A Refreshing Change....

I had my doubts about the Paisley job, but after Day One, it's all going rather smoothly.  I have three targets,  Target 1 was to monitor the digging of a small area adjacent to a 19th century mill building.  Target 2 was to monitor the emptying out of a rubble-filled cellar and photograph the cellar structure.  Target 3 was to uncover the surface of an old vennel, clean and record it, then dig it up and see what lies beneath.

There's a lot of ground to be covered, but I've already accomplished Target 2 and done the major part of Target 3, where the supposed cobbled spreads have been exposed and cleaned and photographed/drawn etc.  The long, involved complicated bit is done, all that remains is to take up the cobbles and evaluate the underlying strata.  As for Target 1, roughly a quarter was done and all there was to report was the loss of a big patch of roughcast, the snapping of an old telephone wire and a lot of very angry and very unhappy ants who are now homeless...

And.....  She draws a deep breath.

I GOT TWO SHERDS OF MEDIEVAL POTTERY!!!!!  Yay!!!!!

Two sherds of medieval pottery is no big deal.  They came from a context which also revealed 19th century earthenwares.  But it shows that there's a bit of medieval background noise in the area, which also comes as no surprise as the abbey's just down the road.  But I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I haven't been on a site which has produced anything of medieval date or earlier since the beginning of 2007!  I was beginning to think I'd lost the ability to spot the stuff!!

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, because the view from the office is rather nice.  The good news is that I'm back on site tomorrow, and if the weather's not too dire (the forecast's not good) then I'll come back with some nice pictures of BIG (very big!!!) 19th century mill buildings.

It's hard work, this digging milarky.  My wrists hurt, my knees hurt, my arms hurt and I'm knackered.  But I'd forgotten how much fun it is to be digging properly.  Instead of hacking through 19th century demolition layers with a big machine, you're doing it by hand, knowing that everything has to be beautifully recorded and that any moment now, you might just spot something ancient!

A Refreshing Change....

I had my doubts about the Paisley job, but after Day One, it's all going rather smoothly.  I have three targets,  Target 1 was to monitor the digging of a small area adjacent to a 19th century mill building.  Target 2 was to monitor the emptying out of a rubble-filled cellar and photograph the cellar structure.  Target 3 was to uncover the surface of an old vennel, clean and record it, then dig it up and see what lies beneath.

There's a lot of ground to be covered, but I've already accomplished Target 2 and done the major part of Target 3, where the supposed cobbled spreads have been exposed and cleaned and photographed/drawn etc.  The long, involved complicated bit is done, all that remains is to take up the cobbles and evaluate the underlying strata.  As for Target 1, roughly a quarter was done and all there was to report was the loss of a big patch of roughcast, the snapping of an old telephone wire and a lot of very angry and very unhappy ants who are now homeless...

And.....  She draws a deep breath.

I GOT TWO SHERDS OF MEDIEVAL POTTERY!!!!!  Yay!!!!!

Two sherds of medieval pottery is no big deal.  They came from a context which also revealed 19th century earthenwares.  But it shows that there's a bit of medieval background noise in the area, which also comes as no surprise as the abbey's just down the road.  But I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I haven't been on a site which has produced anything of medieval date or earlier since the beginning of 2007!  I was beginning to think I'd lost the ability to spot the stuff!!

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, because the view from the office is rather nice.  The good news is that I'm back on site tomorrow, and if the weather's not too dire (the forecast's not good) then I'll come back with some nice pictures of BIG (very big!!!) 19th century mill buildings.

It's hard work, this digging milarky.  My wrists hurt, my knees hurt, my arms hurt and I'm knackered.  But I'd forgotten how much fun it is to be digging properly.  Instead of hacking through 19th century demolition layers with a big machine, you're doing it by hand, knowing that everything has to be beautifully recorded and that any moment now, you might just spot something ancient!