CAER: Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research Project

It’s day 8 of the excavation and over in trench IV we are removing what looks to be a huge homogenous layer. We have now become adept at wielding a mattock (with only a few injuries to feet and the occasional sherd of black burnished ware to the head (thanks Noah).  Trowelling and scraping has become a little monotonous but as it is being punctuated by finding bits of Roman pottery our momentum and spirits are kept high. The layer we are in has been exclusively Roman today and our find of the day is a rim piece of Roman jar with a beautiful coil design around it. Pottery rim with coil decoration This afternoon we were talking to members of the public and showing them some of our finds. Due to the nice weather there were plenty of people in the park and so every time we finished talking to one person there was another person ready to ask questions! Kelly and Rebecca

In trench IV, we continued to uncover the Roman road as well as removing spoil still within the trench. on the finds front, Roman Samian ware pottery was found including an interesting piece of patterned Roman Samian ware. Many people were very interested in looking at the Roman finds. Some abraded and some residual finds in Trench IV More pieces of ceramics were discovered amongst the deepest section of the trench which was filled with water and had to be sponged continuously throughout the day. Part of a pit from last year - full of water and Roman pottery! As a whole site there was a lot of public interest which was met by friendly archaeologists who answered eager questions from the public. We are excited to continue digging tomorrow where we are planning to record and lower a section of trench 4, as well as continuing the quest for the Roman road. Becca and Sophie