Of course we should start with a cool find. But they have been scarce on site of late. Lots of teams out pursuing the less exciting part of archeology, tracing features. But here's a nice bit of decorative pottery with a hunting dog chasing a deer.
I have been "on the ramparts". That sounds pretty exciting but is really not so much. Ramparts were the earthen berms that were on the inside of fort walls. Despite the relative lack of finds - after all these were not occupied spaces - they are complex. Have a look:
A lot goin' on. In the foreground is a wooden "raft" circa 180 AD. The earth ramparts would have these to reduce slippage and erosion. The mashed up brown area is actually a previous test trench circa 2006. Other layers and colors are things I can't explain in short format. Here's what I specifically was working on:
This shows the top of a rampart. It was made with many layers of cut turf. In the States we'd call it sod, but this is somewhat offensive in the UK. You would not want to ask the lead archaeologist if he "...wants the SOD OFF!". Remarkably the stuff is still intact after 18 centuries. You can even see the grass.
Well that's the news from the trenches today. As for the days ahead, we'll see what's down there.
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