Archaeology Live! 2007 - Site Diary (Weeks 7-12)

[Toby]

WEEK 7

On Friday of week 6 (after the last diary entry) a star was born……. The future celebrity on site was Mandy - being interviewed and photographed for the Times Educational Supplement.


During the photoshoot!

It is also worth mentioning all the hard work that Pam and the weekend tasters put in on site.


Here is the first part of a small oven or hearth being revealed

For us, mortals, rain over the weekend made conditions on site a lot easier to work with and features could be seen and excavated with out the use of watering cans. We also took advantage of the break in the sunshine to sort some of the environmental samples and process more of the finds.


Some of the team sorting through an environmental sample

Artemi began his first week in charge of the eastern end of the trench. Work has continued here taking out various back fills from the pits, which seem to be very disturbed although the pottery is beginning to get earlier. Finds from the fills included a piece of decorated bone comb which could be Viking in date. Artemi is convinced that it is only a matter of time before he reveals evidence of fantastic Viking waste pits in his area of the trench.

With Elena, in the middle section, the week began recording the rubble and mortar spread which could be part of the activity from the demolition of the church. The final patches of horticultural soil were removed this week with more copper pins turning up. Once this is completed the rubble and mortar spread can then be excavated. The area previously known as Lake Hungate has now been cleaned and is beginning to show some interesting features.


Excavation of the deposits adjacent to the building that may be the Cordwainers Hall. These were sealing in demolition rubble which may have spread from the church

The team working with Ben continued excavating the back fills of a series of late medieval back yard pits. The fills contain mainly domestic waste of animal bone and pottery with waste from fires such as ash and coal. The City Archaeologist visited on Tuesday to inspect the possible water tank or cistern, and so excavation of this feature has now been allowed to continue. The mortar build up at the bottom of the tank reportedly smells of damp cellars and fish!


Cleaning back over the complicated sequence of rubbish pits



We are now over half way through the season and it has turned out to be even better than expected. Follow the diary to see what else turns up whilst we are digging.

Thank you to Martin for sorting out the site diary this week.

[Toby]

WEEK 8

The weather this week has ended up very hot, but everybody has coped well with the conditions. The dry hot weather made many of the features start to disappear apart from those that had been cunningly outlined whilst they were still visible.

In Artemi’s area good progress has been made. The remains of deposits cut through by the later well were removed. The bottom of a couple of large pits were reached. On the south east side of the site trainees removed a deposit containing Viking pottery and artifacts. A tiny amber coloured bead was also recovered.

The complex series of pits continue to be unlocked and it is expected that more of natural will be reached in part of this area as early as next week.


Emptying a possible garden feature

In Elena’s area the trainees finished digging away a spread of rubble which seems to be associated with the demolition of the church, matching previous evaluation reports. A number of interesting finds have been recovered from this area including more pins. The trainees have been cleaning back to discover features under this area as well as post holes and a shallow pit created for an unknown purpose. It is expected that more features will be discovered in due course.


Clearing back beneath the rubble


On the left you can see the line of post holes which seem to indicate the end of the church boundary and the start of occupation indicated by pits and dumps. The building at the bottom is a corner of the structure that we think was the Cordwainers Hall

In Ben’s area the bottom of the settling tank was finally reached, beneath the mortar layers associated with use the base was actually made up of tiles set on edge. After being exposed to the air the small of fish has faded somewhat, for which all the people working in the area were very grateful! Some work has started in the Cordwainers Hall and this will begin in earnest next week. The backfill of a nineteenth century well has been dug out. In the south west corner of the site rubbish pits have been dug out as well as the usual collection of CBM, pottery and animal bone Ben found a mystery ornamental copper object which might be a fastener of some sort.


The deposits within the tank (in section)


Emptying the recently discovered well


Fantastic sunshine at the end of the week



We are now 2/3 of the way through Archaeology Live! 2007 and the team are still going strong.


Thank you to Katy for the diary this week.

[Toby]

WEEK 9

Well it was hot again this last week... and the site has dried out even more - which means we have had to soak the archaeology with water so we can se the edges of the different features.

The team working at the eastern end of the trench with Artemi have managed to get a far better idea of the pits in this area. The large regular shaped ones that have been excavated over the last few weeks are going to be finished off and then work will concentrate on the far north east corner. In doing this the team will be able to pick out the most obvious features in the dry weather and also work without blocking the access routes into the rest of the trench.


Cleaning back in to reveal the edge of yet another pit

In the photo below it is possible to see the complex series of rectangular pits that were below the 'difficult' circular cut - those of you who worked there will be relieved to know that this has been sorted out.


The complex of pits at the east of the trench starts to become a little easier to understand

In the central part of the trench we have made really good progress in further emptying one of the three wells in H1. The structure is really well made and shows just how important they would have been to people living there in the past. The team working with Elena have also had chance to isolate the last of the post holes linked with the long runing property boundary, these will be excavated over the next week. They have also had chance to remove a layer of the soil that may be within the graveyard linked to the medieval chuch though no features that look like grave backfills are visible at the moment.


Digging deeper into one of the wells


Seiving the soil samples (we found a tiny little bone die 'dice' during this week)

At the west of the site we carried on excavating pits linked with domestic waste from buildings that probably fronted onto Hungate in the medieval period. We also had a group of visitors from the archaeology dept at the university in York - they came to look at the mortar filled tank near the Cordwainers building and suggested work that could be done to investigate different mortars on the site.


Cleaning over the top of a possible plot boundary or terrace at the west of the site

The finds that we have been getting carried on being from all sorts of dates and made from all sorts of materials. You will have to watch the progress with the finds as they are reported on later in the year.



Everybody has really enjoyed the sunshine this week.

[Toby]

WEEK 10

Another hot and dry week... this is turning out to be a real Indian summer. The only downside is that the ground is baked hard and we are having to use water to help us see what is there.

In Artemi’s area trainees have worked hard to help unpick the complex series of pits. After a huge cleaning effort two garden features were emptied. A copper alloy spring (or something similar) was found within one of these. A number of new features also became visible including an interesting spread of charcoal rich material.


The team working in the extreme north east of the site

The large, and at time confusing, pit in the centre of Artemi’s area was finally emptied showing the complex series of inter-cutting pits and allowing their sequence to be understood.

A good amount of finds have been produced this week including; two small buckles, a decorative needle, Viking pottery and a decorative metal alloy cross. An intriguing piece was also found which seemed to consist of a piece of coarse copper alloy connected to a fine decorated piece perhaps from a book clasp? The finds specialist will be able to tell us more.


Reaching the end of the confusing pit sequence

In Elena’s area two further post-holes related to the property boundary were recorded and excavated by trainees. To the south of the boundary a thick deposit of similar soil meant that it was difficult to identify any features. After planning two possibly related dump deposits the trainees have worked hard to remove this material in a series of spits. Towards the end of the week a number of features have begun to show through and work will continue on these next week.

These deposits have produced a number of copper alloy pins as well as medieval pottery, animal bone and iron nails. During work sieving the large samples of garden soil a small bone bead was found


Removing the dump deposits

In Ben’s area to the west of the trench work continued on excavating and recording the possible oven. The collapsed roof and clay lining were removed exposing the hearth which is formed by tiles laid on edge in a circular pattern.

The continuing process of recording and excavating a series of rubbish pits continued as did the excavation of the well. The ridge of compacted gravel was also further exposed running NE – SW close to the modern drain cut. It is thought that this may be a property boundary or relate to some kind of wall. The base of the mortar storage tank has also been completely exposed.

Pottery, CBM, animal bone and a decorated bone bead were found this week. A pinner’s bone, used to create a sharp point on pins, was also found, the second to be found on site.


Cleaning the possible oven


The gravel ridge and surrounding archaeology



There are now only two weeks left of the Archaeology Live! project for 2007. Make sure you keep checking the site diary and come to one of the re-unions before 2008.

Thank you to Ellen for the diary entry this week.

[Toby]

WEEK 11

Another week of sunshine and warm weather has baked the ground even harder. In some places this is not too bad as lots of digging has been going on, whilst in others it is proving to be difficult to see the features. At least everyone on the has enjoyed soaking up the last of the summer weather.

Work in Artemi’s complex area of intercutting pits focused on finishing digging the last deposits and recording the large pit in the centre. Trainees also had the rather awkward task of excavating another deep pit with an almost banana-shaped pit inside it which contained Viking pottery and a metal blade.


Excavating the mortar dump at the base of the large central pit

Elena’s central area was covered by a layer which even after wetting and cleaning, was not showing any visible features. Trainees spent much of the week planning and then the whole layer was dug as one context. After removing a 10cm spit from the area, pits and post holes are now starting to show through, including a rather intriguing large circular pit. Finds were mainly animal bone and pottery, and a large number of copper alloy pins concentrated towards the west of the area and a copper alloy flower-shaped object, possibly from a brooch or fitting.


Cleaning back over a large area


Setting out the tape for planning

In Ben’s area to the west of the trench, trainees half-sectioned and recorded the tile on edge hearth that was exposed last week. The excavation and recording of a series of domestic refuse pits continued in the area that would have been the back yards of properties along Hungate These pits generated large quantities of animal bone, pottery and patches of fire waste ash. One of the pits contained copper alloy pins and wire which may suggest manufacturing in this area.


Cleaning over the top of a pit backfill. The pebbles suggest it may have been a footing, but the loose fills below would not allow anything structural over the top


Excavating the pit which contained pins and wire



Only one week left to go. Hopefully we will get a little rain at the weekend.

Thank you to Enily for the diary entry.

[Toby]

WEEK 12

The final week! The weather this week has been to say the least…. It was very cold on Monday but warmed up towards mid-week. Unfortunately Friday was very wet and we were unable to get out on site except for the final tour of the summer. We did however finish all the finds washing, which is the first time that has been achieved.

With Artemi a number of new features have been defined due to the trainees working hard and doing a good clean of the whole area on Thursday. They have been concentrated in the north-east corner where a new pit has been discovered. They have also continued to work on unlocking the complex series of pits occurring in this area.


Digging the new pit near the corner

Progress over the summer has been amazing thinking that the area had not been looked at after the stripping of the recorded post medieval features. The sequence of pits seems to be taking shape and the larger space gives us a better opportunity to be able to untangle 700+ years of digging holes in the ground. This part of the site has contained some of the most difficult archaeology we encountered over the summer and credit must be given to all those involved with doing such a good job in recording and excavating it.


Sorting out the pits

With Elena people have been working on removing the large dump/levelling deposit which possibly consisted of a number of very similar deposits but has been dug out together due to the dry conditions. Beneath this there have been a number of nice features discovered due to lots of work during a very hard day cleaning by the trainees. The most obvious being a large pit indicated by an outline ring of charcoal, the ring is caused by the lower backfill being different in colour. In the central area, towards the public viewing platform, they have been cleaning back the trample caused by the rain and dry conditions. This has revealed a huge number of features that will be investigated in the next few weeks. A lot of medieval pottery and animal bone has been found plus a large number of pins. There was also a very nice multi-coloured bead or toggle.


The last of the large spread being removed

During the last three months we have managed to achieve the primary aim for the excavations in H1, to find out the limits of the graveyard linked with St John-in-the-Marsh. Along the way we have found a fantastic sequence of post holes linked with how the property boundaries have wobbled along a similar line for the past 600 years. We have also managed to piece together what happened at the end of the church and the start of the Cordwainers Hall. In addition we have seen some really good finds.


The new features being exposed

Working with Ben people have been working through a series of complicated pits and deposits. We have also been progressing through lots of back-yard rubbish pits which have contained large amount of animal bone. Some of the deposits have contained pieces of copper wire and pins which suggests that pin production may have been occurring in this area. There have also been a couple of trainees working on a number of small features next to the Cordwainers Hall.


One of the rubbish pits

The complexity of the archaeology at the West of the site has matched what we were finding during the initial evaluation stages of the project. What we have revealed suggests that we are going to have a lot of fun sorting out the archaeology in this part of the site, it really will be a test of our archaeological abilities. Because the archaeology is so complex we have done really well to make the progress that we have, especially doing it is such a well recorded and successful manner.



We are all very sad that the training dig is coming to the end for 2007, but everyone has had a good time and learned a lot over the past three months – which makes it worth all the hard work. Thank you to everybody involved and see you next year!


The shadows are starting to get longer


Time to rest for a while....