First off, apologies for teasing with respect to the big circular structure I was on last week. It is turning out to be larger than expected, and will require a fairly major effort to properly excavate. I shall update when feasible.
I did not contribute to that effort today, as I was assigned to a new area. To the Ramparts, Comrades!
Ramparts are the earthen berms inside the fort walls. Sentries can stroll about, looking down with disdain at any potential interlopers. In this case the bucket loader adjacent was a welcome addition to the team. It saved us an unpleasant barrow run.
Although ramparts are made of packed clay, and as such have a bit of an ill rep among excavators, they were actually a spot where lots was going on. Guy stuff, mostly.
Roman forts were not all stone, there was still a lot of wood around. So cooking, at least for the common soldiery, was done on the ramparts. Guys barbecuing meat. You find lots of bones.
There also seemed to be, at least in our area, some kind of metal recycling going on. Guys taking out the trash. Plenty of scrap iron and the odd bit of bronze. My friend Pete found some some especially good bits and is here hoisting the "staff of recognition" to site in a small find.
His side of the trench was more productive than mine. I got bits of pottery and one teeny, tiny 4th century coin. We don't know what the value of these little critters was, but you find them often enough to assume that when people dropped them they said "Qui Curat" (Who cares!) and kept going.
Bits and bobs. A chunk of amphora tossed away 18 centuries ago and still where it landed.
More reports from the Ramparts tomorrow.
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