A bright glow today among the wet stuff, and happy faces most of the time on the dig.
Our lovely little gazebo just before it blew away with a sudden, out of the blue, gust of wind!
We welcomed Kerry today and set her to cleaning the layer off the top of the lovely stony surface in the apsidal room. Kerry you did a great job a real natural digger, hope to see you again, enjoy sixth form.
Kerry doing a splendid job
David was put in the plunge pool trench and was later joined by Kate and Harry as the task of finding the bottom became urgent.
David in the plunge pool trying to reach the bottom
A rose between ……. David, Kate and Harry
There was more painted plaster and some pottery, so hopefully we will get some good idea of the date it was filled in.
Meanwhile back in trench B and C in front of the bath house wondrous things were appearing. Tony found some black burnished pottery from Poole Harbor in Dorset. He had part of the rim which helps date the pottery by looking at its form/shape, this piece is from the fourth century.
A very happy Tony with his pot
I was able to do a little bit of digging today and had just settled down to clear back an area in the apsidal room when I heard Alice from the other side of the wall say, ‘Nancy I think you will like what I have just found’……WOW!
Alice with the Wow!
A closer look at the amazing painted plaster Alice found, what a great pattern and colours
Here as promised are a few of the pieces of painted plaster that Sue has cleaned. Remember the pink and red bit, as you will see in the blog tomorrow an even more amazing piece of plaster found on site today which is really tomorrow.
a very small selection of plaster from the boxes full we have dug up.
I now must just turn attention on to mosaics, while excavating trench B, that has the strange tile plinth thing in it, Martin found more tiles that turned into pilae! He also found bit of mosaic with a strange wide grout and a lime wash or coating on them.
The strange mosaic
There has been thought that it maybe wall mosaic, as it also seems to be bedded on mortar similar to the plaster. Right at the end of the day Martin pulled out a very large piece that will give us more of an idea as to the original design.
A lovely large piece of mosaic
Keep watching this space as the last full digging day looms, who will reach the bottom in the plunge pool, will we find another floor in the bath house area, and will there be more wonderful finds……….
Archaeology National Trust SW 