CAER: Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research Project

Day 13 has been another day of exceptional sunshine and heat, which made excavating fairly difficult as the soil had become hard, requiring plenty of energetic mattocking, especially in the west end of trench IV..  After another long day spent digging (and sweating profusely) in Grosvenor Park, we are still nowhere near the bot tom of our early medieval ditch and have been left with aching muscles, sunburn and mosquito bites.  This rather brings to light th e meaning of a certain  quote  we encountered (and ignored in disbelief) during first year : “Archaeology can be very boring, distressing and physically uncomfortable”  - unfortunately, it’s true (especi ally for Connor ,  who fell down Dave’s test pit  and was  promptly followed by a wheel barrow full of soil!) .   A piece of (very blue) Roman glass On a slightly more serious note, today’s finds include a piece of Roman glass, substantial Roman pottery, a medieval Cistercia...

It is  fairly often that I get asked what I am studying for my degree and generally the initial response I get is 'But how can you be an Archaeologist?'. This is often followed by a swift glance at my crutches, wheelchair or mobility scooter, dependent on which mobility aid I need that particular day. Obviously the whole idea of having mobility issues and working in a trench does seem wildly improbable at the outset, but it is simply a case of doing what I can, when I can. Today, for example, I have been having a pretty good pain day. My pain levels were low enough for me to be mobile without straining any of my joints. The other major factors with being 'in the field' as a disabled, Trainee Field Archaeologist are the team around you and the weather. We had almost perfect excavating weather today - cool enough to be comfortable with the troweling, but warm enough to prevent us freezing to the spot! I am very, very happy to be working with the amazing bunch of st...