Day 9: New Trenches and New Finds...

Although Storm Hector was determined to halt progress on the dig so far, we battled on despite a few buckets flying around. Read on to find out more about the progress we have made so far and some of the lovely finds that were unearthed despite the wind and rain...

In Trench 1 we remained focused on trying to better understand the ditch features. Lots of attention was made on trying to locate and excavate the 'real edges' of the ditches so that we might be able to better understand their true extent, direction and location within the trench. Currently, with every day these features appear to be growing both in width and depth. We believe that these features may be among the earliest features on the site, so we are keen to understand them better. Hopefully, as the days go on these might become clearer. Unfortunately, excavating these is strenuous work for everyone, requiring lots of mattocking and shovelling. Nobody said archaeology is easy, but at least we don't need to go to them gym!

Also in Trench 1, we have been given permission to begin excavation beyond the limits of the trench. You may remember that we thought we had identified a series of buttresses holding up a wall that was beyond the limit of the trench. Recently we have received permission to extend the limit of the trench to see if we can pick up this wall. Digging began here, and although it is early days and we haven't picked up any wall-like features yet, we are very excited to see what we may come down onto!

In Trench 2, we have also begun extending this trench to see if we can find the exterior wall of the kitchen. At the end of today we found it! This is a great result and allows us to gain an understanding of the size and limits of these spaces. Well done to Will, Amanda, Mandy, Natasha and Maxine for doing this, and so neatly! Great work guys.

Also in Trench 2, an exquisite little bone toggle/button was found. This item was found intact and is a really rare find. We are still waiting to find out an exact date for this but preliminary suggestions are that it could be as early as 12th/13th century!

In other news, our branded dig t-shirts finally arrived! All students have received one and everyone is loving them.

Make sure to check back for more updates on our progress so far. Also, make sure to follow us on social media to get up-to-date information on our discoveries!