Day 4, and already we have only one more to go before the excavation comes to a close. While the weather has continued to stay on our side, other factors have worked against us, lurgy being the biggest one. Sadly, a number of our team have been laid low by a nasty virus, so we’ve been operating with limited numbers for most of the week. That being said, we have continued to make sterling progress, and the end really is in sight...or just about!
The internal features have certainly been wrapped up today, as our investigation of the internal floor surfaces came to a satisfactory conclusion. Having established one earlier floor surface in the largest internal room, with a sizable section, we opened up two half meter sections in the smaller rooms on site B. Incidentally, where these sections were cut, were actually located in the very first two rooms to have been identified in this whole process. It did not take long to identify a continuation of the earlier, compact clay floor surface found in other parts of the site. No finds to speak of, and not a particularly impressive floor surface survives either, but we have at least reached natural in four parts of the site, and we could happily move on to other questions.
So, three questions now remain, and most of it focuses on those troublesome ‘buttress’ features. After a week of probing, we are still not really sure what is happening with these features, but this is what we do know. The double buttress feature, near the centre of the main building, has now been joined by a clearly defined, though very uneven flagstone floor. We don’t really know the extent of this external floor, or its practical purpose (if it has one), but we will be putting through two section cuts through the feature in the morning, to try and figure out what is going on here.
The second buttress, near the pigsty end of the site, has now been joined by what looks like a curving external wall. This feature is highly ephemeral, and there is a chance that with further investigation, the ‘wall’ might yet turn out to be no more than stone tumble. But as things stand, the team are certainly warming to the idea that this is a coherent, or at least a semi-coherent, wall feature. If it is, it’s a very odd wall feature, and we are struggling to come up with theories as to what this could be. However, this will also be subject to some section cutting in the morning, and at the very least we hope to be able to see if this is an actual feature, or just our over active imaginative minds at play.
The final area, on the other side of the ‘pigsty’, features an odd, continuation, of the north facing rear wall. In the last day, the wall has produced a wonderful ‘step’ feature. As the natural hillside drops away, the external wall ‘steps’ down, and the feature is one of the most substantial, well constructed walls on the entire site. The surrounding tumble has also proven to be artefactually rich as well, so great gains, even if we are not sure where this wall goes, or what it is doing.
So with a day to go, and three tricky to questions to go, the main point of pondering at this stage, is can we get it all done in time? Tomorrow should make for a frantic, and hopefully very rewarding day!
(Pictures from day 4 to follow later.)
The internal features have certainly been wrapped up today, as our investigation of the internal floor surfaces came to a satisfactory conclusion. Having established one earlier floor surface in the largest internal room, with a sizable section, we opened up two half meter sections in the smaller rooms on site B. Incidentally, where these sections were cut, were actually located in the very first two rooms to have been identified in this whole process. It did not take long to identify a continuation of the earlier, compact clay floor surface found in other parts of the site. No finds to speak of, and not a particularly impressive floor surface survives either, but we have at least reached natural in four parts of the site, and we could happily move on to other questions.
So, three questions now remain, and most of it focuses on those troublesome ‘buttress’ features. After a week of probing, we are still not really sure what is happening with these features, but this is what we do know. The double buttress feature, near the centre of the main building, has now been joined by a clearly defined, though very uneven flagstone floor. We don’t really know the extent of this external floor, or its practical purpose (if it has one), but we will be putting through two section cuts through the feature in the morning, to try and figure out what is going on here.
The second buttress, near the pigsty end of the site, has now been joined by what looks like a curving external wall. This feature is highly ephemeral, and there is a chance that with further investigation, the ‘wall’ might yet turn out to be no more than stone tumble. But as things stand, the team are certainly warming to the idea that this is a coherent, or at least a semi-coherent, wall feature. If it is, it’s a very odd wall feature, and we are struggling to come up with theories as to what this could be. However, this will also be subject to some section cutting in the morning, and at the very least we hope to be able to see if this is an actual feature, or just our over active imaginative minds at play.
The final area, on the other side of the ‘pigsty’, features an odd, continuation, of the north facing rear wall. In the last day, the wall has produced a wonderful ‘step’ feature. As the natural hillside drops away, the external wall ‘steps’ down, and the feature is one of the most substantial, well constructed walls on the entire site. The surrounding tumble has also proven to be artefactually rich as well, so great gains, even if we are not sure where this wall goes, or what it is doing.
So with a day to go, and three tricky to questions to go, the main point of pondering at this stage, is can we get it all done in time? Tomorrow should make for a frantic, and hopefully very rewarding day!
(Pictures from day 4 to follow later.)