The 2001 Season
Week 1 by Amanda Clarke

Day 1: 9th July
80 participants are treated to a day of introductory lectures including ‘housekeeping’ talks by the cook, the site manager and the administrative assistant. Health and Safety talks and site tour were followed by assignment to supervisors and instruction on use of tools, site and finds etiquette. During the afternoon, site cleaning commenced.

Day 2: 10th July
During the morning training was given on finds identification and processing, archaeological science, stone identification, small finds drawing and environmental processing. During the afternoon, there was extensive trowelling of the site, but following the break in of several cars, the excavation closed early. An interesting find of the day was an inscribed fragment of Purbeck Marble which is now on display in the site museum. Other examples of this kind, date to the 1st century AD.

Day 3: 11th July
All trainees received training on site recording methods, both written and drawn and work on site continued in the afternoon. An interesting find from today was a fragment of a quern stone of Old Red Sandstone, from the Forest of Dean. This had been reused in the make up of a floor surface associated with Building 8.

Day 4: 12th July
Todays training covered the use of photography on site and information about the project database, the IADB (Integrated Archaeological database). Work continued on site in the afternoon

Day 6: 14th July
Work continued on site with trainees cleaning, excavating and planning the features they were working on. For some it was the last day of their participation and we said goodbye to them in the afternoon. Additional training was offered today on the intricacies of small finds drawing and on digital reconstruction of some of the buildings of House 1. An interesting small find today was a fragment of an arm of a possible figurine

Day 7: 15th July
Work begins on deposits pre-dating Buildings 1, 5 and 7 in the south-east corner of the site and in the southern most part of the area where we are still working with deposits external to and contemporary with Building 1. Deposits immediately below Building 1 are suggestive of floors to be associated with an earlier building. The walls for this building elude us, although a linear clay-filled feature running north-east / south-west may be a wall footing. Removal of the build up of soils beneath Buildings 5 and 7 are revealing intercut pits apparently cut into a yellow clay similar to the construction level of the latest phase of House 1. More post holes associated with Buildings 7 and 9 are appearing parallel to the north south road. We also have evidence for an earlier building which may be running underneath the latest road surface: a linear footing and associated flints.