Day 4

In Trench 3, the upper ditch fill continued to be excavated and it seems that stony deposit is being revealed.  The trench was then planned which meant that the volunteers could began removing the stones at the SE of the trench.

Trench 3: excavating the section through the possible ditch fill

A 3m² extension has been made to the SW edge of Trench 4. Removal of the sod and topsoil revealed continuation of the bank which was found earlier at the NW end of the trench. This bank appears to be constructed of several layers of compact stone and earth and curves around from the NE through West to the SE. We may also have evidence of a stone platform in the centre of trench 4 but this has yet to be investigated further. Between this potential platform and the newly unearthed section of bank, a thick layer of dark loam was removed and found to contain some charcoal, a struck flint and a hone stone (for sharpening knives). Excavation of the bank material at the NW end of the trench has begun and is revealing several episodes of construction. Hopefully more of the story in trench 4 will unravel with further excavation tomorrow.

Hone Stone found in Trench 4

In Trench 5, excavation of the shattered stone deposit continued.  This revealed that the clay deposit at the NE end of the trench continued to the bedrock outcrop at the middle of the trench.  On the other side of the bedrock there is a band of tightly packed stones and a band of softer soil, these may be levelling deposits, but we won’t be sure until they’re fully excavated.  In the afternoon we extended the trench by 3m² to the NE in order to reveal the extent of the clay occupation deposit.

Clay occupation layer in Trench 5

Thanks to our volunteers John McL, éilis, Gregory, John H, Shannon, Pearl, Bettina, Rebecca and Anthony.