Magna Dig 2024 - In Retrospect

You should think of archaeology not as a story of how things were, but of how things change.  Today's sheep meadow was once a fort under siege, or a peaceful market, or a lonely ruin that the superstitious locals avoided after the Romans had marched away.

And not all change runs on a long time scale.

I've been excavating along Hadrian's Wall for 16 years now.  In that time I've seen the general area transform from a scruffy farming community recovering from the Mad Cow debacle to a fairly upscale "destination".  The charming, seedy backpacker's hostel that was once our diggers HQ is now a posh gastropub with its own brewery and stargazing observatory.  Rather than a cheerful greeting when we'd saunter in dusty and thirsty, more recent forays have had us eyed with a bit of suspicion and asked if we have a reservation for dinner.  Oh well.

This year there was a significant twist for me, one that made decisions harder.  The Trust that runs the digs at Vindolanda opened up a second site about seven miles away.  Vindolanda and Magna site digs were going on at the same time, but offset by a week.

I was offered a guaranteed spot at Magna through the "Veteran's draw", a random out of the hat chance to avoid the perils and pressures of lighting fast mouse work when the general lot of excavation slots goes live.  What a change.....16 years ago I only found out about Vindolanda in December and was able to book a slot in January.  Now, if you don't have quick reflexes and a viable internet connection you are out of luck about 30 seconds after the spots go live on a morning in early November.  

So....a guaranteed spot at Magna, albeit without many of my usual digging mates, versus the whims and foibles of the internet.  I gave Magna a try.

It is in many ways a more modern archaeological dig.  Lots more environmental sampling.  It's only in recent years that it became possible to figure out what pollen was blowing around in the air; what grains they were grinding for food, where a set of human remains originated according to isotopes in bone and tooth.  This is good stuff, although of course it lacks the immediacy of finding an object or a structure last seen 1800 years ago.  And the 3D modeling of everything is a remarkable new ability.

But it was a different experience, and after years at Vindolanda you can't avoid making comparisons.

At Vindolanda there is a strong sense of both the distant and recent past.  You are standing among walls and floors built by the Romans and exposed by volunteer excavators.  There....that's where the skeleton of the young girl tragically murdered was found.  There....that's where the enigmatic name RIACUS was carved in the sub Roman era.  There....that's where we found that broken crowbar.  There....that's where the graphically insulting SECUNDINUS inscription came up.

Between the distant and recent memories, and the constant stream of visitors who want to talk, Vindolanda is a busy place.

Magna, at least the section we were on, feels lonely.  

Current trenches are outside the fort proper, up in an area beyond the defensive ditches.  But inside the scope of the nearby Hadrianic wall.  What were people doing there before The Wall?  While it was in place?  After the Romans left?   It's early days, but the relative lack of features and finds indicates this was a quiet area.  Adding to that we have no standing walls around us and only a few intrepid visitors walk through the sheep droppings to lean over the fence.

Finds, Features, Weather, Company, general vibes....all these contribute to whether an excavation is fun.  That's not the same as opining on whether it provides useful archaeological information, as of course even negative results are results.

And so the 2024 excavation season is, for me, over.  In times past you could sign up for multiple two week sessions.  Generally this was impractical for me as an international traveler, now you simply can't have more than one session.

And for 2025?  Well, I'll be watching the progress on both excavations and conferring with my digging pals.  We shall see....

In the meantime a few pictures of Magna.  They prefer we not speculate too freely, and anything really interesting is verboten to discuss, but a few images of the site to convey the gestalt of it.  Oh, and things found in the preliminary excavations  LAST YEAR can now be discussed.  

Here's the wall of the fort proper.  Excavations in the fort are scheduled for two years from now.  England sure looks green in May.  Especially when it rains a lot.

The only real remains of the fort still above ground are this single turret excavated years ago.

A down range view of the excavation area from this year's trenches and last years.  The lumpy bit at the far end was a "Mile Castle", one of the outposts built into Hadrian's Wall.  The stones from this and from the wall have all been swiped to build various medieval and modern structures around the area.

Mysterious stuff in the ground.  Read next year's excavation report.

As we say at our end of session drinks.  "Tools down, glasses up".  Until next year.  Hopefully.