Archaeology Live! 2009 - Site Diary (Weeks 1-6)

[YAT]

WEEK 1

The weather this week was generally very warm, especially the first few days. A very dry site made both cleaning and identifying features difficult. A rather impressive thunderstorm at the end of the week helped to reveal colours on site which proved useful.

Ben is working over in the northwest corner of the site close to the deep trench, Elena in a central section opposite the walkway gate and Artemi in an area to the southwest next to the new pathway down from the gate.



In Ben's area the week started with the recording and excavation of a medieval pit on the western side of the area which mainly contained fairly large amounts of domestic waste. Unfortunately the pit couldn’t be completely emptied due to its position next to the edge of the trench. Before work was stopped, a nice piece of moulded Samian pottery was found which was likely from an earlier feature.



A nearby pit revealed several interesting stake holes at the base which could be an indicator that at one time the feature had a wattle and daub lining. There was very little wood remaining in the holes other than a few degraded fragments. Interestingly, there may also be remains of part of the Anglo-Scandinavian building seen at the end of last year appearing in the very corner of the pit.



At the edge of the area work was put into recording a series of contexts all related to an early road. The linear features had been heavily truncated by later contexts, including a Victorian sewer which made planning rather challenging. Elsewhere in the area work was put into cleaning up some medieval features ready for excavation. There were relatively few small finds this week but plenty of animal bone and pottery from several of the contexts.



Very dry weather conditions at the start of the week meant that work in Elena’s area was difficult. Cleaning of the area close the gullies revealed several levelling deposits which appear similar to those that have already been excavated close by. A small shallow pit was recorded and dug although the function of it is currently unknown.



Work also began on a very large pit which has proved challenging due to its size. The pit has multiple truncations and expands over several grid squares making recording rather tricky. There were a number of nice finds in the area this week including a very nice pin, possibly made of antler. Pottery from the area has mainly been Anglo-Scandinavian with a few nice examples coming from the very large pit.



Work began in Artemi's area with the recording of a number of banded deposits. This was important as it has helped to establish a rough idea of what order to proceed with further excavation. Other work involved some recording and excavation to help work out an area linked to a possible structure.

The area is complicated with a series of banded deposits which may have been used for levelling. Many of these appear to have slumped creating a challenging sequence of contexts which need to be gradually worked on to unlock other features.

A big thank you to the team for making the first week such fun!

[YAT]

WEEK 2

The second week’s weather has been more mixed than last week’s baking sun with some showers keeping the ground damp. It is a lot easier when you can see things!

In Ben's area the rain over the weekend and on Monday meant that surfaces could be cleaned back thoroughly. The team focused on a series of medieval pits in the centre of the area which has helped to identify the features which need to be worked on next.



Work was finished on the series of linear features which allowed for several new contexts to be recorded. Planning took up the earlier portion of the week with the team working on several different contexts.



After the recording was complete, excavation began on a large medieval pit with multiple truncations. The use is currently unknown, but with a limited amount of finds emerging with the majority being animal it seems to have been used as a refuse pit. A levelling deposit which lies above the Anglo-Scandinavian building was also excavated freeing up some more archaeology to be started next week.



There were relatively few small finds with a few pieces of metal emerging. A fair amount of pottery has been found, including quite a lot of Anglo-Scandinavian pieces as well as a nice fragment of a Roman vessel. On Thursday a nice piece of worked bone was found with some decoration which could be a comb handle.

In Elena's area this week there was plenty of archaeology to work with! The weekend’s rain allowed for a large cleaning session which revealed a number of banded deposits with nice clear colours. A number of working shots were taken, but the area will be left for the time being until more excavation is carried out on the nearby structures and contemporary features.



Near to the gully more clay levelling deposits were recorded and then excavated. More work was carried out on the very large pit which was revealed to have had multiple backfills and a wicker lining. A lot of work has gone into cleaning the sides to try and establish the earliest lining and whether they were replaced at one stage. There also appears to have been different uses for the large feature, though the number of truncations has meant it is difficult to determine a precise use for the pit. There have been a number of metal objects found as well as a nice piece of worked bone.



In Artemi's area a lot of work went into consolidating the archaeology around the banded deposits including recording and excavating several small features. This has been necessary in order to try and unravel the sequence around the possible building and the complex series of deposits.

Elsewhere, work has gone into recording a stone lined deposit which could either be inside a pit or possibly the foundation for something which might run underneath other contexts. A quernstone was uncovered nearby so it will be interesting to see what this deposit turns out to be.



A heavily truncated pit was also recorded which proved to be very difficult due to the amount remaining being rather small and narrow. There have been several very interesting finds this week, including a very nice iron item which could be a key as well as a small piece of amber.



Off site there has been a lot of finds work which has proved very useful and has yielded a few nice small finds including a piece of worked antler.

We had a visit from a company this week that are interested in doing some filming. We cleaned up the Anglo-Scandinavian building to show what was there. Watch this space...



Thanks again to a great team on and off site!

[YAT]

WEEK 3

This week the weather did its best to put a dampener on things with several heavy rain showers, especially on Friday. However, everyone has been working hard both on and off site.

Week 3 in Ben’s area has revealed several interesting features. One of the most unusual was found at the base of the large medieval pit that excavation began on last week. The bottom of the feature seems to have a deliberately created stone lining, rather than simply being a dump of rocks. Over time the lining appears to have slumped, possibly as a result of the decay of an underlying organic feature.



Elsewhere in the area a series of stake holes at the base of a medieval rubbish pit were recorded which proved challenging as there were 10 of them! More of the linear features relating to the road construction were recorded and excavated which is helping to gradually unlock more of the surrounding archaeology for future weeks. A levelling deposit on the top of the Anglo-Scandinavian building was also removed showing that a greenish-grey clay deposit lies underneath which has appeared elsewhere on the site.



A post-medieval feature was also recorded and excavated which has cut into a tile-lined hearth, more work on which will be done shortly. There have been a lot of finds from the area this week, with the levelling deposit yielding 6 finds buckets alone. A small glass bead was also uncovered from the base of the medieval refuse pit.

A lot of work this week has gone into the excavation of the very large pit in the centre of Elena’s area. The team spent a large amount of time digging through the backfills and at the end of the week only a small amount of the wicker lining remains. There seems to be two possible backfills which will mean that hopefully the context will be finished next week. The majority of finds coming from the pit are animal bone with some Anglo-Scandinavian pottery.



Cleaning back was also done in the area which has revealed a large levelling deposit which has been seen elsewhere on the site. This greenish-grey clay should be excavated at the start of next week and will allow more features to be excavated once it is dealt with.



A levelling deposit in between Artemi and Elena’s areas has also been recorded and is a significant deposit. Whilst some excavation began this week, it seems that next week a joint operation between the areas will focus on excavating all of this material. In a context adjacent to Artemi’s area a nice glass bead was found as well as what appears to be a piece of comb.

In Artemi’s area this week work continued on the banded deposits towards the edge of the trench with the removal of several clay levelling deposits. The team also began to excavate a gully in the area with the removal of a lower backfill which may run underneath the edge of the gully.



A small pit next to the gully was also excavated which was heavily truncated and also contaminated with diesel. The pit seems to fit into an area with several small pits which are all inter-cutting features the fills of which seem to contain refuse and rubble.



A heavy clean back also took place over an area with a suspected Anglo-Scandinavian structure. Several dark deposits were recorded which could be related to the structure which seems likely as many were long rectangular deposits.

Most excavation this week took place on a cobbled surface which may be a flooring deposit as it mainly consists of cobbles and pebbles. There was some variation within this large deposit and one area contained oyster shells, a similar deposit was found in the deep trench area of the site. There was an especially nice broach found this week, which could be medieval alongside several antler off-cuts.

There has been a lot of archaeology this week and whilst the weather on Friday proved to be rather damp it has been very productive.


The pottery lecture on site using the reference collection


Everyone hard at work on site


The team from week 3

[YAT]

WEEK 4

Ben’s area has been busy this week with work continuing on a number of features. On Monday, several new contexts were revealed after a clean back over the north edge of the area, in particular a mysterious feature which could turn out to be a well. There has been a lot of late and post-medieval pottery emerging which suggests that it could well be fairly late in date.

In the centre of the area work has gone into recording and emptying a large medieval rubbish pit which contained several different fills. There were several stake holes present on the north-west side and a shoe was found at the base of the feature in an organic deposit. This feature ties in with a number of similarly dated large pits which seem to relate to an area behind the properties which would have looked onto Hungate.



A lot of work went into finishing planning the stone-lined feature which wasn’t an easy task. After several days of careful recording the feature is now ready to be excavated which will likely continue into next week. At the edge of excavation to the south-west a pit was recorded and dug and work went into cleaning back to investigate new features which will be looked at in the next few weeks.



Two refuse pits were also recorded and emptied, one of which had a very nice degraded wicker lining which was sampled and recorded. Underneath, at the base of the pit, the north-east side of the Anglo-Scandinavian building is beginning to show. A piece of timber and some stones which appear to be in situ were uncovered and seem to relate to the building’s edge.



The second waste pit appears to have been dug around five timbers which are in fairly good condition. In the area next to these pits, a levelling deposit of greenish clay seems to have covered some posts on the north-west edge of the building. This has left a series of stake and post holes which were recorded and excavated at the end of this week.

In Elena’s area the weekend’s rain meant that work on the very large pit had to be put on hold. Whilst excavation was paused, the team recorded some of the cut in preparation for the last of the digging next week. If the weather remains reasonable, then hopefully the pit can be finished allowing more of the archaeology to be unlocked.

In an area next to the large pit a foundation for a building was recorded and dug. The foundation seems to be very deep and is partially truncated by an evaluation trench which has meant that an interpretation of the feature has been challenging. It could be that the foundation made use of an earlier deep pit which would explain its unusual depth.



An 18th/19th century well was also cleaned thoroughly and several layers of bricks removed. Unusually the well isn’t constructed in separate layers of bricks; instead they are built upwards in a spiral fashion, similar to a spiral staircase. An oval shaped pit was also excavated this week which revealed an almost complete pot. A large levelling deposit between Artemi and Elena’s area was also looked at, with Elena recording and excavating part of it. The deposit covers a large area so the two teams working together will be the best way to tackle the context.



In Artemi’s area this week work has been divided across several contexts. The removal of a clay levelling deposit to the south of the area proved difficult due to the size of the deposit and the water table. In the end work on the feature had to be stopped but it has proven useful to get a large portion of it excavated.




Towards to the north of the area there has been a careful clean back to investigate more of the potential building’s flooring deposit. The orangey deposit contained a lot of cobbles but very few finds. Later on in the week, work moved to the edge of the deposit to a series of late and post-medieval pits which need excavating to allow the building to be unlocked in the archaeological sequence. These pits contained a mixture of tile, green glaze pottery and animal bone and some of them seem to be fairly large in size. Many of the pits seem to be inter-cut and they will be recorded soon so that work on the possible building can begin.



In the central section of the area work has gone into excavating several smaller features and in recording a square charcoal lined deposit. The remainder of the nearby levelling deposit has also been recorded and excavation has begun on taking it down to a cobble surface which should lie underneath it. A bone ice skate came from a nearby deposit as well as a piece from a Viking crucible.

Once again, everyone has been working very hard and we have made a lot of progress across the site this week.





The team from week 4, thanks everyone!

[YAT]

WEEK 5

Week 5 proved to be stormy with the weather keeping the team inside for much of Wednesday and Thursday. Despite this, we have made a great deal of progress across the site and on Friday everyone was out on site working harder than ever!



In Ben’s area there has been a great deal of recording which has freed up several features for excavation. Two late/post-medieval pits were recorded and excavated both of which contained refuse material as well as a few small metal objects. Towards the walkway a truncated medieval feature was recorded which was started last week. The pit was cut into the banded deposits which are found across the site and appears to have been backfilled with left over soil which is unusual.

In the centre of the area the stone lining which was recorded last week has been excavated. Removing this layer has revealed some interesting colours and will help to unlock more archaeology in the immediate vicinity. Towards the beginning of the week there was a careful clean back over a new area to investigate and assess potential features. It is likely that this will be examined in more detail in the coming weeks.



Several features above the Anglo-Scandinavian building were recorded and excavated this week in an ongoing effort to get down to the earlier levels of archaeology. The series of stake holes and postholes were also completed and required plenty of careful planning. Once these were finished the adjacent pit was recorded alongside a smaller heavily truncated feature. Finally, towards the end of the week the large green clay levelling deposit was fully recorded and excavation begun. This large spread may take some time to excavate but will allow us to gather more insight into the deposits filling the remains of the structure.



This week in Elena’s area the very large medieval pit has been completely excavated and recorded. The size of the pit and the adverse weather has made this a difficult feature to work on and most of Monday was spent bailing and cleaning it. Now the pit is finished it has unlocked more archaeology in the surrounding area and will allow several nearby features to be investigated. Once the pit was cleaned it has also revealed two other features at the base, one may be Anglo-Scandinavian whilst the other could be Roman in date.





The feature which contained the nearly-complete pot has been finished and the backfill contained a large amount of tile fragments. Nearby are several other features which will be excavated in the next few weeks with one potentially having a wicker lining. Elsewhere in the area a pit was recorded and dug which contained a lining, however due to the feature’s height in the ground this was heavily degraded.

A stone spread close to Artemi’s area was removed and the area underneath cleaned back which has revealed several medieval features. A pit was recorded and then excavated and the backfill contained a large quantity of tiles, with a significant proportion being almost complete.



In Artemi’s area a lot of work has gone into removing a very thick levelling deposit close to the southern edge of excavation. After this was excavated a dump deposit was removed which contained a large amount of cobbles and stones which may be related to the possible structure. A hard clean in this area revealed several new features which will be looked at next week.

A square feature was excavated in the area close to the tent. The feature contained several different backfills including a very thick deposit of clay. This could potentially relate to the possible structure in the area but diesel contamination has slowed the work somewhat. The team has continued to remove the deposit above the possible structure which has revealed several postholes which seem to be underneath it.



At the bottom of the ramp work continued on a medieval feature with multiple fills which looks like a refuse pit. The fills began to change lower down and the pit may be cut into a cess pit. Once this feature is finished it should be able to unlock the spread above the possible building, which will hopefully be looked at in the next few weeks.








The team from Week 5. Thank's everyone!

[YAT]

WEEK 6

The weekend’s deluge of rain turned much of Monday morning into a bailing and cleaning session. Thankfully the rest of the week was much warmer and generally dryer which allowed the team to get lots done across the site.

In Ben’s area the very mixed deposit underneath the stone lining was recorded and excavation was started. The edge of the feature was rather confusing as the backfill consisted of a mixture of material which was cut into several other underlying features. It seems that at one time there would have been a wicker lining to the feature but it is heavily degraded and only small pieces remain. The pit could go much deeper as several nearby features contain comparable material which suggests this feature will be similar.



The large greenish clay levelling deposit continued to be excavated which took up a significant portion of the week due to its size. The removal of this context has proved valuable as it has given us a lot more information about the Anglo-Scandinavian building. After a thorough clean of the context underneath, several new stakes emerged although they may not be in situ. The north corner of the building is now clear and the demolition cut where the building has been pulled down has become apparent. In the next few weeks work will go into recording the numerous backfills within the building.

Finally, the last remaining section of the road was looked at this week. At the start of the week work began on planning the cobble-filled surface as well as levelling the feature. During excavation not many finds were found, but the work is important as it means that in this area the archaeology is now down to the level of the banded deposits found across the site. Now the road section has been completed and excavated it will allow the attention to focus on the central area around the Anglo-Scandinavian building.



It was a busy week in Elena’s area with plenty of features being recorded and excavated. The pit towards the walkway that is truncated by a Victorian well was finished this week. Towards the base of the context there was evidence of a heavily degraded wicker lining and the finds coming from the feature were mainly animal bone and pottery which suggests the feature was a refuse pit. The well itself was cleaned thoroughly and the section has revealed several features which sit below the banded deposits that are found across the site. This is promising as it suggests that these contexts will be relatively early in date as it is currently thought that the banded deposits are older than the Anglo-Scandinavian building in Ben’s area.



Work was also carried out on a pit that is truncated by the feature which yielded a nearly complete pot a few weeks ago. The pit appears to be medieval in date and has yet another degraded wicker lining at the base. Another pit which contained a large amount of medieval tile on the edge of Elena and Artemi’s area was also finished this week. Whilst the upper part of the backfill contained large amounts of tile and CBM the lower portion contained mainly animal bone. The base of the context appears to be cutting into earlier archaeology which could well be Roman in date.

Finally, just when we thought the very large medieval pit was finished, something else appears at the edge of it! At the start of the week, close inspection revealed a wicker step or platform which ran along one side of the context. It seems that this was designed for easy access to the pit as a step for climbing in and out. Will this be the last we see of the large pit? Only time will tell… This week there has been plenty of finds including large amounts of animal bone and pottery alongside lots of antler off-cuts from across the area.



Artemi’s area has been rather busy this week as the team have moved in to focus on the possible building and the surrounding area. The weekend’s rain has meant that the area closest to the pathway has been left due to the large amount of standing water.



In the central portion of the area two postholes were discovered, recorded and excavated which fit in nicely with two that were found last week. The four appear to make a roughly square shape and it will be interesting to see if any more emerge. However, it seems that these potholes are nothing to do with the possible building in the area which will hopefully begin to emerge in the next few weeks.

Lastly, another levelling deposit was recorded in the central area and a small pit on the edge of the area near to the slope was excavated. This feature seems to be from around the 14 century and has yielded plenty of animal bone and some pottery.


Beware the hand!




The team from Week 6. A big thank you to everyone who has helped out this week!