Day 2: Pottery, bricks and mortar...

Today we spent most the day continuing to clean back the site ready in order to gain a better understanding of the archaeology we are presented with. We were helped with the addition of 10 more volunteers from the local community and between us the site is beginning to take shape and make a bit more sense. Read on to find out more about how we are progressing and some of the things we have found today...

For the last few mornings Jamie from Arch Services has been photographing Trench 1 from the top of the scaffolding currently installed near the site. Today's photo, in comparison with the one from yesterday morning (before we started on site), really clearly shows the progress we have already made in one day. These photos also provide us with a really clear indication of the scale and nature of the site we are dealing with, and an alternative perspective is always helpful.

Morning of Day 1

Morning of Day 2

Today, we have had the majority of the students and volunteers working in Trench 1 exposing some of the features in and around the wall. Of significance, we have found two culvets above and intersecting the wall on the western edge of the trench, together with a large square-shaped platform and a square-shaped room next to this. Both these features connect directly to the wall. Excitingly, a large sherd of medieval green glazed ware was recovered from inside the room (photo below) which might hint at its age. Currently, we are still making our minds up about what these features could be, and we are hoping this will become clearer as we keep digging.

In Trench 2, the archaeology is less obvious but no less fascinating. Large quantities of medieval brick have been recovered, together with some exciting stonework and pottery. One piece of carved stone has been identified and dated by Dr Pam Graves on site. Pictured below is a lovely example of the moulded stonework in the filleted bowtell style thought to date from the 13th century (picture below). This kind of stone might have adorned a window or doorway, or acted as a decorative feature on a wall. Other finds from this trench include medieval glass and some post-medieval decorated glazed pottery (picture below). Altogether, these finds are really interesting and encouraging, but we haven't yet been able to establish a clear impression of the contexts they have been found it. As we proceed this will hopefully become clearer!

Lastly, today was the first day of photogrammetry at the site. Dr Paolo Forlin has been leading an exercise to try and record the entire north wall of the chapel at Auckland Castle using state-of-the-art photogrammetry techniques. This will be the first time that a really detailed record of this wall will have taken place and the wall features many unusual and interesting details which might allude to its mysterious past. Today, five undergraduates got the chance to learn the techniques from Paolo and have a go at producing a 3D model of the wall.

Overall, today has been a really successful and busy day. Moving forward, we are really interested to find out more about some of our more obscure features. Make sure to follow us on social media to find out more about our progress during the day, and be sure to subscribe to us (link below).