SIDE OF). Excavation site at the end of week 3 Joe, Kieran & Rowan

Day six of the excavation at Grosvenor park at trench VIII has marked the end of a week that was  riddled with typical British weather and some interesting finds. Everyone loves a Friday, everyone has that bit extra motivation to carry on working because they can see the start of that weekend, and the end of hard work throughout the week.  Because of that hard work in trench VIII more progress has been made. Mainly on the eastern side of the trench, students are still working hard taking away the last bits of the backfill from last year’s dig but we are now begining to enter a new context (archaeological layer), with new finds - mainly bits of animal bone fragments. Whereas on the westerly end of trench VIII some very beautiful floor tiles have been uncovered from the soil, dating to the post medieval period. Some of them having very well-preserved designs still on them, an example of that being a Griffin. Adam.

Day six marked the end of the first nearly full week of excavation in Grosvenor park! Fridays are always hard - especially for archaeologists thinking of the weekend to come after a long week of cleaning hard clay off of only slightly harder stone. However, despite this, progress was made in trench IV. The Roman road running through the centre of the trench was cleaned using brushes (sorry Julie!) allowing the stones to be defined in the soil. A metal ring was found in this Roman context which was possibly used to fasten an item of clothing. It is incredibly tiny so nearly ended up in the spoil heap, but fortunately keen eyes caught it just in time. A possible whetstone was also found next to the Roman road in a layer of infill that looked like it had possibly imported. Bronwen