After all the wet weather we have had this year you wouldn't expect us to be moaning about the lack of rain, but we are! The last few weeks have been bone dry and our excavation is getting very hard indeed. The clay soils make it very difficult to see the features and very difficult to dig them when you can! The vertical composite of Trench 3000 shows just how dry the site has become and how it is hard to discern the different colours and textures that indicate the features (below). You can see how the plough has damaged the archaeology over the past century or so, with clear lines of plough drag showing over the whole area.

We have now begun to examine the numerous features within this area and are beginning to make significant progress in the ditches that enclose the settlement. The rectangular building that was partially excavated last year continues in this trench, but the southeast end is very hard to discern as many features converge at this point.

Work on this area has begun (above) looking at both roundhouse gullies and possible roundhouse walls with evidence of occupation within the areas showing as patches of burnt clay and small postholes. The artefacts are few and suggest that this phase of occupation may be quite early in the Iron Age. Work on a small extension at the end of the ditch area in Trench 3000 to locate where two ditches converge has also begun (below).

 In this area we found our first human remains. A small newborn baby had been buried in the soft fill of the ditch. The burial was orientated north-south and may be an early Roman burial within the ditch of the earlier settlement. It was remarkable that the skeleton had survived as it was only just below the plough soil. 

It tells of a human tragedy of antiquity as the infant was newly born. The state of preservation for such a delicate skeleton was quite remarkable.

Towards the end of the week a fine and unusual brooch was found in the ditch that cuts the building. This enamelled brooch probably dates from the late 2nd or 3rd century AD. (Picture below).

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