Sunshine was the biggest surprise of the day on the second morning of the excavation, as October granted us some unseasonably pleasant conditions. They might not last, but compared to the last time we dug in this part of the year, we’ve already been very lucky. It was great to welcome some new faces onto the site as well. We’ve had some support recently from the Monmouthshire Beacon in promoting the excavation, and so far we have had a new face coming to the dig for every day, thanks entirely to the paper coverage – there may be some mileage in this crowd sourced excavation team strategy!
In terms of progress (and apologies because we are still having some camera issues, so no images yet – we’ll probably do a photographic archive of the excavation progress from the weekend onwards), we’ve actually managed to finish off and close down two parts of the site now. Towards the rear of the building, in-between the main structure and the retaining wall, we had identified a sloping, rough flagstone surface. One of the questions left over from last year, was whether or not another surface undercut the rough flagstones, or if this was intentional. On day 2, it did not take long for us to reveal with the sloping surface was indeed intentional, with nothing but natural geology underneath. It would appear that this flagstone surface was purposefully created, using the natural slope of the hillside.
Inside the building, our section of the floor surface has also come down onto natural. A thick, dense clay surface has emerged, one which is very difficult to work through. With no artefacts, we can say with some confidence that we have reached the natural ground level in this section, with no need to go any further. So, two questions resolved, and on to the next issues.
The main focus of attention for the rest of day 2 fell on our assorted buttress features. However, as with last season, we had to give over half a day to moving a spoil tip. Fortunately, our rather large, and youthfully exuberant team, made short work of the spoil removal, meaning we could press on with the real archaeology.
One of the more popular theories for one set of the buttress features, is that this is a porch of some sort. Either side of the main entrance into the building on site B, and rough flagstone floor inside the ‘buttress’ features, seems to extend out of the building, creating an obvious platform. This will be the focus of further work on day 3, but the porch theory does seem to be gaining more momentum every day.
The second ‘buttress’ feature, running off of the ‘Pig sty’ end of the site, also seems to be developing interestingly. While the context has been severely compromised by root damage, it does now appear to be the case that there is additional stonework, potentially a small external ‘lean-to’ room. It is very hard to say anything concrete at this point in time, and given the level of disturbance seen on this part of the site, a clear understanding of this feature might yet evade us. However, this will certainly become a main target for attention going into day 3.
In terms of progress (and apologies because we are still having some camera issues, so no images yet – we’ll probably do a photographic archive of the excavation progress from the weekend onwards), we’ve actually managed to finish off and close down two parts of the site now. Towards the rear of the building, in-between the main structure and the retaining wall, we had identified a sloping, rough flagstone surface. One of the questions left over from last year, was whether or not another surface undercut the rough flagstones, or if this was intentional. On day 2, it did not take long for us to reveal with the sloping surface was indeed intentional, with nothing but natural geology underneath. It would appear that this flagstone surface was purposefully created, using the natural slope of the hillside.
Inside the building, our section of the floor surface has also come down onto natural. A thick, dense clay surface has emerged, one which is very difficult to work through. With no artefacts, we can say with some confidence that we have reached the natural ground level in this section, with no need to go any further. So, two questions resolved, and on to the next issues.
The main focus of attention for the rest of day 2 fell on our assorted buttress features. However, as with last season, we had to give over half a day to moving a spoil tip. Fortunately, our rather large, and youthfully exuberant team, made short work of the spoil removal, meaning we could press on with the real archaeology.
One of the more popular theories for one set of the buttress features, is that this is a porch of some sort. Either side of the main entrance into the building on site B, and rough flagstone floor inside the ‘buttress’ features, seems to extend out of the building, creating an obvious platform. This will be the focus of further work on day 3, but the porch theory does seem to be gaining more momentum every day.
The second ‘buttress’ feature, running off of the ‘Pig sty’ end of the site, also seems to be developing interestingly. While the context has been severely compromised by root damage, it does now appear to be the case that there is additional stonework, potentially a small external ‘lean-to’ room. It is very hard to say anything concrete at this point in time, and given the level of disturbance seen on this part of the site, a clear understanding of this feature might yet evade us. However, this will certainly become a main target for attention going into day 3.