Well, the rain didn't arrive until late in the day, which was nice, and it was really good to see Duncan Allan on a visit. He was the education officer on previous digs, and everyone wishes him a full recovery from his current illness.
There was an excellent turnout of volunteers despite the forecast, and the impending wet weather seemed to add a note of urgency to the digging. The area containing the suspected graves was enlarged and then cleaned before the actual excavation began. It looks like there may be 4 new ones, all on the regular east / west Christian alignment. By the end of the day the first human remains were found in what looks like it may be a child's grave. In the main open grave, 'George' was fully exposed, revealing good and largely unworn teeth plus lighter arm bones - the pelvic area is missing so gender remains uncertain, but the feeling now is that 'Georgina' may have been a young woman.
Elsewhere the hard slog of cutting deep trenches to explore the alignment and relationship of the various ditches that delineated the settlement(s) continues. We already had clear evidence of two, but it now seems there may have been three, or perhaps the refurbishment of an earlier one. The Roman and Saxon inhabitants must have relished digging as much as one of our current team... The purpose of enclosure ditches around settlements becomes a big question when you stand next to a slot cut in one, and realise just what an enormous effort must have gone into the entire complex - keeping livestock in or out will have been a prime reason, but here at near sea level perhaps drainage was important. The presence of so many burials may have added to the pressure to 'defend' the site from high tide, or to delineate the area as somewhere special.
The day ended in the rain with much careful measurement and plotting, plus setting out the site for the first school visit on Monday. In the lunch hour seminar Jezz the rain-maker did his best to drill the crew with the site overview so we could give the children a uniform story.
There was an excellent turnout of volunteers despite the forecast, and the impending wet weather seemed to add a note of urgency to the digging. The area containing the suspected graves was enlarged and then cleaned before the actual excavation began. It looks like there may be 4 new ones, all on the regular east / west Christian alignment. By the end of the day the first human remains were found in what looks like it may be a child's grave. In the main open grave, 'George' was fully exposed, revealing good and largely unworn teeth plus lighter arm bones - the pelvic area is missing so gender remains uncertain, but the feeling now is that 'Georgina' may have been a young woman.
Elsewhere the hard slog of cutting deep trenches to explore the alignment and relationship of the various ditches that delineated the settlement(s) continues. We already had clear evidence of two, but it now seems there may have been three, or perhaps the refurbishment of an earlier one. The Roman and Saxon inhabitants must have relished digging as much as one of our current team... The purpose of enclosure ditches around settlements becomes a big question when you stand next to a slot cut in one, and realise just what an enormous effort must have gone into the entire complex - keeping livestock in or out will have been a prime reason, but here at near sea level perhaps drainage was important. The presence of so many burials may have added to the pressure to 'defend' the site from high tide, or to delineate the area as somewhere special.
The day ended in the rain with much careful measurement and plotting, plus setting out the site for the first school visit on Monday. In the lunch hour seminar Jezz the rain-maker did his best to drill the crew with the site overview so we could give the children a uniform story.
Our featured biopics from now on will include some of the professional archaeologists working on the dig, starting with Preston Boyles. He's paired with 1st day newcomer Robert Beavis, seen on the left. Robert is doing an archaeology BA at Bristol Uni and has his sight on a PhD in something early ecclesiastical. He is a local lad from Pettaugh, near Stowmarket, and has a distinct advantage over Miles, having appeared on TV as a shoulder on 'Bargain Hunt' whilst ringing a 9 1/2 ton bell called Great George in Bristol.
Preston, seen here puzzling over the ditch alignment, worked with several other professional archaeology services before joining Suffolk County, including Essex County and the private sector outfit Wessex Archaeology. His real interest is in the Mesolithic period, but is happy to make do with our mix at Barbers Point. The highlight of his recent career was to fall down a well at a dig in Bury St Edmunds, which makes a nice link to Robert and 'ding dong bell'.... Luckily it can't have been a very deep well, because he got out on his own before anyone saw, and he's been keeping quiet about it ever since.
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