Report: 10th-14th September

Dare we say it, the weather has been fine so far and there has been much progress in the trenches. An invasion of sheep required the hasty erection of an electric fence but did not stop the digging.

Sheep plotting their next sneaky move to rush the electric fence!

As part of the Heritage Open Days and for the benefit of the first school groups, excavation in the additional Trench 4 commenced under the supervision of Jon Kenny from York Archaeological Trust and Lisa Keys of Minerva Heritage.

Jon Kenny and Lisa Keys (both in hi vis vests) supervising Trench 4

As a consequence of all the excavating, a large quantity of Roman finds have been unearthed. Sandra and her assistants Janice and Rosalie have been busy overseeing the finds washing, and because of the warm weather much of it has actually dried, so it is hoped much of this year's finds will be ready to go to the relevant specialists soon after the excavation has ended.

Finds happily drying in the sun

In Trench 1, excavation of the Roman road continued. Beneath the latest gravel surface was evidence of successive repairs of the road bed (apparently by the cart-load) and gravel patching. In the building alongside the road, yet another layer of rubble demolition/landfill was removed but at last this revealed deposits probably relating to the occupation of the structure; these were ashy and contained much iron slag, but may have been brought in to form a floor and don't necessarily mean that metal-working took place within the building.

Trench 1 showing the Roman road

Trench 2 saw the removal of a wall in the centre of the trench and the rubble overlying it. There now seems to be a succession of cobble layers and deposits with in-situ burning, the slag therein indicating iron-working. Investigation of the low, north end of the trench encountered a possible beam slot, but otherwise there were primarily dumps in probable stream deposits.

Supervisor Bryan talking to diggers about his trench

In Trench 3 the stone wall foundations at the south end were confirmed as forming the north-east end of a large timber building, with a cobble surface to its rear. The latest feature within the building was a clay and cobble oven containing much charcoal. At the north end of the trench, a small hearth and other features indicate considerable activity across the entire trench.

Watch out for the next excavation update, including news of the environmental sampling activity.

Kurt Hunter-Mann, Site Director

York Archaeological Trust

Report: Hectic week at the dig!

The weather held fair for another week.

On Thursday, we welcomed Laura from ArcHeritage who was here to lead the fieldwalking in and around the site.  There were trips to the beach to collect finds and record find spots, as well as much measuring of lumps and bumps in the fields and investigating woodlands.

Jo, Leo & Laura on the beach (thanks to Brian K for taking the photo)

Friday was our first Open Day this year,  and special events included Community Archaeologist Jon, from York Archaeological Trust, who supervised Trench 4. This trench is purely for the use of local school children, Young Lake District rangers and 'have a go' diggers. Outreach Co-ordinator Lisa brought four school parties to site, and what happened will be the subject of a future blog.

Jon and young trowellers in Trench 4

Trench 4 was open for business on Friday and Saturday, and will also be available on Saturday 27th September. We are, of course, open Wednesday to Sunday, and tours and further information are available.

On Saturday, the dig donned its Heritage Days gladrags. Janice, Tourism Development Officer for South Copeland Tourism, kindly provided lovely pink bunting and ballons which bedecked our gazebos. In addition to her tourism job, Janice is also a volunteer Finds Assistant for the dig, bringing her superb organisational skills to sort out unruly finds and staff.

 Gazebos and bunting (with Finds Assistants Rosalie and Janice - in hi-vis jackets - on the right)

We were also visited by the Chairman of the Lake District National Park committee, Mike McKinley and committee member Hugh Branney who toured around the site, as well as viewed the finds set out to dry.

Janice, Mike, Hugh & Jeremy with drying finds

At the end of Saturday, we waved goodbye to Jon, who winged his way back to York. Sunday was Laura's last day, and as there are no Sunday trains out of Ravenglass, she will travel back to Sheffield on Monday.

Next week, we're looking forward seeing Environmental specialist Nicola from Northlight, who will be offering the chance to process samples from the site. And of course, there will be much more digging and lots of finds!