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Dig Report Saturday 31^st March 2007

We had a good training session at the Committee Rooms (not the Glebe!) and had the opportunity of welcoming Dave, Ellie and Rob. Hopefully to be joined by some more over the coming weeks. I think we all learnt something and refreshed some of the grey matter.

Generally the site faired quite well over the winter although we now know the plastic sheet is not UV proof! Whilst windy it was bright so generally a pleasant day to work. After tucking up QA: QB & QD we cleared the weeds from the "legal quadrant" QC. After discussions with Aileen we have decided to excavate 2x 1 metre wide trenches down to the original soil level. This should ensure we can complete a good survey of the mound to enable us to be able to write our report within the next year. The excavation will be by mattock and trowel so hopefully will be quicker and we may be able to surprise ourselves and complete more than the trenches.

We hope to be on site every Saturday from now to the autumn/winter from 12.30 onwards. In addition, Liz is going to try some evening digs like last year. Aileen is also going to see if the Summer Training School would like to undertake the work in QD. If there are at least 3 keen soles who want to dig on any Sundays, please let Alex know so she can inform Richard Bull the landowner's agent.

Dig Report Saturday 14^th April 2007

Saturday was a great day for digging, nice sunshine and gentle breeze so the temperature was ideal. The soil is still moist under the top layer so again was good to excavate.

The numbers progressively increased during the afternoon so we ended up as the "Magnificent Seven", (Gill, Alex, Kim, Gae and Clive plus Irene and self). Welcome to Gae and to her first dig. At the end she commented she was still not sure what we were doing - well you are now in good company as after 3 years most of us still feel the same way!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From the pictures you will see we have taken the north/south trench in quadrant C down to the first soil change and are well on the way in getting the east/west trench down to the same layer. It will be interesting to get the dumpy level on it but it appears to my drunken eyes as though this soil change drops away from the test pits we started to excavate at the end of last year. If so, it does tend to reconfirm our estimate of where we think the centre is.

We found quite a large piece of worked flint and a very round (sling-shot???) stone.

We look forward to seeing you on site this Saturday for as long or short as you can make it. We look forward to seeing Aileen (with hiking boots and rucksack!). At this stage the plan is to continue to take down the east/west trench to the same soil change as the north/south trench and hopefully start taking them both down to the next context change. If you are not up to digging you will still be very welcome as there are other jobs that need to be done like recording the location of last week's finds and hopefully all this week's haul, draw the plan for quadrant C and maybe start the section drawings.

Dig Report Saturday 21^st April 2007

Last week we again had good weather although another week without rain made the surface dry and hard. Thank goodness for mattocks! Another good turnout with a Super 6 which increased to another Magnificent 7, when Aileen popped in to make sure we knew what we should be doing over the next few weeks. All our best wishes for the stroll across Scotland. I am sure the new boots will be broken in by the time you return.

In addition to Gill, Jane (apologies I missed you from the photo shoots) Irene and myself, we welcomed Peter and Colin. Both are experienced metal detectors but have not had the chance to get down and dirty before. They have threatened to return so must have enjoyed the experience!

We continued to dig out the trenches. At the end of a days digging it appears as though more has been achieved than when we evenly take the whole of a quadrant down! We found some nice flints, especially a fine one by Jane. I attach a quick picture as well as the other ones I took on the day.

Dig Report Saturday 28^th April 2007

he sun was still shining and the small amount of rain there had been the days before was as good as nothing. This did not deter the energetic eight. Yes, 8 of us - Gill, Colin, Elie, Clive, Dave and Alex as well as Irene and myself.

We continued excavating the trenches and then had a rest from being on our knees by recording the locations of the previous weeks finds. This was good revision for Clive and Elie and was something totally new for Colin. Don't worry Colin, I won't test you next week, but probably will the week after. Only joking! I am sorry to say that the finds this week were very thin on the ground and amounted to a small piece of burnt wood found by Clive. Probably from the match he lit his pipe with! Again only joking as Clive was not smoking only the speed of his trowel-work. However we did make good progress in shifting quite a lot of soil.

Dig Report Saturday 5^th May 2007

The famous (or should it be infamous) five were on duty - Peter whose body has just recovered from his first dig, Gill who is giving Irene and me a run for the most attendances, Jane with Freya our new secret detection weapon plus Irene and self.

It started a bit on the cool side but by the end it was a glorious sunny day. We continued reducing the trenches and small finds were again on the thin side. Only one possible small pointed flint. Even if it is nothing, it was good training for Peter on recording finds!

In the area where Gill has been digging the soil seems to have different soil patches and she discovered 2 very soft mini-trenches about 18cm deep running in a N -S direction. Initially we thought they were the normal "mole" plough damage, but looking at the section there did not appear to be any slump where soil has fallen in from higher soil levels and the sides seemed a lot straighter with squarer rather than the expected round corners. We are probably fooling ourselves and it is the plough but another opinion will be appreciated. Later Jane found the beginning of another similar mini-trench. They all seem to be about 1.4 m apart. I hope the photos give an indication of them and in Jane's area you can see where the new mini-trench continues but still needs to be excavated and a mole plough mark which is different to Gill's mini-trenches.

We also cleaned the initial test pit and have taken down the N - S trench to nearly the same level. We sprayed the main areas we were working on so hopefully the soil changes are clearer although the one of the original pit I have also enhanced which whilst it does not show the true colours does make it easier to identify the differences. The soil change we found in the centre seems to be running into the NS trench? What are your views?

We also did some quick dumpy measures to see how evenly we are excavating the trenches. I have put these onto the attached word document. You will see we also took the height of the outside of Quadrant A and the bottoms of the 2 mini-trenches Gill found are only 5-6 cm above what we believe is the pre mound original soil level.

Dig Report Saturday 12^th May 2007

The 4 Musketeers were in action on Saturday. New members Elie and Peter kept Irene and myself company on a day when the conditions for digging were great but initially a bit miserable weather-wise. We started with a tidy-up of QC. With the rain and warmer weather the weeds had grown! With the expectation the Ely Standard photographer will join us this Saturday and Taleyna's first visit since the global positioning survey, I thought we should look Professional. Note that is Professional with a capital P!

We decided to leave the centre area of the trenches alone, even though it is likely the mini trenches are mole ploughing but they do seem to be deeper than we have found before. Alex has e-mailed Richard to see if they have any idea how deep they could have mole ploughed Mr Lee's land. The trenches are now getting quite deep although there is probably still about 20 cm before it is down to the base level.

The rest of the team had a find apiece, sorry for letting the side down. 2 flints and a piece of charcoal which "has not been touched by human hand" that is large enough to have a carbon dating test, if we decide we want to.

As mentioned above Liz hopes the Ely Standard photographer will visit the site, maybe with the reporter to do a follow-up article after the one published at Christmas last year. I think it will be great if we could have as many as possible on site even if you can't stay long and or can't dig. Just come to swell the numbers and see how we have progressed. Pictures only show part of the story!

Dig Report Saturday 19^th May 2007

As we were having the photographer from the Ely Standard visiting us, we did a clear of the trenches and sections. There are a series of photos that hopefully show the various context changes. By the time Frazer the photographer arrived we had continued digging and "spoiling" the cleaned surfaces. But that is what you have to do to make progress!

The we, was Jane, Peter, Irene and self and we greatly appreciated the support and all the hard work that Taleyna gave us. I trust Taleyna the muscles were not too sore after all your work.

We continued to take the trenches down and near the area where we believe the centre is, found a large band of gravel that appears to be over the grey soil layer. Jane gave us a beautiful theory that it could be from when the area started having floods at the end of the bronze age/early iron age which could have washed the gravel from the rivers covering the mound. This was then spoilt by Jane confessing that archaeology is great as you can make up your theories and Taleyna stating how many debate if it is a science or an art! At the end of a good days digging where the weather was kind, we all agreed is was just "hard work"!

Dig Report Saturday 26^th May 2007

The rain before we arrived helped to make the soil good for digging although it was generally overcast and cool.

The super 6 were Alex, Peter, Colin, Irene and self and Sarah a new member. She has the right "ology" although confesses it was 18 years ago. That is only yesterday as far as Bob is concerned! Sarah has also had experience in excavating Bronze Age site(s) in the past so we are very pleased she has joined us.

We continued to take the trenches down and also removed some of the gravel layer which seems to be over the central grey soil. I am not sure what it has revealed so hopefully Aileen is back from conquering Scotland and can help to explain what may be going on next week.

After 3 1/2 years of finding everything else, Alex found her first good sized worked flint and Peter has continued his weekly success with another. I found a piece of pottery a long way down where the gravel meets the grey soil. It is quite smooth and rounded on on side so may be a piece of the rim of a pot.

Dig Report Saturday/Sunday 2^nd/3^rd June 2007

It was glorious sunny weather and I think the Gods or Bob were shining on us.

With Aileen back after her successful conquering of Scotland I was told it was about time we excavated the area we thought was the centre with the soil colour changes. After recording the details on the plan and creating the context sheets, "in case there is something there", I started excavating half of the area so we would still have a section of the other half. It soon became clearer that it was 2 pits very close to one another. Aileen continued digging one pit whilst I carried on with the other and then we decided to swap. In good old Time Team manor, we got past 4.00 pm and some diggers had already had to leave and the knees, plus all other parts of the body, are saying "yes, it is nearly time to pack up" when I think Aileen said something like "this looks interesting!" Well that turned out to be the base of a pot but better still it was still attached to about another 12" of pot! At about 5.00 it was decided that Terry and Irene were being totally unreasonable and taking the 9th June off and as all the other committee members were on their holidays on that weekend (good planning) that we should resume digging on the Sunday rather than leave the pot partly excavated for the next 2 weeks.

Now at this stage I must add that other great work had been carried out on the site by Liz, Clive, Elie and Irene, continuing to take down the trenches. Clive made 2 nice worked flint finds.

At 10.00 on the Sunday we resumed, initially doing the necessary paper work, and then the total excavation of the pot pit. Apart from a hole in the base it was in one piece but with some scary cracks and a bulge on the side that did later fall out. After a lot of finger tip work in the confined pit space we managed to uncover the whole pot and Clive managed to arrange for Stuart, Chair of the Ely Archaeological group and photographer with English Heritage, to attend and take some professional photos for us.

The pot was wrapped in more cling film than Tesco's use in their packaging, to hopefully support the pot whilst it was finally being removed and transported. We then dug out one side if the pit to get better access to it and after some redesigning of a hand shovel, Tony got gown and close with Aileen to undertake the final excavation and lifting of the pot. A huge sigh of relief when it came out with a good coronet of soil to keep all the contents in place. Apparently after the cremation the pots were filled with the ashes and then inverted in the pit. Sometimes with Iron and Roman pots, they were damaged deliberately with a hole so they would not be of use to anyone else.

The collared urn is (hopefully) at Cam Ark's base at Bar Hill. Aileen is hoping to be able to arrange for members who want, to be there when the urn is explored further. I will let you have more details in due course.

In the meantime, here are some more pictures which hopefully will reward you for some of the hard work that has been put in over the last 3 1/2 years. We still have a lot more to do and still have to look for some associated burials and maybe a whole Bob not in a pot!

Dig Report Saturday 16^th June 2007

We started in the rain and gave up early because of it, but there was a window, or 2, or 3 in-between that allowed us to get some work done. Was Bob throwing a tantrum?!

Before I continue can I apologise for omitting, in my report of 2nd June, to welcome Denise Chappell to our group. It seems as though Denise brought good luck with her. Initially she struggled to find us but was not put off and her perseverance was rewarded as within a very short time of her arrival, the urn was found. Thank you for this. It has only taken us 3 1/2 years and is a welcomed boost to us all. What will we find next time you join us?

Also, for not thanking Tony for all his gardening work. The trouble is not finding enough time to do all the excavation work and keep the area tidy and looking professional, as we all are now! The central bulkheads were very nicely trimmed and all the weeds surrounding the mound were removed. Tony, can you come back in 2 weeks time as with all this rain, they have grown again!

Despite the weather, this week had a good turnout of 9. Nearly into double figures - Aileen, Alex,Gill, Elie, Sarah, Peter, Clive, Irene and me. We continued to take down the trenches and made good progress. The bad news is that from the attached pictures you will see the Urn pit was about 50cm deep and the bottom of it appears to be where the original base level is. Most of the trenches are lower than the top of the pit but we still probably have about 30cm, or 12 inches in old money to go. No problem for a top team like us. The only concern is we are rapidly approaching sea level. Not to worry, we have our buckets and spades.

After the dreaded but essential paperwork, I continued with excavating the other pit, context number 806. I soon found a thin very dark if not black layer. We are not sure what it is but initial thoughts are maybe cloth or a wicker basket. It does not appear to be in a stable enough condition to enable us remove it so will have to record, photograph and take samples. More "lovely" paper work. I joined an archaeological dig to become a pen pusher!!!!!!!!!

From looking at the pits and the surrounding soils, Aileen is of the opinion the urn is a secondary burial and Bob (who still lives on!) should be in a pit dug beneath the base level of the mound. We all thought we were digging to the base level. Now we could be heading for Australia! Could eliminate our travel carbon footprints and give us a reward for all the effort we have put in!

The rain also gave us a chance to view the photographs that Steve took for us. Clive, will you please pass on our thanks for the great pictures and also for not charging us for them. I understand he appreciated the opportunity of being able to witness our find. I think all of us who were there also enjoyed being part of it.

Our task for next week and possibly a few more, is to excavate 2 more areas in the corners between the EW & NS trenches. We need to leave bulkheads of 30cm and then take out 1m wide by about 1.5m long areas so we can see as soon as possible if there are any more secondary burials near the 2 pits we have so far discovered. We also need to continue to take down the trenches, initially concentrating on the central area and then working outwards.

Dig Report Saturday 23^rd June 2007

It rained just before we arrived on site and had another go just after we left, but otherwise it was good digging weather. Shame about the puddles that did make it a bit interesting in parts of the trenches. I suppose we will have to get used to it as we are rapidly, well perhaps that is a slight exaggeration, approaching sea level. In the pit where the urn was, the tide was definitely in!

A super six day with Alex, Cecilia and Gill, fresh after her hols, Elie, Irene and self. It was nice to have a bevy of ladies but guys I do need some support at times! We are sorry to hear Sarah's back is playing up, so could not be with us. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

We started 2 further pits in the corners between the EW & NS trenches and managed to excavate them down to about the level where we found the soil changes for the urn and other pits. Unfortunately, they don't indicate any more pits, at this stage. Gill did find another worked flint.

Alex arrived later as Dave needs new glasses. No, I am not saying anything, as if I would! She continued to reduce the level in the NS trench without getting inundated by the surrounding puddles, which was no mean feat. Her efforts were only rewarded by finding some more gravel deposits.

I continued to excavate pit 806. The dark layer, which may be a wicker basket may have a handle or a sausage shaped something in it. It doesn't seem to go across the whole width from N to S. After re-measuring the pit section and completing the context sheet, I started taking down the west side of the pit. About 5cm above the dark layer, there is a very hollow sounding area with a hard but distorted surface that may be square or angular. As it was late or should I say in the Time Team zone, we photographed it and covered it up until next time. Before we proceed further, I think (hopefully) it will be advisable to have Aileen's support. I am also not sure if the two pits overlapped each other or if it was an oval shaped one. The central section is not gravely like the surrounding area to the two pits.

Dig Report Saturday 28^th July 2007

It was lovely sunny weather with a pleasant breeze. Ideal for digging so Denise, Peter, Elie, Jane, Clive Irene and myself set-to. A special nautical term to welcome Clive back after his sailing holiday.

Irene put the hoe that had been gathering cobwebs in my garage to good use and cleared all the weeds, until next week! She then continued reducing the level of the eastern part of the EW trench. Clive joined us and removed the end part.

Elie continued reducing the western end of this trench although we have now proved she doesn't have a level eye. I wondered why the museum had some displays that slope! After Peter and Denise had finished taking down the NS trench Elie gave them some training in the use of the dumpy and the levels are at or slightly lower than the base level just outside QA. It therefore appears that we have got to base level in this trench. If so, I am sorry to say Peter, this could be the end of THIS Forth Road Bridge. I am sure I can find another if you ask. There is still the apparent context change, and Elie then taught Denise and Peter how to prepare Context Sheets. Next time will be investigating it to see if it is a pre-mound pit or, heaven forbid, it is a layer of different soil that is under the gravel and therefore we will have to continue our journey to Australia!

Jane had a look at the westerly test pit and found a context change that seemed to continue from the NS trench by pit 806. Having prepared a context sheet, photographed it, recorded it on the QA plan, she then found the soil change petered out after a few inches! No Peter I am not using your name in vain! Never mind, it was good practice and we will have to finish taking out the extra half meter next time.

I spent my time trying to remove the soil from above the black layer in pit 806, whilst leaving the black layer behind. It was a bit of a job trying to get the mattock in! Don't panic Aileen, just joking!!!! I think I have achieved this but there seem to be a couple of other features that I would like you to look at before I finish and then remove the black layer to then create another context and see what else is in this second pit.

Dig Report Saturday 4^th August 2007

It was a hot one but thank goodness there was a pleasant breeze. It is amazing how quickly the site has dried out. A good turnout with Alex, Irene, Cecelia, Aileen, Peter, Clive and "moi" on duty.

Cecelia and Alex continued in the test-pits and Irene and Aileen worked on the EW trench. Aileen found a context change which will need recording next time. Generally we now seem to have got to base level in all these and the NS trench. We now need to record what we have excavated so this will mean cleaning up the sections and then recording them on the permatrace and context sheets. Once this is done, we will probably try to arrange for the gravel site workers to remove a layer off this quadrant and maybe QD, the unconquered one, down to the level where we found the urn and present pits to see if we can find any more.

I have got down to the black layer in the pit, photographed and recorded it, so next week it will be removing this layer and then progressing further down into the pit, "below the black layer". I am not sure if this is mysterious or scary?!

We have now returned to the 2nd quadrant, also known as the NW frontier or QB. The purpose is to put in 2 new trenches. The first which has been started will give us a complete EW section through the mound. The second trench will be NS and we will then return to the very first quadrant (QA) so we will then have a NS section. The two trenches in QB, we will dig to context so after we finish the initial clean to identify soil colour changes, we will excavate the ditch areas first, assuming the fill is over the mound, until we find the slump layer from the mound into the ditch. Peter found a worked flint and there were a few nearly ones that possibly would have got bagged in our early days.

Hopefully the weather will enable us to continue making good progress so we WILL have most if not ALL the work done by the end of the digging season so the report can be written during the winter months.

Dig Report Saturday 11^th August 2007

Anyway, it was hot, sunny and little wind and the soil was hard! Otherwise it was fine and the crew of Peter, Denise, Cecelia, Alex, Irene and Self were joined by new (village) boy Vic Williams.

Vic was a great addition and together with Irene got most of the elevations of the two trenches upright and clean so hopefully this week we can record the sections and the various context changes.

Alex also got the sides of the eastern test-pit upright and clean, again so they can be recorded onto permatrace.

Cecelia has now levelled the western test-pit. It appears as though the context changes were natural or plough. The context sheets need to be finished and this is now also ready to have the sections recorded.

Peter was in QB and did a great job cleaning the surface of the new trench so we could identify the context changes and photograph them. We can clearly see where the mound has slumped into the ditch and the ditch fill. This week it will be removing the ditch fill.

Beside keeping everyone organised carried on with pit 807. The black layer has been removed and the soil retained as another sample. I have again sectioned the pit and removed the soil on the eastern side to another black very loose layer.

Dig Report Saturday 18^th August 2007

We were lucky finding the window in the rain to allow us to dig even although it was cool and windy. The rain had made the soil good for digging. A good turnout of 8 with Gill, Vanessa, Denise, Cecelia, Elie, Vic, Peter and self getting down but not too dirty as a lot of paperwork was also done. Now we are all becoming pen pushers! Irene's mum is making good progress and hopefully she will be able to join us again next week. It was great to have Vanessa join us again after all the tremendous work she had done over the first 3 years.

Gill organised marking out a new North South trench in quadrant B that follows through to the bulkhead in QA. Vanessa and Vic helped her clean this and once the slumped area was identified, Gill then removed the fill of what might have been the ditch but if so the mound was not round!

Peter started removing the fill from the ditch area in the EW trench of QB. Nothing found but he enjoyed the softer fill soil rather than the hard and compacted stuff in QC trenches. Going west was not such a bad thing! Peter also wonder if there is a context change nearer to the new NS trench. It looks a possibility but it is quite large at about 1 metre diameter.

Cecelia completed the context sheets for the western test-pit in QC and then helped Elie to draw the east facing section of the NS trench in QC. Only 3 more to do and the test pits!

Denise finished excavating the change of context in the NS trench of QC. Unfortunately it turned to the gravel base level after about 10cm. Anyway, it was a good introduction to context sheets that were duly completed.

In my spare time I removed some more soil covering the new black layer in pit 807. Next week it will be recording it on the pit's section and create a new context sheet. After Aileen has had a chance to check it we will be able to progress further.

Thank you Aileen for arranging the experts to review the urn and it's contents. We will watch this space with great interest as we gain a greater understanding of what we have recovered that otherwise would have been lost under the gravel extraction machinery.

Dig Report Saturday 1^st September 2007

I know it didn't rain but that is it for the weather report! Numbers were down as well but we did make some progress.

Alex and Irene continued with the new NS trench in QA and Gill worked on the NS trench in QB. One interesting flint was found together with the good old mole plough holes. I drew the additional information on the permatrace for the section of pit 807 and completed (well I think they are) some more context sheets.

We then took a monolith sample from the east facing section of the pit. Basically this is a 3 sided piece of metal, a bit like a gutter, that you hit into the section to extract a soil sample running from top to bottom. From this we hope to be able to work out when the various layers were formed and how, e.g. placed there by man, natural or blown or washed in. This additional information will hopefully enable us to gain a greater understanding of how the pit was filled. We also plan to take a similar sample from one of the sections to try to get a greater understanding of how the mound was formed and why there seem to be so many context changes.

From this I hope you can see that we are preparing ourselves for writing the report this winter. It also means we need to get on and complete as much as possible before the weather changes, not that it probably can get any worse than this summer!

The work, I think we need to do is

Complete removing the soil in the trenches. That is the NS one in QA and the NS & EW ones in QB.
Finish recording the sections onto permatrace.

The existing one for QA will need to have the new information added after the NS trench is fully extracted.
At least 2 for QB, if not 4!
3 more sections for QC.
Finish removing the contents on pit 807 - nearly there!
Remove the bulkheads in QC between the 2 test-pits and the trenches
Arrange for a JCB to take down QC soil to the same level as the level at which we found the soil changes for the 2 pits and possibly undertake similar work in the other 3 quadrants.
Check the JCB removed soil for finds.
Excavate any more pits that are revealed and find BOB.

I am feeling tired at this stage so will stop looking for things to do! In short there is still a lot to do and if you can make it over the next weeks for the BIG FINAL PUSH then it will be great to see you there.

Dig Report Saturday 8^th September 2007

It was good weather for digging, warm enough for short sleeves but not too hot to slow you down. That is a good job for me as slower than slow must be stopped!

It was also a good turnout with a mighty 7 plus Aileen to check on our progress and being happy, then excavated more of the ditch in the NS trench of QB. The "pot lady" is coming this week or early next and not satisfied with the big pot plus about 12 smaller finds, Aileen found a piece and a bit, in the ditch. Super, all contributions gratefully received.

Good progress was made in the 2 NS trenches in QA & QB by Irene, myself, Elie, Denise and Sarah. Peter continues to make good progress taking the ditch out of the EW trench in QB and as mentioned, Aileen excavated more of the ditch in the NS ditch in QB. This now seems to be a lot closer to the centre than we think, from memory, than the previous recording showed. From the new work now being done in QA, we are beginning to wonder if the ditch is wider than we originally thought which will make the mound smaller. We could well have been confused by the gravel that slumped off the mound mixed with other soil that made us think the ditch was further out. We will have to check where the gravel base really is. All good archaeological detective work! The bad news is, we may have to make all the ditch excavations bigger. That includes yours Peter. Now you know why I said we should call it the Seven Road Bridge!

Jane paired up with Elie and together have recorded the west facing section of the NS trench in QC. This is where Terry can tell you about his new toy! I have discovered an option on some software I have had for 2 years that allows you to stitch pictures together. Where I have taken a series of pictures of sections, I can now get the computer to merge them into one complete view. The system is perfect, the only flaw is the bunny who operates the camera! You need to make sure each picture is taken at right angles to the section and at the same elevation to ensure you don't get any distortion. Anyway, I thing they are pretty good; what about you?

The other thing I can report is the 807 pit is almost there. Despite putting in overtime to 6.30 I ran out of everything and had to call it a day. The bottom has quite a thick layer of black ash, some of which could possibly be cremated bone. Aileen has taken the samples to have them viewed under a microscope. I will let you know the results. The only thing I want to know is why was Rachel given a present in the cremation pot (the hand knife) and I haven't?!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately Aileen agrees with my quick list of what we need to do, hopefully before the end of this digging year so we can have as much data to enable the report to be written over the winter months. Whilst we will try to carry on as long as possible this year, there is possibly only 6 -8 more weeks we can rely upon. So please don't miss the chance to get down and dirty before 2008 is with us, and help with the big push!

Dig Report Saturday 6^th October 2007

In some respects, a dig report is a waste of time as we had 14 eager beavers on site so most already know the story. I fear it was the thought of a big man in a JCB that was the attraction!

The weather was kind and we were also lucky that the site had hired in a nearly new JCB to scrape back some of the banks that had slipped into the reservoir and it was there for our use. This meant Alan, the operator could make quite precision scrapes of QC and then QD under the watchful eye of Aileen. In about 2 hours more soil was removed than we can do in 2 years. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint, no more context changes were found to indicate any more possible pits. We were able to identify the ditch following through from QA into the southern edge of QD.

We managed to work our way through about half of the scrapped soil and found 5 small flakes of worked flint. The star of the day was Vanessa who found 2 great worked flints, photos are attached. I am sure Tim will be very interested in seeing them as they must nearly be as great as the hand knife found in the urn.

Thank you all for all your efforts on Saturday and remember there is still a lot more to do in less than 24 hours time. I still need the macho diggers, the eagle-eyed, the tidy ones to clear up after the JCB as well as those who can/would like to help record the sections, plan drawings etc. I hope we will break our record numbers again this week. I trust I didn't hear "Dream on"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dig Report Saturday 13^th October 2007

Again the weather was good to us even though there had been a lot of rain the previous few days. This meant Elie had to bail-out the water that had collected on the plastic sheeting in the ditch in the EW trench of QB. I did do a Health and Safety check and yes she has got her 50 metre swimming badge! Our friendly toad was still on duty but had to be temporally relocated. The difficulty with the trenches is trying to differentiate between original top soil/gravel and what has slumped back into the ditch. Elie has taken 1/3rd of the inner part back and we can now see more clearly what we think are the various layers. It has proved that a lot more needs to be removed!

I can say the above as I had a session in the ditch of the NS trench, same quadrant. A bit more to finally remove but nearly there. I have found what may be some traces of a small layer of burnt material. On the other hand it is probably be nothing. Will have another look next week.

Cecelia and Irene checked and removed the remaining spoil from QD. Unfortunately the gravel men had removed one pile that we had not had a chance to check, but such is life! Gill did a mammoth job of cleaning the E facing section of this quadrant and it is now ready for recording. We still have to do the S facing section and clean the surface, but otherwise it looks quite neat already.

Jane & I finished the E facing section of QC and Jane has cleaned about a 2 metre wide area of the surface.

All in all, a lot of tidying and work was done by the 6 of us.

Dig Report Saturday 20^th October 2007

A good day and a lot of hard work was done as well as the essential recording.

The 3 Mattockeers, a.k.a. Cecelia, Vanessa and Vic did a great job tidying up the south facing section of QD and started to clear the trenches in QC that got filled by the JCB when it did the scrape. The section just needs the final clean and then recorded. Sounds simple!

Alex and Denise started recording the East facing section of QD and were surprised how many context changes Aileen found for them to record!

Irene & I were in the ditches in QB. Irene continued to take it back to the gravel on the east side of the ditch in the EW trench and now "just" has to follow the gravel down, making it deeper. The Ditch in the NS trench is nearly fully excavated. After finding a silty/clay layer over the gravel, this then tried to confuse us by having a lens of gravel over it before reverting back to the silty/clay. There is also an interesting cut through the gravel running in a NE - SW direction. Should get the last layer out today and then this can be recorded with the W facing section so we can link it with the one Alex & Denise were recording to give us a complete NS section across the mound.

Dig Report Saturday 27^th October 2007

Considering the clocks went back last night, it was good weather for working.

It was very much a day of tidying up and finishing and almost finishing the ditches ready for recording.

Gill, Vanessa, Vic & Clive did a great job removing all the spoil from QC. Vanessa found a nice worked flint and Clive rediscovered a possible pit. Where it had been refilled with soil it did look "interesting" for a while but turned out to be the possible pit Denise had previously explored. Just a final surface scrape next time and it can be recorded.

Irene has found gravel on both sided of the ditch in QB - EW trench and hopes there is just a bit to be removed from the bottom. I hasten to add that is, of the ditch!

I have decided the ditch in the NS trench of QB is finished. Being 900mm deep, it is finished!!!!!!!!! That is, apart from recording it and the W facing profile.

The next few weeks will be very much the final recording of all we have achieved over the last 4 years. I attach photo from September 2004 as a reminder of what we have achieved, and that is without all of the finds we have collected. For those who have not done the recording of the sections and plans before, it is not that difficult and by pairing up with others who have, I know we will get some good results. That does mean we need both those who have had some experience and well as our "virgins"! Aileen should also be there to help us identify the context changes.

I feel we are progressing well although there is still quite a lot to do including the final tidy up for the final pictures and the removal of the central cross baulks. Hopefully with everyone's support and the weather remaining kind, we will be able to achieve this over the next 5 weeks, unless we have a "Time Team" drama with a last minute significant find! I am sure we won't mind if it is another urn pit.

Dig Report Saturday 3^rd November 2007

I am not sure if you are aware but this year we have so far managed to undertake 27 Saturday excavations. We lost 2 in July due to bad weather and one Saturday when Irene & I dared to have a day off, but I think 27 out of a possible 30 has been really good. Our average numbers must be about 6 or 7 which again is very good. Weather permitting, and enthusiasm being maintained, we should be able to push this up to 31 by the proposed end of this year's digging, i.e. 4 more to go.

Again the weather was great although the chill crept in when the sun went down and it also got dark about 4.30.

Alex with Vanessa on the tape, completed the drawing of the East facing section of Quadrant D. This could only be undertaken after the datum line was checked to be in the correct position. Vanessa had a quick refresher course on how to use the dumpy, and after a short time, which felt like hours for the poor person holding the measure, she became a "Dumpy Expert". Vanessa insists her figure is not Dumpy, it is just the shape of the overalls and as for being an Expert she feels she is not a "former" (Ex) and definitely "not a drip under pressure" (spurt)!!!!!!!!!!. Alex and Vanessa are now in the process of deciding if any of the contexts are the same and then allocating Context numbers. We then will have the fun of trying to decide if they are similar to other section contexts in the first 3 quadrants.

Jane & I cleaned and identified the context changes on the south facing section of the same quadrant. We have started recording it in the permatrace but "bad light stopped play"!

Irene is well on the way of finishing the ditch in the EW trench of quadrant B. She has found the gravel on both sides and hopes there is not much more to take out of the bottom. It is then deciding if she is back to the gravel on the east side or if there is some more material that needs to be removed before she can call it a day.

Try as Aileen could, she had to admit that the ditch in the NS trench of QB that I decided I had finished excavating last week, is in fact completely excavated. Bearing in mind it is about 1 metre deep, I don't think it had anything to do with me standing at the top of the hole with a mattock!!!!!!

Work still to do -

Allocate and record the context numbers for the East facing section of QD
Complete the recording of the South facing section of QD
Clean and record the plan of QD including the small amount of ditch on the southern end before it is truncated by the gravel workings.
Excavate a small 1/2 x 1 metre area at the end of the EW trench by the central baulk to establish and record where the gravel level is.
Clean and record the North and East facing sections of QB, including the ditch areas. This will then give us complete EW & NS sections through the whole mound.
Record the East facing section of the ditch in the NS trench of QB as it is significantly different to the other side.
Amend the West facing section of QA to record the additional excavations.
Generally tidy up so we can take the final pictures. If anyone has a petrol powered strimmer, it should make life a lot easier.
Anything else we discover still needs to be done after Aileen's next and last visit of the year, on the 17th November.

Dig Report Saturday 10^th November 2007

What can I say. It started wet, it continued to be very windy which made it cold. A generally miserable day, but the company was great.

Irene decided the best place was Australia, so she hid in her ditch out of the wind and got to the bottom of the ditch. Unfortunately this confirmed our fears that there was more fill on the east side which she has now nearly finished removing. This week she says it will be finished but I have heard that for the last 2-3 weeks!

Vic has taken down the area at the far easterly end of the EW ditch in Quadrant B and has found the gravel layer. Clive has cleaned the west and north sections of QB so other than waiting for Irene (I will be in trouble!) these 2 sections are ready for recording.

Denise and I have set up the datum line and are a good halfway through recording the east facing section of the ditch in the NS trench of QB. Irene was right, being in a 3 foot deep ditch does keep you out of the wind. It is just when you stand up that the wind knocks your head off. I Remembrance Sunday the next day, the saying "keeping your head down" seemed very poignant.

Alex and Jane braved the elements in QD and finished recording the second section. Not and easy job when the wind wanted to take everything away; permatrace and voices giving measurements and body heat from the wind chill factor were amongst the problems. Context numbers have been allocated and sheets started. Some help from Aileen on linking common context will be greatly appreciated.

I am sorry there are no pictures this week as trying to battle the wind was enough and the light faded again too quickly. Whose idea was it to put the clocks back?! I do attach a nice one from a couple of weeks ago which I missed with the circulation.

Dig Report Saturday 17^th November 2007

Can we do it? Yes we can!!!!!!!!!!!

At least it was dry and not windy but it is mid November and after 4 hours on site, it felt like it. Definitely thermals is the order of the day!

Irene continued with excavating the ditch in the EW trench of QB. I think she is trying for a new record as to how deep she can make it! We have to have great respect for our brothers 4000 years ago who dug these ditches to about 3 feet or 900mm deep with their ancient implements. Bob must have been a great person to generate this dedication, not only 4000 years ago but now as well. It will be finished this week, but where have we heard that before?!

Clive and Vanessa cleared the southern part of QD so that is now ready to record onto permatrace, showing the ditch area that comes through from QA.

Denise and I finished recording the west facing section of the ditch in the NS trench of QB and allocated about 15 context numbers.

Aileen did a great job, identifying the soil types and Munsel colours of all the context of the 2 sections in QD and also the above ditch section. These have been recorded on the permatrace so we can sit down in the warm and transfer them onto the context sheets.

So basically we have the 2 sections in QB to draw and the plan of QD, plus a bit more ditch. With your help we can do it so we will have enough information to enable us to "tell the story" during the winter months.

Those who are still totally dedicated can decide is if we want to return next year to totally excavate all the ditch. It would be nice though not totally essential. Don't ask Irene what her view is tomorrow as I think having spent XXX weeks in the EW ditch, and this was after the excellent work done by Peter and Elie, the answer may be very short and mine may be ever shorter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dig Report Saturday 24^th November 2007

An interesting day! It was cold and windy but we did find that small window in the rain so stayed dry. To show how cold it was, there was still ice on top of the plastic sheeting of QB so I nearly lost Irene straight into her ditch, just by trying to remove the covering. I am sure there is a section in Health and Safety that covers this but anyway, with some tip-toe movements and a good tug, we got the covers off, moving the offending water and ice straight into the ditch so Irene could spend the next 15 minutes bailing out. A good job we were too busy surviving so the cameras did not come out so we won't be on You've been Framed!

Clive, Denise and myself ran away and left Irene to it and drew the plan of QD. Quite a simple job really but the mud was nice and slippery as well and the wind grabbed voices and threw the shouted measurements away. If we have ended up with a plan that bares no resemblance to the site, you will know why. We have also drawn another plan of QB, recording the 2 trenches and now need to add the locations of the Sections we have and will be drawing.

Irene was happy she had got to the bottom of the ditch in the EW trench of QB, especially as it is now about 850mm deep. Down there she had no complaints about the wind! She then made the mistake of looking at it again and now wonders if there is some slumped gravely soil on the west side that still needs to be removed. A glutton for punishment, which you all knew as she has been married to me for over 35 years!

Now in good old Time Team manor, we have come up with a conundrum that hopefully can be resolved by studying the information we have collated, during the winter months, whilst preparing the report. Now remember the conditions, so this is definitely NOT scientific, but Clive & I took some quick measurements, initially to see where the truncated ditch could be. In doing so, we believe we have found that the 2 pits we excavated in quadrant C are not equal distanced from the identified ditches. As I have said this is probably total rubbish, or could it be the mound was not round or the pits were not in the centre or ..... BOB is hiding closer to or under the baulk between QC & QD?!